Flourless Chocolate Cake

Today my daughter Melissa and I were watching All Star Chocolate on The Food Network. All of the recipes looked delicious... and I will definitely make several of them. But Tyler Florence's Flourless Chocolate Cake had to be the first one to try.

The baking time in the directions is definitely off, I think this cake takes a good 30 min, but check it with a tester. Ours came out a little gooey, but for my family, that's a good thing.

Valentine's Day Baking

The perfect Valentines Day cupcake... Red Velvet with Cream cheese Frosting. I used the Magnolia Bakery recipe, with a simple Cream Cheese frosting. They were delicious, and I loved the way they baked up. And the recipe ended up making about 3 dozen.

I also made Barefoot Contessa's famous Coconut Cupcakes. These turn out perfect every time. Earlier in the week I was able to stop at Corti Brothers, an italian gourmet grocery store in Sacramento. I love browsing the aisles, I can always find something different that I want to try. This time I found V. Alisios sweetened large shred coconut. What a difference it makes...definitely worth the splurge.

I have also been trying to perfect these mini lemon meringue tarts. I have been trying to come up with a good crust. So far I've used Fillo, and this shortbread based crust which really didn't turn out well. It was delicious, but broke apart easily... I will come up with something. The curd and meringue came from Baked. So simple, and melts in your mouth.

Citrus Kitchen

bhg

I came across this picture while looking for "white kitchen" inspiration.

I love citrus green and yellow in the kitchen, so fresh and clean. And in anticipation of spring...it just makes me smile.

Valentine Sugar Cookies

I had an order for two dozen valentine sugar cookies... I ended up with extra so I thought I would play around with it a little... Sugar Cookie Sandwiches, just in case one cookie isn't sweet enough :)

Filled with raspberry jam, and bottom row filled with frosting and sprinkles.

Check back later this week, I promise to bake something besides sugar cookies.

Girl's Night

Tonight was Girl's Night at my house. We try to get together as often as possible... good friends, good food and definitely good times. Tonight was no exception...although we missed you Emily! This is the before picture.

We had so much fun decorating cookies and chatting. It's hilarious where our conversations can go!

Nice Lips Dana!

Nice arm Andrea haha! Told you it was going on the blog :)

And after...

I had a great time ladies... can't wait to do it again, you guys are the best!

Diet starts again tomorrow!

Christmas at my House

I thought I'd share a few pictures of my Christmas decor this year.
I have been wanting this Santa head (which I placed next to my front door) for several years. My friend had one, but it seemed to be long gone and I wasn't able to find one anywhere. This year when I went to Pottery World I discovered it in the 50% off room... Score! Finally found it, and half off yay! Gotta love a deal!

As I placed my ornaments on our tree this year I came to the realization that I must be obsessed with Santa heads haha!

I found this wreath and the three trees half off after Christmas last year.

My handmade bear that my friend's mom made...how talented is she???

One of my favorite ornaments. I was able to get two more rolls of the harlequin ribbon on sale at Ballard Designs last week.

The Pastry tree in my kitchen.

The girls...trying to get both of them to sit still for a picture is challenging, I'm hoping to get a better picture today for our Christmas card :)

Chocolate Espresso Pot de Creme

Tonight my friend Amanda hosted a Christmas party. She asked me to make the desserts for her, which I love to do. In addition to the lemon mini cheesecakes with raspberry sauce that has become a staple in my repitaur, I wanted to make something chocolate. It had to be something rich and decadent, and in individual servings. I immediately thought of Lava Cakes.... but still wanted it to be something a little different. I remembered these cute little Pot de Creme pots that I had, and thought they would be perfect. I found a recipe on Epicurious that had high reviews, and was simple enough.

They sure were cute! I hope that Amanda and her friends enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed making them.