• Food

    Chocolate Mint Cake with Fresh Mint Buttercream Frosting

    I spent the better part of my day in the kitchen today – but some really yummy things came out of it, and so it was work well worth it! I tried two new recipes – this chocolate mint cake and chicken parmesan casserole (I’ll post that next). They both turned out so, so good! This spring, I decided to grow some “easy” herbs – basil, rosemary and mint. So far, so good – it’s all still alive! Until today, I hadn’t used any of the mint and so I’ve been searching for something to do with it. My love for Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies made me naturally think of…

  • Food

    Brownie Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache

    My husband is a chocoholic. The guy loves anything chocolate. So for Father’s Day, I made him the ultimate chocolate dessert – a brownie bundt cake with chocolate ganache. The idea began last night when he was searching for chocolate (to which we only had chocolate ice cream), and he started throwing out chocolate wish-list ideas. “I want chocolate cake… no brownies… no a brownie cake. But not with icing, with ganache!” Viola. A quick Pinterest search and I had a plan for the next day. Brogan decided to help me make the Father’s Day cake – he’s getting good at measuring and stirring, so his assistance is more of a…

  • Food

    Chocolate Espresso Cake

    Baking sweets is starting to be an every weekend occurrence.  Whereas I used to be immune to the smell of something sweet and chocolaty baking in the oven, the sweet tooth I gained with my last pregnancy is still with me. Bummer. I asked Brogan what he wanted to bake today and he said birthday cake. Well, it’s no one’s birthday, so we just made cake. I modified a German Chocolate cake recipe I found in one of Blake’s chefy cookbooks by adding some instant coffee. I once watched an episode of Barefoot Contessa and Ina Garten swore by adding a little instant coffee to chocolate desserts because it would…

  • Food

    Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

    A brunch at Brogan’s school this week meant I was baking on a weeknight.  I decided on this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake because first, I have made it before and it was excellent, second, it was pretty easy, and third, I had everything on hand.  Grocery shopping is not a Monday through Friday activity for me. This is called a cake, but it’s closer to a bread to me – either way it’s perfect for breakfast or brunch.  I found this on Pinterest and modified the original recipe by using buttermilk instead of heavy cream, a little more sugar and modifying the temp and cooking time (the first time I…