Double Chocolate Cupcakes

These were the cupcakes Anna made for her teacher's last day of school today. They had a long-term substitute while their regular teacher was away on maternity leave. Since the substitute teacher spent most of the school year with them, they got very attached to her, so today was a bittersweet day for the class. Anna had asked her teacher what her favorite flavor of cake was and when she heard "chocolate", she knew what she was baking:

Double Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup hot water or coffee

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pans with cupcake liners. This recipe makes about 28-30 cupcakes.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Gently whisk.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer on the lowest setting, add the coffee and stir just to combine – scrape up from the bottom to make sure all the flour is incorporated. Batter will be very thin and runny- don't worry!

 Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cupcake only about 2/3, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to complete cooling.

Frost with your favorite frosting. These, we frosted with:
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.



Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I use Hershey's Special Dark 100% Cocoa)
2-3 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Directions:
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and mix to incorporate. Add powdered sugar cup by cup, making sure to cover the mixer with the shield attachment and/or kitchen towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen once you turn the mixer back on. :) Beat until well incorporated. Add cocoa powder and mix well. Finally, mix in heavy cream (or half-n-half) until desired consistency is reached. Frost away and enjoy!

These were the cupcakes Anna gave to her teacher, so she could share with her family... We packaged them in a special "Sweet" container. :)

 

I also made the teacher a flower arrangement from the class... A bright spring mix! :)

Recipe for cupcakes adapted from: foodnetwork.com

Super Easy Banana Cream Ice Box Cake

 

Since I always post recipes I bake from scratch, I thought it was about time I'd include one that is super easy, does not involve baking, and is extremely tasty at the same time. In comes Banana Cream Ice Box Cake. The idea for it evolved as a combination of a Banana Cream Pie Anna makes at home quite often and a recipe for an Éclair Ice Box Cake I kept seeing on Pinterest over and over again. We had a few very ripe bananas at home that needed using up but I wasn't in the mood for baking another banana bread (as great as my recipe is), so I thought I'd go the super easy route this time. But instead of layering the vanilla pudding and the whipped cream- as Anna does in the Banana Cream Pie, I combined the two to create one fluffy light cream that made this dessert irresistible. So, here it is:

Super Easy Banana Cream Ice Box Cake

Ingredients:

18 Graham Crackers

3 bananas, peeled and sliced thinly

1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip, thawed

about 1 cup chocolate ganache to cover top (optional but recommended; * see recipe below)

1/2 chopped walnuts or other nuts (totally optional)

 

Directions:

Combine vanilla pudding with milk and whisk until combined and thickened, about 3 minutes. Add Cool Whip and stir in until you get a homogenous cream.

 

In an 8x8 inch pan, arrange graham crackers on bottom- you will need to break some of them into halves or quarters in order to cover the whole pan. Spoon about 1/3 of the pudding mixture on top of the graham crackers. Arrange banana slices on top, pushing them down a little, to sink them slightly into the cream. Repeat layering crackers, cream, bananas, and again crackers, cream, bananas. Finish with one last layer of crackers.

I had some chocolate ganache left over from another recipe, so I just warmed it up for about 15 seconds in the microwave and drizzled it on top. Then, I sprinkled some chopped walnuts, just because I love them. :) I left the cake in the refrigerator overnight to set. We just enjoyed it for dessert today and everyone raved about it. Not bad for about 15 minutes of work! :)



* For Chocolate Ganache, mix 1/2 chocolate chips with 1 cup of almost boiling heavy whipping cream- stir to melt the chocolate and use as required. It is delicious! If you have any leftover, simply store in the fridge for another week or so. When ready to use, if you need it spreadable again, just warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds and you are good to go!

 

Recipe adapted from: hugsandcookiesxoxo

Lemon Cupcakes with Perfect Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

These decadent cupcakes were a joint project Anna and I undertook for Easter. She baked the cupcakes and I made the lemon curd and the frosting. She made all the holes for the filling and I filled them. Eating them was a very joint project too! :) Enjoyed by not only the two of us, but everyone else present at the party. People asked to take some home too... How could we blame them? They were irresistible. So, here is the recipe we put together- for the whole world to enjoy too! Go ahead, bake them right away and you can thank us afterwards. :)

Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

zest of one large lemon

freshly squeezed juice from one large lemon

2-3 drops of lemon essential oil

1/2 cup milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners (for cupcakes). This recipe makes about 30 standard size cupcakes.

 

In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes).

Blend oil and sour cream. Add vanilla and lemon extracts, lemon zest,  lemon juice, and lemon essential oil. Mix to incorporate.

 

Add flour and milk, alternating- starting and finishing with flour.

Pour in muffin tins, filling each cupcake about 2/3 of the way. Bake 18-20 minutes or until they test done. Fill with Perfect Lemon Curd and frost with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipes below).

 

Perfect Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (it took me about 5-6 small lemons!)

1 tbsp. grated lemon zest

 

Directions:

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Mixture may look a little curdled at first but that's okay, it will smooth our later, I promise you. :) Finally, add lemon juice and zest and mix in to incorporate.

 

Using a double boiler, bring water in the bottom container to a gentle boil, and add mixture to the top container while stirring frequently in the beginning and almost constantly towards the end. Keep stirring over medium to medium-low heat until mixture thickens enough to hold marks from whisk, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Cool. Fill your cupcakes with about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of lemon curd per cupcake. This recipe is enough to fill about 30 cupcakes and can be made up to a week in advance and refrigerated until ready to use (big bonus for me!).



 

Recipe for Perfect Lemon Curd adapted from: allrecipes.com

And here are my filled cupcakes, waiting to be frosted: :)

 

This is what the cupcakes looked like when cut across... And they tasted even better! :)

This was the frosting I made for these super yummy cupcakes. They were a decadent treat, perfect for spring, summer, or any time of year (especially if you a huge lemon fan like me!). :)

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 to 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon extract
2-3 drops of lemon essential oil (such as this fabulous lemon EO)
3-4 tsp heavy whipping cream (or more, if you prefer a thinner consistency)
a few drops of yellow food coloring, if desired

Directions: In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese at medium/high speed until light and fluffly, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, covering your mixer with the shield attachment or a kitchen towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen. :) Beat until well incorporated. Add lemon extract and essential oil and beat again for another minute or so. Finally, mix in whipping cream, one teaspoon at a time, until the frosting reaches your desired consistency. Frost your cupcakes and eat one (or more) right away! :) Trust me, I won't judge you. See the one cut in half in this picture? This was gone about two seconds after the photograph was taken... :))) Uh-hum....

Bulgarian Easter Bread, "Козунак" :)

This year, I decided to make the traditional Bulgarian Easter Bread known as "Козунак"/ kozunak. It is yeast bread which is a must on every Bulgarian table during this holiday. It is not very sweet but if made well, it is a real treat. And here lies one of the biggest challenges for almost every Bulgarian housewife: a successful homemade kozunak! :)  Most of us remember our grandmothers and then mothers waking up in the wee hours of the mornings to start their huge batches of kozunak and knead, and knead, and wait for it to rise, and knead some more, and wait some more- a true labor of love! While the recipe I used this year does not involve any kneading by hand (yeah for my shoulders!), it still requires a good dose of patience, as a good kozunak needs plenty of time to rise not once, but twice. In fact, my mother seems to think that her mother let her kozunak rise not twice but three times. Unfortunately, she is not with us any more and we have no written recipe for kozunak from her, so we cannot know for sure how she made it exactly. Luckily for me, I found a wonderful website by a fellow Bulgarian, now residing in the U.S. like me, who converted a recipe for kozunak to U.S. standards in more ways than one. The best part of the experience- using a bread maker for the kneading and first rising! I was beyond thrilled with this discovery! Many, many thanks to Tanita from http://tanitaang.blogspot.it! I will be forever grateful!

So, without further ado, here is the promised recipe for "Козунак", which I translated into English for all my English speaking friends who may want to try their luck with this delicious Easter bread!





 

Bulgarian Easter Bread, "Козунак"

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs and 1 egg white (save the egg yolk for glazing the bread), at room temperature
- about 1 cup milk, at room temperature (because the size of eggs varies, it is best to crack the eggs in a 2 cup measuring cup and then add enough milk to get a 1 1/2 cups liquid altogether; 1 cup= 240ml)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cooled a little
- 1 tbsp rum (optional)
- the zest of 1 lemon
- the zest of 1 orange
- 4 1/4 cup bread flour, plus more for dusting later
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- about 1/2 cup vegetable oil for adding during kneading, as well as more for oiling hands
- raisins (optional)
- slivered or whole blanched almonds (optional)

Note: For the success of this bread, it is very important that all ingredients are at room temperature!

 



Directions:
Set your bread maker on "dough" cycle (mine takes 1h30min: the first 30 minutes for kneading, the next 1 hour for rising).  In a little bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and 1 egg white with the milk and the sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the egg/milk/sugar mixture in the bread maker, then add the melted butter, the zests, and the flour on top. In the middle of the flour, make a little "well" and put the yeast. To one side in the flour, make another little well and put the salt. Start the kneading process on the bread maker. (I am so happy I don't have to do this by hand as my grandmother and mother used to do for years and years!!!)

During the kneading, after the dough starts forming into a ball and pulls away from the walls of the bread maker, add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and dust with a little bit of flour right after that; repeat this 1 or 2 more times. Let the whole "dough" cycle finish. (Of course, if you do not have a bread maker you may do the kneading by hand, or with a stand mixer and then let the dough rise in a warm place; if you use your oven for that, make sure the temperature is no higher than 120F). Sweet dough rises more slowly, so if the dough hasn't doubled in size within the end of the cycle, let it sit longer. It should be at least doubled! The key to success with this bread is PATIENCE. :)

Once your dough has doubled in size, using your well-oiled hands, separate the dough into 2 or 3 parts. With this recipe, I was able to make three loaves: one round bread which I baked in a bundt pan, another one in a 9" round casserole dish and a third one in a standard bread loaf pan.

Every one of these parts, gets additionally divided into 3 or 4 pieces which you form into "ropes", oil really well and braid together into a loaf just like in the two photos below. Before forming the loaves, you can add raisins to your braids too (which you may want to soak in a little bit of rum first).

 





Place every braided loaf in a well greased and floured pan, cover and let rise in a warm place one more time. Again, if you are using your oven for that, make sure it is no more than 120 dgreees F. The dough should double or triple its size again (this may take a couple of hours, depending on the temperature in your house). Once ready to bake, set the oven to 365F. While waiting for the oven to warm up, glaze the loaves of bread with the egg yolk which you saved in the beginning and whisked with 1 tsp of milk. I used a kitchen brush for this. Sprinkle granulated sugar on top and then almonds, if using. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your loaves- if you made 3 loaves out of this dough, you should not need more than 20 minutes. If you only made it into 2 loaves, you may need 25 or even 30 minutes. Making smaller loaves is a better idea, though, as larger ones tend to brown too much on top before they can bake well on the inside.



 Once out of the oven, cool in the pan for a few minutes and then move to a wire rack. If you can resist it, wait for the bread to cool. Nobody in my family has that will power, so the loaf below was torn into just minutes after it was taken out of the oven... :)  What you are looking for in a successful "Козунак" is an interior that separates like "thread", sort of like in the pictures below...



Yes, it was one yummy "Козунак"! This is all that was left of it within 15 minutes. :)))



Happy Easter!

Arugula, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Gorgonzola Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

This is hands down one of the salads that I can literally eat every. single. day. My family is a big fan of roasted sweet potatoes and roasted cauliflower, so these vegetables are prepared on a weekly basis in our house. :) Whenever I have them ready and roasted to go, I use some of the leftovers in this salad. It is quick, easy, amazingly yummy and very filling- my go to lunch. I drizzle it with a red wine vinaigrette I make myself, but you can certainly use any dressing of your choice.

Arugula, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Gorgonzola Salad

Ingredients:
3 cups arugula
1/2 cup roasted sweet potatoes *
1/2 cup roasted cauliflower **
1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese (or feta if you are not a gorgonzola fan)
drizzle of red wine vinaigrette (see recipe below)

Directions:
Mix the first four ingredients in a salad bowl. Drizzle with the vinaigrette of your choice. Enjoy!

* The way I usually roast sweet potatoes is: I chop them in chunks, add some chopped onions, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and roast them for about 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees F, stirring occasionally.

** I roast cauliflower by separating the florets of 1 head, seasoning them with salt and pepper, and drizzling them with 1/4 olive oil which I have warmed up in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds with 1-2 cloves of minced garlic. This infuses the olive oil with the taste of garlic and makes the cauliflower really delicious as it roasts- at 425 degrees F for about 25-30, stirring a couple of times. I sometimes sprinkle it with a handful of parmesan or romano cheese a few minutes before I take it out of the oven. It is to die for! If you have never made cauliflower this way, you have to try it! You will never want to eat it any other way...



Red Wine Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp fresh dill or parsley
salt and freshly grounf black pepper to taste

Directions:
I usually put all the ingredients in my Kitchen Bullet and run it for a few seconds and Voila! :)
But you can also put everything in a mason jar and shake it until you get a homogenous mixture or just whisk the ingredients together in bowl. It is a delicious salad dressing that I make on an almost daily basis for everybody at home: so much better than store-bought ones!

Chocolate Nutella Frosting

I came up with this Chocolate Nutella Frosting because I was looking for the perfect accompaniment to the Chocolate Hazelnut Mocha Cupcakes I had made. The flavors work exceptionally well together, so this one is definitely a keeper! Luscious, velvety, decadent are just a few of the adjectives I would use to describe this frosting. You have to try it to believe it! :)
 

 

Chocolate Nutella Frosting
Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
3 1/2 to 4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup Nutella (or other hazelnut spread)
3 tbsps cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese at medium/high speed until light and fluffly, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, covering your mixer with the shield attachment or a kitchen towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen. :) Beat until well incorporated. Add Nutella and mix in. Add cocoa powder and vanilla extract and beat again for another minute or so. Frost your cake/cupcakes or grab a spoon and eat right of the bowl (don't worry, I am not going to tell anyone). :)



Note: The photos in this post show cupcakes frosted with the Chocolate Nutella Frosting and drizzled with Chocolate Ganache:

Chocolate Ganache:
Ingredients:
3oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
Bring the whipping cream to a boil in a little saucepan. Watch it carefully, because it may boil over. Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot whipping cream over the chopped chocolate. Stir a little until the chocolate melts. Drizzle over cupcakes while before it sets.



If you want to make the Chocolate Hazelnut Mocha Cupcakes as well, here is the recipe for them:

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken (or 1 cup milk and 1tbsp white vinegar added and left 5 min)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup hot hazelnut flavor coffee

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake paper liners.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Gently whisk.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine – scrape up from the bottom to make sure all the flour is incorporated. The final batter will be very, very thin- do not be alarmed: that's how it is supposed to be. This thin batter is going to produce some super moist and delicious cupcakes- trust me on this one!

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them no more than 2/3 of the way and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until they test done. Cool in the pans for 2-3 minutes, then take out on wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

Makes about 2 dz cupcakes.

 

Birds' Nest Cupcakes for Easter



 

Introducing today the Birds' Nest Cupcakes I made for my son's Easter party at school! Here they are below, all lined up and ready to take off for the party... :)



Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate Cadburry Eggs in the "nests". Easy to make classic combination of flavors with an Easter "twist"- a special treat for first-graders... The vanilla cupcakes are moist and delicious- my favorite recipe by far. The Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting is so decadent, it can be eaten all on its own (at least in yours' truly humble opinion)... :) But don't take my word for granted- make it and see for yourself!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners (for cupcakes).

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick and creamy (about 2 minutes).

Blend vanilla, oil, and sour cream.

Add flour and milk, alternating- starting and finishing with flour.

Pour in muffin tins, filling each about 2/3. Bake 18-19 minutes or until they test done.
Cool on wire racks before frosting.

 

Makes about 30 cupcakes.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 oz (1/2 package) cream cheese, at room temperature
1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 to 4 cups powdered sugar (about 1 pound)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
3-4 tsp heavy whipping cream or half-n-half

Directions:
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and mix to incorporate. Add powdered sugar cup by cup, making sure to cover the mixer with the shield attachement and/or kitchen towel to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar all over your kitchen once you turn the mixer back on. :) Beat until well incorporated. Add cocoa powder and mix well. Finally, mix in heavy cream (or half-n-half) until desired consistency is reached. Frost to your heart's content or grab a spoon and forget about the cupcakes... :)  It is that good!



 

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chef Anna bakes again! :) She wanted to do something sweet for a friend of hers from school. Her plan was to bake her friend's favorite type of cookies- chocolate chip- for her birthday. She searched the web herself and found this recipe for Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies by Martha Stewart. It is pretty straight forward and she did all the measuring, mixing, beating, scooping. I only helped at the oven operation stage, as (thankfully) she has great respect for hot gas ovens. :) The cookies turned out fabulous! Exactly as the name claimed, they were soft and chewy and simply delicious. Anna was super happy with the result and her friend- very pleasantly surprised!

 

She made some jumbo cookies! :)  

          Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (about 6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup (about 6 ounces) milk chocolate chip
  
  
  
  
  Directions:
  
  
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.  Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
     
     
  2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Baking any longer than 10 minutes will ultimately result in dry and hard cookies (we don't like that in our family). Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
     
     Yields about 3 dozen cookies.
     
     
  
  
  
  Recipe courtesy: soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies  

Avocado, Kale and Garbanzo Salad

I don't know about you, but I have been craving spring so badly, that the only food I can even bring myself to eat lately is salads. I love, love, love salads and I am always on the look-out for different recipes which combine ingredients I enjoy in more original ways. This super quick, yet absolutely delicious salad is a take on exactly such a recipe: familiar ingredients which I never thought to combine before. It is light but satisfying and it makes for a perfect lunch or dinner. Bonus points: it comes together in literally 5 minutes! What's not to love?!

Ingredients:
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and chopped
2 cups chopped kale
2-3 scallions, chopped
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup (or more) black or kalamata olives, sliced
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled (I omitted because I have family members who are lactose intolerant)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (not in the pictures, but definitely delicious and colorful with them)
1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Mix until well blended. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: twopeasandtheirpod.com

Chocolate Hazelnut Mocha Cake with Chocolate Kahlua Frosting and Dark Chocolate Ganache

In case you didn't notice from the title of this post, it is ALL about CHOCOLATE! So if you are not a chocolate fan, you can stop reading right here. However, if you think the world will just not be a perfect place without this luscious, velvety, scrumptious, beautiful PLANT called chocolate, then this post is for you!

This was a cake I made as a thank-you to a friend of my husband's for his kindness to us. We thought this would be the "sweetest" way to say "thank you" to him. :) Apparently, so did his family: he reported the entire cake was gone in two days flat!

The cake is a modification of my beloved dark-chocolate-cake-with-peanut-butter-frosting.
It is by far one of the most extraordinary cakes I have ever baked. The full name for the cake should actually read: Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Mocha Cake with fresh bananas (between the layers), Chocolate Kahlua Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, and Dark Ghirardeli Chocolate Ganache. I know, it is a mouthful to say and it may sound like there is just way too much going on in it at the same time, but in reality, the flavors work so exceptionally well together, that every. single. bite. tastes like you just died and went to heaven.... :)

Chocolate Hazelnut Mocha Cake

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken (or 1 cup minus 1 tbsp milk and 1tbsp white vinegar added and left 5 min)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup hot hazelnut flavor coffee

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans – Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans (or use “PAM for Baking”).

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Gently whisk.

With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine – scrape up from the bottom to make sure all the flour is incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn them out onto cooling racks to complete cooling.

Chocolate Kahlua Frosting

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter, preferably not all-natural
2 tsp Kahlua Liqueur (or 2 tsp vanilla extract if you want to avoid the alcohol)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
In the bowl of your electric stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and peanut butter together until very light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the Kahlua liqueur (or vanilla extract). Add the cocoa powder and beat until combined. Add the powdered sugar gradually and mix in fully after each addition. (I like to drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer while doing this, to avoid a cloud of powdered sugar in my kitchen- it really does help!) Cream on low speed until well blended and creamy. Gradually pour in the heavy cream and whip until the frosting is light and fluffy. Frost your cooled cake and decorate.

Chocolate Ganache:

6oz dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Bring the whipping cream to a boil in a little saucepan. Watch it carefully, because it may boil over. Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot whipping cream over the chopped chocolate. Stir a little until the chocolate melts. Pour over the cake before it sets.

To assemble cake, once it has cooled on wire racks, place the first layer on serving platter, spread a little of the frosting on top. Arrange thinly sliced fresh banana on top (optional but really good :)), spread more of the frosting on top of the bananas. Place second layer on top. Frosting the entire cake with the remainder of the frosting and decorate to suit your needs and/or occasion. Pour the slightly cooled (but still not set) chocolate ganache on top of the frosting. If you want to write with icing on top of the ganache, you have to wait for it to set a little bit. For this cake, I was pressed for time and had to put my writing on top of the still liquid ganache- it was very hard to do and (as you can see from the pictures above) it turned out pretty sloppy. But, the recipients were thrilled with it sloppy writing or not... :) And I am sure you will be too, if you decide to make it! Now, don't waste any time- go ahead and bake this cake, I know you want to!