Cannella Vita

sweet bread from valtellina

2013-05-22T07:22:00.002-07:00

If everyone in the world had to bake a loaf of bread from scratch, the world would be a better place.

Let me elaborate.

Basically, bread baking is a huge pain in the butt. It requires patience, planning skills, and upper body strength -- all things that I lack...

If it's such a pain, then why do I bake bread from scratch? Because baking bread has taught me many life lessons... and because that first slice, fresh out of the oven with a big smear of melted butter (because I totally deserve it) is totally worth all the hassle and *minor* mental breakdowns.

Anyways, here are the things that bread has taught me:

Bread has taught me to plan ahead. I've learned the hard way that if dinner's at seven, I better start the loaf at four. There are few things more painful to watch than hungry people crunching on spinach salad while the bread is still in the oven -- especially when they can smell all of that carby-goodness wafting out of the oven. I've also learned not to run out the door while the dough is rising. Personally, errands always take twice as long as they should. Thus, I end up returning to a kitchen that smells like a brewery and being confronted by a ball of dough the size of a large toddler.

Bread has taught me perseverance (and given me some *somewhat* defined biceps). Sure, there are dough hooks, bread machines, and other fancy kneading gizmos -- but I'm a firm believer that the best loves come from some good, old-fashioned pounding. The glutens in the dough need to be stretched and warmed by human hands. It's a labor of love. With every loaf of bread, I knead a little bit of my soul and spirit into the dough. That sounds so incredibly cheesy, but you can taste the difference, I swear.

Bread has taught me that patience pays off. I am the kind of girl who seldom uses measuring cups and has no idea where my teaspoons are. I have one "cup"-ish sized mug that I use for everything. I've got to admit I love to cut corners (and hate doing dishes). I feel like I'm totally winning at life when I make a layer cake in one salad bowl with a fork. But bread baking requires patience and a lot of spoons. I've learned to even break out the kitchen scale when baking a loaf of bread. Crazy stuff, I know... But it's all for the love of bread.

Lastly, sometimes, yeast can just be a little bit of a bitch. You can use all the measuring spoons in the world, and your bread will still sometimes come out of the oven looking like a hot mess. Bread has taught me how to say "hey, it's ok." When my country boule ends up looking like a giant chicken McNugget, I've learned just to call it "rustic." No one complains. Trust me. Especially when I serve it with Vermont maple butter.

This my adaptation of a traditional recipe for bisciola -- an artisan fruit and nut loaf from the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. The addition of figs and anise seeds makes it both sweet and savory.

Have you ever made bread from scratch?

With love,

Erica

Ingredients

1 tablespoon grappa
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 packet (1/4-ounce) active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1 tablespoon anise seeds
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks (separated)
15 dried figs, stemmed and roughly chopped (3/4 cup)
3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a small bowl combine raisins, grappa and water; set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat milk over medium heat until just warm, then remove from heat. Transfer warm milk to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook; dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in the milk. Let mixture stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, all-purpose flour, rye flour and salt. With mixer at medium-low speed, add half of the flour mixture to the yeast mixture. Mix until well blended, then add remaining flour mixture, butter and 1 egg yolk. Reduce speed to low and mix 5 minutes more.

Drain raisins; discard liquid. Add raisins, hazelnuts, figs, walnuts and pine nuts to dough; mix on low until just incorporated, then remove bowl from mixer and knead dough in bowl to finish incorporating ingredients, and form a stiff, wet dough.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On prepared baking sheet, form dough into a 8-inch-long oval loaf. Cover loaf with a lightly dampened clean dishtowel and let rest, in a draft-free place at warm room temperature, 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350º with rack in middle.

In a small bowl, beat remaining egg yolk. Brush dough with yolk, then bake, rotating pan once halfway through, until bread is deep golden, about 30 minutes. Let bread cool completely on pan on wire rack.

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

banana nutella eggrolls

2013-05-07T11:54:00.001-07:00

Surprises can be sweet. I've talked a bit about surprises before -- about how I'm kind of in the middle, loving to surprise other people but enjoy being "in the know" myself.

I realized that the reason I had this outlook was because I had never really, truly been surprised before. When I was little, I would always plan my little birthday parties down to the napkins. I peeked behind the teacher's desk on the last day of 2nd grade, so I knew that she had bought us all popsicles for the last day of school. And, as I told you before, I have a different ringtone for all of my contacts so I know who's calling me before I pick up the phone.

Well, it's that time of year again -- prom season. After Spring break, I look forward for my entire school going on hold for all of the brief interruptions that break up the otherwise monotonous day.

For a girl with a limited attention span, having marshmallows, posters, and an ever-growing number of rose petals littering the floor of the forum is a wonderful thing. A Cappella groups bursting into song in the middle of a math quiz? Yes. Boys flying in the air holding prom posters? Double yes.

A lot has changed since my mom was in high school. Most boys don't just call a girl up and ask her to prom like they used to. It has grown into a big production, and as the years go by it gets harder and harder to think of something that hasn't been done before. Some boys will even go so far as to wear gold sparkly booty shorts and twerk on their high school crush until she says yes. For those of you who need a refresher on what "twerking" is, look no further than the link above.

Anyways, I'm somewhat glad that I'm not a boy who has to worry about thinking of something clever, funny, entertaining, and original every year. As much as I love planning surprises for other people (remember when I planned Erin's surprise birthday dinner?), it was really nice to be surprised myself and it reminded how much I love surprises.

So how did he do it? Well, on Monday, I had a homemade tiramisu with the letters "PR" written in ladyfingers delivered to me by the dean of students at the beginning of history class. It was physically impossible to focus on a lecture about the colonization of Africa with that tiramisu staring at me. After waiting an excruciating 40 minutes, the principal came to the door with a "package" for me. I opened a huge box to find the other half of the cake, a bouquet of 18 beautiful roses, and my awesome, tiramisu-baking boyfriend. I did a pretty horrible job explaining this (the video is here), but it was the absolute perfect way to ask this coffee-addicted, chocoholic girl to prom. Did I say yes? Obviously. The best part was that I had no idea it was coming. The second best part was that I ate an entire tiramisu for lunch.

Sometimes, it's nice to let yourself be surprised. Which brings me to this recipe. Banana Nutella Eggrolls. Deep-fried Asian cuisine on the outside, and sweet, classic crepe fillings on the inside. You think you're in for some shredded cabbage, pork, and eggs (classic egg roll fillings), but then BAM, you bite through the crunchy deep-fried crust to discover nothing but caramelized banana covered with oozing, melty Nutella. Mindblown. This is what happens when I'm at home alone for too long with leftover wonton wrappers. Maybe that should happen more often.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

1 package refrigerated spring roll/egg roll wrappers

6 bananas, halved

1 cup Nutella

Oil for frying

Slice all of the bananas in half.

Lay out a wonton wrapper like a diamond. Spread a spoonful of Nutella lengthwise (see image). Place a banana half on top. Roll burrito-style. Seal with water.

Heat 2″ of oil to 375 degrees and place about 3 egg rolls into the oil at a time, cooking for about 2 minutes or until they are nice and golden.

Carefully, use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove the egg rolls from the oil. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm with ice cream!

creamy roasted tomato basil pasta

2013-04-23T07:22:00.002-07:00

I apologize for not posting for a while, but I have a legitimate excuse this time, so please hear me out. See I have this medical condition...

It's called spring fever.

Let me elaborate. It's something between a head cold and a rash. Just like a head cold, I feel lazy as ever. Book report? Heck no. Clean my desk? Yeah right. Like a rash, I can't stop itching. Itching to go outside.

In the winter time, I have nothing better to do than make fifty blueberry muffins and photograph them from different angles. Now that it's 80-degrees, with sunbeams and clear skies, it's been a real struggle to get my butt in the kitchen. (Let alone whip out my DSLR). It's nothing personal, I swear, my history book feels neglected as well, my elliptical machine could use some love, and my hair could really use some deep conditioning.

Alas, all I want to do is slip on my shorts, run out the door with nothing but my house key, and go exploring. That being said, at this time of year there's nothing less appealing than slaving over the stove for hours preparing dinner. I've officially kissed all of my roux, stews, and marinades good-bye until the October boredom sets in.

Lately, I've been coming home late, opening the windows, turning on some breezy music, and whipping up some sinfully easy (and delicious dinners). The goal is for me to be in and out of the kitchen before the sun sets. There's really nothing quite like flopping over in the sun after eating a gigantic bowl of cheesy pasta.

This pasta is on the table in less than 30 minutes. Using roasted tomatoes adds an extra smoky touch (that just gets me even more psyched for BBQ season). Cheese. Ease. A gentle summer breeze... Talk about instant gratification. Who said a girl can't have it all.

This is classic, good, old comfort food, that doesn't require arugula.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
3/4 cup half & half
1/2 cup skim milk
1 (14.5 ounce) can roasted diced tomatoes
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup basil, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
10-12 ounces fusilli pasta (or any good pasta shape for holding this rich sauce)

Directions

Bring large pot of water to boil for the pasta.
While waiting for water to boil, start the sauce.
In large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
Add garlic and cook one more minute.
Add flour to onion mixture and stir to combine. Let cook another 1-2 minutes.
Slowly add half and half and then the milk, stirring continuously.
Add tomatoes then cook another 7-10, stirring often, to let sauce thicken.
While the sauce cooking, add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package instructions.
With an immersion blender, puree sauce until your desired consistency. I left a few chunks, but wanted my sauce pretty smooth.
Add basil and Parmesan and stir until melted. Season with salt and pepper, to your liking
If sauce is too thick, add about 1/3 cup of the pasta water to thin it out, if you feel that is needed.
Add pasta to sauce and stir to combine.
Serve topped with additional Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Adapted from Greens N' Chocolate

s'mores bars

2013-03-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

I love online personality tests.

Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. The ones that tell you what flavor of ice cream you are and which Friday Night Lights character you're most like.

Making s'mores is a lot like taking one of those online quizzes. I can tell a heck of a lot about you by the way you make your s'mores. Let me elaborate.

You shove your marshmallow into the fire and burn it to a crisp. You are a strong believer that marshmallows are one of the few foods that tastes better burnt. You hate waiting in lines, enjoy Chinese take-out food, and tend to be argumentative.
You think you've mastered the s'more technique. You're Lord of the S'mores. You might be a dad and/or a camp counselor. You can be found whittling your perfect "s'more stick," or trying to assist a less capable s'more maker with this delicate art. People may call you a "busy-body." You enjoy team sports and activities, as long as you're the captain. You're secretly a horrible dancer.
You like to sit on the edge of the fire and slowly turn your marshmallow -- waiting for that perfect, golden-brown glow. You play a musical instrument, enjoy crafts, and like long walks on the beach. You keep an agenda and your socks always match.
You're a weirdo (and I say that in the best sense of that word. You do something wacky like catch the marshmallow on fire, and squish it (still ablaze) between the chocolate and graham crackers. You're a bit of a badass, but you secretly love to play Scrabble.

See? Didn't I describe your personality to a T? ;)

Ok, so maybe I should leave online quiz making to the professionals. But no matter how you toast your marshmallows, the classic s'more will always be an All-American crowd-pleaser.

Everyone from the varsity baseball team to Carly's dog walker couldn't get enough of these s'more bars. They're super easy, don't require an open fire and they don't burn your tongue. My favorite way to eat these bad-boys is to pop one in the microwave until the marshmallow puffs up and the chocolate gets all melty. I close my eyes, and eat it with a spoon. I can smell the campfire and pine trees of summer already...

How do you roast your marshmallow?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the crust with marshmallow creme. Sprinkle chocolate chips into a single even layer over the creme. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

From Lovin' From The Oven

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

everyday vita: my i yelp you?

2013-03-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

"STOP DAD. Don't eat that yet. I need to take a picture!!!"
My poor dad had his burger raised in mid-air, eyes closed -- but before he could sink his teeth into that perfect, first bite, I stopped him, rustled up his fries to make them look more "natural," and proceeded to take pictures of every angle of the burger. The poor man was hungry. Sorry dad, but I couldn't let that perfectly-toasted sesame bun pass me by...
I have a problem.

me, modeling a cupcake in front of Magnolia Bakery

My parents sigh in relief when I leave my DSLR on the kitchen table when we go out to eat. In my defense, I'm not the only one. Thousands of other people love to get snap-happy with their soup course. The New York Times even wrote an article about how some restaurants are banning people from taking pictures of their meal.

i like big buns and i cannot lie

Also in my defense, I am not nearly as annoying as (some) of the people mentioned in that article (although my dining companions may disagree). I can proudly say I have never used flash, never stood on a chair, and never used a "gorillapod" in a restaurant to get a good shot of my dish. Heck, I don't even know what a gorillapod is.

every bread basket in the world is modeling for me

Alas, I'm a food photographer. What can I do? I can't walk past a perfectly-puffed popover without taking a shot. I feel like every bread basket in the world is modeling for me. Cupcakes just look so damn good through Instagram's Amaro filter. Temptation is everywhere.

why hello there perfect macaron crust

Same goes for writing. I write about food. I like to talk about things like the lengths of noodles, the consistency of sauces and the oatmeal-to-raisin ratio in a cookie. How many words do I need to describe the astringent taste of wasabi? How can I transform the first, luscious spoonful of homemade dulce de leche into a sentence?

with a sugar-coating like that, how can i not take your picture?!

This leads me to my ultimate point. I can't go through a meal without analyzing it from top-to-bottom. It's not romantic, it's just what I do. I like to compare and contrast the flavors, talk about the plating, and snap a few shots. Sometimes, people insist that I put my camera down and enjoy the damn meal. But I look at each meal as inspiration -- I want to remember it. How would I ever find my favorite cream-puff place if I hadn't snapped a picture? How can I recreate my favorite fried rice if I don't know whether it had leeks or onions?

"big apple" pie

there's nothing like NY cheesecake

I am always on the search for new inspiration. In fact, I just got back from New York City -- and had an awesome time eating 4-meals a day at restaurants recommended to me by friends, locals, and my foodie friends on Yelp!. For those of you who don't know what Yelp is, it's a user-based review site for everything from brunch places to mechanics. To check out my detailed, sassy, and brutally honest restaurant reviews and more mouthwatering pictures like these, hop on over to cannellavita.yelp.com to check them out -- I always travel with my infamous notepad and a camera in hand. ;)

Do you have a Yelp! account? If so, leave it in the comments so I can friend you!

With love,
Erica

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

julia's banana bread

2013-03-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

I just woke up from one of the best dreams I've ever had. At the moment, I am sitting on Amtrak -- rolling through miles of factory towns and burnt out buildings on my way to New York City. As much as I love the city that never sleeps, I seriously needed some sleep. Thank the Lord it's spring break and I can finally log out of my school e-mail account, hang up my backpack, and get some serious shut eye. About an hour ago, the bumpiness of the train lulled me to sleep, and I was transported far, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city...

It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine when people tell me about their dreams. Not their dreams as in aspirations, but their nonsensical, rambling, nighttime dreams about purple cows and police chases. Please forgive me, but I need to share this awesome dream with you guys. It's nothing crazy or complicated -- just a small tree house, a winding road, and some really good banana bread.

I had my noise cancelling headphones on, listening to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's soothing voice and soon, I drifted off into the sunny beaches of Hawaii...

My mind wandered to an article about banana bread that I had read about in Bon Appetit a while back. I dreamed that I was in an old, rickety Jeep, driving on a one-lane road along the shoreline. I drove for about 20 miles, and although I'm usually pretty impatient, the drive didn't bother me one bit. With a view like that, I really couldn't complain. Finally, I drove up to a treacherous twist in the path, and I saw a quirky, lime-green tree house perched among the shady palm trees. The weather was warm and beautiful, and the kind, old woman behind the counter's smile was even warmer and more beautiful. I walked up to the counter and she handed me a warm slice of banana bread. The end.

When I made Julia's famous banana bread for myself, it was like something out of a dream. I don't know how to describe it -- just trust the thousands of people who swear that it's the best on the planet. The recipe is perplexingly simple -- bananas, oil, and flour. But there's something very unique about it -- a special island touch if you will. It has significantly more speckles and freckles than any other banana bread I've ever made -- just like the freckles we all get at the beach.

One day, my dream will come true and I will actually make the trek up to Julia's banana bread stand. But for now, I'll just cut myself another slice (or three) when I get home.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large)
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, bananas, and oil in a large bowl until smooth. Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and stir just until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake until a tester inserted into the center of bread comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let bread cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around inside of pan to release the bread. Turn out onto rack and let cool completely.

From Bon Appetit

grilled guacamole with parmesan and basil

2013-03-20T12:19:00.001-07:00

Looks can be deceiving.

When I was little, I avoided guacamole like the plague. My reasons for hating guac? It was mushy, and it was green. One day, when I was feeling a tad bit adventurous, I dipped my chip into the creamy, dip and I've been seriously obssessed ever since.

I must confess that I feel guilty about my former hatred of the wonderful dip, especailly since my two reasons for avoiding it (green and mushy) were not good reasons at all to miss out on all of guacamole's magic for the first decade of my life. To make up for this, I came up with three very good reasons to love guacamole.

avocados chillin' on the grill

1. Guacamole gets you friends. Eating guacamole is a communal event. Nothing says "be my friend" like a big bowl of chips and an even bigger bowl of guacamole. Whip some of this out and you'll be one of the most popular kids in town.

Add caption

2. Guacamole is like nature's form of butter. It's creamy, spreadable, and buttery. And we all know how awesome butter is...

3. Guacamole is healthy. It's full of healthy fats, omega-threes, fiber and all that jazz. Did you know avocados are the most nutritionally complete food? Humans could theoretically survive on avocados alone. Pass the chips.

Still skeptical? This "guacamole" isn't traditional at all. First, it's full of garlic, basil, and Parmesan cheese instead of cilantro, lime and red onions -- adding an Italian twist to the Mexican favorite. Second, I grilled my avocados on the panini press, adding a whole new warm, crispy flavor to them (it's proven that everything tastes better with grill marks...). Third, I threw in some super savory ingredients like white truffle salt and a robust (somewhat pricey) extra virgin olive oil -- these luxurious ingredients sure paid off. It's warm, herby, and cheesy -- and it'll make you look at this delicious dip in a whole new light. Looks can be deceiving, but taste speaks for itself.

Did you ever hate a food because of the way it looked?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
3 firm-ripe avocados
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for grilling (the fruiter and richer, the better)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper (I used truffle salt for extra savory flavor)
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to taste

Heat your panini press to the highest setting (alternatively, you could use a gas or charcoal grill). Halve and pit the avocados. Drizzle generously with olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Place the avocado halves cut side down on the grill. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until you can see crispy, golden-brown grill marks on them (check frequently to make sure they're not burning). Scoop the flesh out of the avocados and mash gently with a fork (I like to leave mine quite chunky). Stir in the rest of the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, basil and Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Food 52

dark chocolate lava cakes

2013-03-11T17:46:00.002-07:00

All my life, I've had a really hard time picking favorites. When I was little, people always asked me about my favorite color, favorite food, favorite book etc. All of the other kids seemed to have an immediate response to these questions, while I would just stand there dumbfounded for a few minutes weighing the pros and cons of each choice. Even to this day these questions stress me out. Do I have to pick just one?! I can be a little indecisive.

But this past summer, I discovered my favorite chocolate. This was a pretty huge deal, now that you know that I don't take favorites lightly. When I took my first bite of Recchiuti at the San Fransisco Ferry Market, I was in love. I've had my share of different chocolates -- but this was nothing like anything I've tasted before. It was smooth, with a bold, fruity chocolate flavor as well as smoky, subtle cocoa flavor. It was perfect. I brought home a few bars, and although the first few didn't last long, I had enough self control to save two bars for baking.

I knew I had to bake them into something special. I didn't want to drown something that was already so perfect in marshmallow fluff or caramel sauce, nor did I want to bake them into something boring like brownies. I needed a recipe simple enough to let their flavors shine through. After waiting six months, I finally found the perfect recipe to use them in. My good friend's mom who is an amazing cook made dark chocolate lava cakes for dessert (served with homemade vanilla gelato). The combination of cool, creamy gelato and warm molten chocolate was absolutely perfect, and I knew that I had to learn to make these myself. She let me copy the recipe, and of course, I made them the next day.

Because I only had two bars of Recchiuti, I couldn't screw this recipe up (talk about pressure!), so I did some research. Here are a few pieces of advice for perfect lava cakes. Remember to grease your ramekins generously -- you want the cakes to slide right out. If they stick, you will end up with a (delicious) pile of goo. Also, keep an eye on them in the oven, they cook insanely quickly. You’re looking for cooked outside & soft inside (soft does not mean jiggly). Start checking at around 10 minutes, 12 minutes worked perfectly for me but every oven is different.

In the end, I breathed a sigh of relief when didn't screw the recipe up -- and my special chocolate bars melted perfectly into these simple, gorgeous little cakes. I couldn't have asked for a better recipe to use my favorite chocolate in the world in. The great thing about these cakes that they are so exciting to serve -- they look plain, like a boring chocolate muffin... and then all of a sudden simmering chocolate sauce comes oozing out of the center. Talk about presentation! All they need is a little dusting of powdered sugar -- but if you're the type to make your own homemade gelato, be my guest. :)

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 450°. Butter and lightly flour four 6-ounce ramekins. Tap out the excess flour. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet.

In a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the chocolate. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the egg yolks, sugar and salt at high speed until thickened and pale.

Whisk the chocolate until smooth. Quickly fold it into the egg mixture along with the flour. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 12 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes are firm but the centers are soft. Let the cakes cool in the ramekins for 1 minute, then cover each with an inverted dessert plate. Carefully turn each one over, let stand for 10 seconds and then unmold. Serve immediately. Make Ahead: The batter can be refrigerated for several hours; bring to room temperature before baking.

Recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten

lemon raspberry cupcakes

2013-03-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

Surprises are funny, you either love 'em or you hate 'em.
Scratch that. That's not true at all. It just sounded like a good hook for this post.
Personally, I'm in the middle.

Sometimes, I like to be in the know. For example, I set different ringtones for different people. It takes the anxiety out of texting. I know whether to stop and reach into my bag on a crowded escalator, whether to start whistling and pretend it never went off, or whether to go into full-on panic mode. Do other people do this? Discuss.

filled with raspberry jam

Other times, I love to be surprised -- like when I bite into one of these seemingly simple cupcakes and discover that they're filled with my favorite raspberry jam.
One thing's for sure, I love to surprise people. On Friday, I organized a surprise birthday dinner for my friend Erin's 16th birthday. I told her I wanted to go shopping with her at Bloomies (I bought a pair of shoes for the cause ;) -- but I had actually invited ten of our closest friends for a big surprise dinner at Maggianos. There were a few times that my plan was almost went awry -- like when she suggested we go to the mall instead of Bloomies, when I almost asked her in P.E. class what she was going to wear to her surprise dinner (god Erica...), and when the hostess almost led us to our own table for two at Maggianos.

However in the end, the surprise worked out perfectly, and the look on her face when she saw all of our friends was priceless.

Do you like surprises?
With love,
Erica

Lemon Cupcakes:
Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and water. Beat for about two minutes until well combined.
Distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients
2 (8) ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
2 lbs. confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
juice of one lemon

Using a mixer, blend the butter and cream cheese together until well combined.
Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar until fully incorporated.
Finally, mix in vanilla and lemon juice.

To Assemble
Ingredients
Your favorite raspberry jam
Fresh raspberries

Once cool, core each cupcake with an apple corer or a pairing knife. Fill with raspberry jam. Frost with lemon cream cheese frosting and garnish with a raspberry.

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

sex in a pan

2013-03-07T19:07:00.001-08:00

Did I catch your attention? Good.
This is a sinfully decadent, sinfully easy dessert with a sinfully rewarding response.

It's not the daintiest, nor the prettiest. As a matter of fact, it's basically a hot mess in a pan.
But you know what? Despite it's frightening appearance, people just can't keep their hands off of it.
I made this for the first time for my school's Winter Sports Banquet. In the morning, I put it in the fridge, all wrapped up in foil with a big sign saying DO NOT EAT...

When I came back to get it for the banquet, some sneaky little devil had eaten half the pan. I wonder who it was...
Was it the P.E. teacher, trying to get his chocolate fix before he had to teach another period of freshman Health?
Was it the librarian, trying to drown her sorrows due to the fact that no one checks out anything but textbooks anymore?
Was it that "innocent" little freshman boy from Baking club?
I'll never know...

However, what I do know is that sometimes you just have to go with the flow.
I served this hot little (half-eaten) mess at the sports banquet and it was a hit. I love telling people what it's called -- talk about a conversation starter ;) Plus, the intrigue gets people jumping at the chance to try this naughty little dessert without even knowing what it is!

Speaking of going with the flow, I did a little bit of improvisation while making this. My chocolate pudding was a gummy mess, so I left it out and added a layer of my favorite chocolate-hazelnut cookies instead. There's nothing that two tubs of Cool Whip can't fix ;).

You could make homemade whipped cream and pudding if that floats your boat -- but personally, this is one of the few instances where I prefer instant. It just adds to the naughty, decadent nature of this recipe.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup pecans, chopped
3 tbsp white sugar
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1 cup flour

Cream cheese layer
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar (use 1/2 cup for less sweetness)
1 cup whipped cream or cool whip

Vanilla Cream Layer
1 package of instant vanilla pudding (5.1 oz or 144 g)
3 cups milk (use 2 cups if you want a firmer pudding)

Chocolate Hazelnut Pirouette Cookies (crushed)
2 cups whipped cream or cool whip
Cocoa Powder

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
In a mixer mix all the crust ingredients together and press the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Bake it for about 20 minutes.
Prepare the vanilla pudding as per the instructions on the package.
In a mixer add the cream cheese, powdered sugar and the cup of whipped cream. Mix until light and fluffy.
Let the crust cool. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crust evenly. Spread the vanilla pudding over the bottom crust. Sprinkle with crushed pirouette cookies Top with the whipped cream and sprinkle with cocoa powder.
Refrigerate for a couple hours so that it sets.

Adapted from Jo Cooks

rosemary chicken

2013-03-05T18:41:00.000-08:00

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at ones most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, and the wisdom of cookbook writers."

My dad just got home from Newport and brought me a little tin box full of family recipes. They're all written out by hand and spattered with pasta water and melted chocolate. Although I have never met any of the women behind these recipes, each one gives me a glimpse into the lives they led.

I know that Ms. E. M. Langley felt very strongly about adding extra cheddar to her stuffed peppers, and that Mrs. Pierce liked to dip her doughnuts not once, but three times in powdered sugar. Even though I don't even know their first names, I think Ms. Langley, Mrs. Pierce are pretty cool, and I think we would all be very good friends. (I don't joke around when it comes to powdered sugar)

This got me thinking -- what recipes define my immediate family?

We don't have many heirloom recipes. I don't have a Greek grandmother who taught me how to roll a phyllo dough. I don't come from a long line of bread-makers. We don't even have a family recipe for lasagna.

Then realized that there are so many tastes that remind me of my family.

This rosemary chicken is one of them. It's a recipe that's always been there. It was simmering in the background when I learned how to ride a bike, when I broke my arm, when I thought bangs would be a good idea, when I went on my first date and when I got my first cavity. It will still be simmering on the back burner when I learn to drive, when I go off to college, and when I get my first job. It's that good.

It's a simple recipe -- chicken breasts covered in a luscious rosemary cream sauce that fill the entire house with the warm, comforting smell of rosemary and caramelized onions.

Someday, I want to be the lady behind a family recipe. I'll always add extra cheddar, and hopefully an aspiring cook someday will look at my recipes and think that I sounded like a pretty cool lady.

Do you have any family recipes?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chopped garlic clove
1 chopped onion
4 pieces of boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large skillet, saute the garlic and onions in olive oil.
Add chicken and brown.

Place browned chicken in a baking dish, leaving the browned onions and garlic in the pan.
Add cream to the skillet and mix with the onions and garlic. Add the cider vinegar.
Cook over medium heat, scraping up the brown bits, onions, and garlic from the pan. Add chopped rosemary. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce to about half.
Pour sauce over chicken in baking dish.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

too much chocolate cake

2013-02-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

Cakes are a pain. Literally.

Layer cakes are beautiful, rewarding, and... dangerous. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but a slip up while cutting cake layers sent me to the ER last night. Now I can say that I'm one of the few people who got a laceration while making a birthday cake. Nonetheless, I was very lucky and it got stitched up really well... but I think I'm going to stick to making Bundt cakes for a while.

Reasons Bundt cakes rock:

They're super moist.
It's redonklulous how easy they are (just bake and pour the glaze on).
They don't need fancy frosting techniques, the pan does all of the decorating, making the end result look sophisticated and elegant effortlessly!
Bundt cakes keep really well, and actually get better with age.
Bundt cakes aren't dangerous.

Now that I've hopefully convinced you to go and buy yourself a Bundt pan, let's talk about this Bundt cake that I made for my friend Ian's birthday.
It's over the top, it pushes the limits, and it's out-of-this-world.

Let me break it down for you.
It's chocolate cake with chocolate pudding filled generously with chocolate chips and completely drenched in chocolate ganache. No wonder it's called "too much chocolate cake."
But seriously, can you ever have too much chocolate?
After tasting this cake, I don't think so. In the words of Mae West, "too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

With love,
Erica

P.S. Sorry this post took so long to write, it's deceptively difficult to type with one hand.

Ingredients

1 package devil’s food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm coffee
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and coffee. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

Adapted from All Recipes

Velvety Ganache Glaze

Ingredients

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

4 tablespoons corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

Melt all ingredients in pot over low heat on the stove--stirring constantly--or in bowl in microwave. Pour over cooled cake.

Adapted from Shirley Corriher's Bakewise

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

gooey nutella butter cake

2013-02-24T07:39:00.002-08:00

Sometimes things that look awesome aren't really so great after all. I remember in 1st grade I desperately wanted a retainer. A few of my friends had them. I knew that they came in tons of different colors: pink with glitter, rainbow, even metallic. I would walk around with a paper clip in my mouth thinking wistfully how wonderful life would be with a retainer. What I didn't know was they made you lisp, they would have to be awkwardly taken out in front of everyone at lunch time, they would have to be brushed, you would get in trouble when you didn't wear them, and they would hurt so bad you could only eat GoGurt for days. I found this all out in 6th grade when I actually needed one.

But other times, things that look "ehhh" turn out to be amazing. Like this cake.
I almost chucked this recipe because it looked like such a gooey mess in the pan. I thought that there was no way that it would bake into something solid and edible... but I decided to bake it anyways.
Thank god I did.

This cake doesn't look like much, but it is one of the most delicious things I've ever made. It's also one of the easiest things I've ever made -- no layers, no filling, no frosting, just layers and layers of gooey, chocolate goodness. You could add a dusting of powdered sugar to these to make it look a little bit fancier, but I like mine plain and simple. It's misleading, and I love that. They look really boring, kind of like a brownie that wasn't cooked long enough, but the look on peoples faces when they bite into the sugary crisp crust and the irresistible gooey filling is priceless.

Have you ever been surprised by a recipe?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

Cake:

1 (18-1/4 ounce) Box Chocolate Cake Mix
1 large Egg
1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs beaten
1 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Heat oven to 325° F and lightly grease 13x9-inch pan

Using an electric mixer, combine cake mix, 1 egg and melted butter until well incorporated. Press into bottom of greased pan with fingers.

Using an electric mixer, blend, cream cheese, 2 beaten eggs, nutella and vanilla. Then slowly and powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Spread filling over cake batter, and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until edges are brown. (Do not overbake, the center should be a little gooey)
From Tidy Mom

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

recipe showdown: healthy banana bread

2013-02-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

This sh!t is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Thank you Gwen Stefani.

Whenever I hear Gwen, I am instantly transported back to 4th grade when I went to a very strict religious school. I still vividly remember the first day of school -- I got dressed in my rumpled white chapel dress, and penny loafers. When I saw the huge chapel on that cloudy morning, all I could say was "this looks just like Harry Potter." While sitting in the pews, I turned to the girl next to me and asked jokingly, "when will we get sorted" in a little British accent. I don't think the girl appreciated my humor. :(

That was a tough year for me -- no nail polish, no boys, and tons of homework. One of the only things that got me through that year was a jazz dance class that I took on Friday nights. I got to wear my bedazzled gaucho pants and dance to Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas. Afterwards, my mom would take me to Quiznos and I would get a toasted sub with salami and pepperoni -- nothing else. Those Friday nights were the moments of joy that got me through an otherwise difficult year.

Now, whenever I hear Gwen, it takes me back to those happy Friday nights. It always amazes me how powerful music can be to transport me back to different times.

Whenever I hear "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers, I am transported to the back seat of the white van that I rode around Santa Fe in this past summer on my community service trip. When I hear "Everyday" by Buddy Holly, I am sitting in the car seat of my dad's old green Honda, which I used to call the "pickle car." Thanks to these songs and artists, these memories will always be a click away on my iPod.

Now to the banana bread. I love a super moist, cake-like banana breads as much as the next girl (especially when they're full of toffee bits ), but at 8 A.M, I don't want to be too naughty... at least on a weekday ;). The web is overflowing with healthy banana bread recipes -- full of applesauce, whole wheat flour, and even flax and chia seeds! I was intrigued. Could they be as yummy as my banoffee bread? Sounds like a recipe showdown.

Just F.Y.I, these are all "normal" healthy banana breads. I.e. you don't need to run to the heath food store in search of spelt Flour or Agar gel -- these are just classic banana breads lightened up.

The overall favorite was the banana bread from Just Everyday Me it had the most bananas of the three recipes, which gave it a really rich banana flavor. Also, the addition of whole wheat flour adds a nice dark depth to this loaf. It would give even the most decadent loaf a run for its money -- plus it's kind of good for you, so you can have an extra slice (or two).

With love,
Erica

	All Recipes Lower Fat Banana Bread II	Cooking Light	Just Everyday Me
Description	This recipe boasts 286 five star ratings on All Recipes. It uses applesauce, nonfat milk, and a tablespoon of vegetable oil instead of butter, and only has 2/3 cup sugar. There are 178 calories per slice.	This recipe has received great reviews all over the internet. It uses ¼ cup butter and 1/3 cup lowfat yogurt. There are 187 calories per slice.	This recipe uses ¼ cup butter, ¼ cup apple sauce, and a few spoonfuls of sour cream. It also incorporates whole wheat flour into the white flour for added health benefits. There are about 190 calories per slice
Tasters’ notes	Good Banana-y Too much vanilla!	Gummy Bland	Sweet Banana-y No strange aftertaste

From Just Everyday Me

Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 egg
4 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 whole over-ripe bananas, blended so that they’re liquid

Cream togetherthe first 6 ingredients.
Slowly add the flours and then the baking soda and salt. Add the blended bananas.
Put in a greased bread loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

overnight raised waffles

2013-02-19T08:44:00.002-08:00

I just wrote about waffles, and I thought I found the one.
But then yeast came in the picture, and things got complicated.

Last night, Emilia, Veda and I had our annual end-of-season girl's night out to celebrate the end of the winter track season. I don't know about you all, but I love traditions.
Last year, we saw a chick-flick (The Vow) and ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant (I look forward to their fried plantains all track season!).

This year, we did the exact same thing -- except this year, we were not carrying all of our track bags and book bags with us. We learned our lesson last year when we had to check 7 bags into the coat check at the restaurant.

After dinner, we headed over to CVS to buy candy. We got 5 packs of candy for the same price as one pack at the theater. Emilia thought ahead and brought a huge bag to carry our stash into the theater. It's great to have friends who think ahead when you're as forgetful as me.

We saw Safe Haven. Was it cheesy? Yes. Was there not a single male in the theater? Yes. Did I cry my eyes out? Yes.

Emilia and I always start crying around the opening credits, when the soft music starts to play and they show snapshots of cattails blowing in the breeze. This only intensifies as the movie progresses. Veda is the rock that sits between us and comforts us.

Even though the movie got bad reviews from the critics, I really liked it. I'm always a sucker for Nicholas Sparks, and as a dancer, I have the biggest girl-crush on Julianne Hough. She was always my favorite on Dancing With the Stars.

After the movie, we all slept over at my house. I have learned from experience that we always have boundless energy for midnight baking (Nutella and pretzel stuffed chocolate chip cookies anyone), but when breakfast rolls around, we end up eating Frosted Mini Wheats from the box. Since my friends are always thinking ahead for me (shout out to Emilia and her giant tote bag), I decided to think ahead for them for once -- and I prepared the batter for these raised waffles the night before.

In the morning, when I was foggy-eyed and sugar deprived, I just heated up the waffle iron and shazam. Breakfast = done.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

½ cup warm water
1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) dry yeast
2 cups whole milk, warmed
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. table salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ tsp. baking soda

Pour the water into a large mixing bowl. (The batter will rise to double its volume, so keep that in mind when you choose the bowl.) Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes.

Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour, and beat until well blended and smooth. (Electric beaters do a nice job of this.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it stand overnight at room temperature.

Before cooking the waffles, preheat a waffle maker. Follow your waffle maker’s instruction manual for this, but my guess is that you’ll want to heat it on whatever setting is approximately medium-high. My waffle maker has a heat dial that runs from 1 to 7, and I turned it to 5. My waffle maker is nonstick, so I didn’t grease it, and Marion Cunningham doesn’t call for greasing it, either.

Just before cooking the waffles, add the eggs and baking soda, and stir to mix well. The batter will be very thin. Pour an appropriate amount of batter into your hot waffle maker: this amount will vary from machine to machine, and you should plan to use your first waffle as a test specimen. Cook until golden and crisp.

From The Breakfast Book

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recipe showdown: belgian waffles

2013-02-17T09:04:00.001-08:00

It's humiliating. It's tragic. It's the decay of Western civilization.
... and I can't stop watching it.

Ever since I heard that little, blond, 4-foot-tall toddler's famous catchphrase"a dollar makes me holler honey boo boo," I've been in love.
She's hyperactive, uninhibited, and foul-mouthed... and I'm ~~kind of~~ obsessed.

But since this is technically a food blog, I should be talking about food, not the "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." I did a little research and the Honey Boo Boo clan has some *pretty* interesting dishes.
Have you ever heard of "Sketti"?
Spaghetti, doused with a sauce that is one part margarine, one part ketchup.
However, the most infamous Honey Boo Boo specialty is her "go go juice" -- a secret mix of Mountain Dew and Red Bull that gets her "go go"-ing for her pageants. If you aren't familiar with "go go juice," click here. Thank me later.

Anyways, I have my own version of "go go juice." It's not quite Mountain Dew mixed with Red Bull, but it sure gets me going. It's my secret weapon that gets me through 6-hour indoor track meets.

Truth is, nothing gets me going like Belgian waffles.
I could run my little heart out for hours after one of those babies.
This morning was the last meet of the winter season, so obviously Belgian waffles were on the menu. Since they're my secret weapon, they had to be perfect this time.

What am I looking for in a Belgian waffle? Something so crispy that you can hear the fork break the crust, yet so tender that the inside is pillowy like cotton candy. Something that can soak up maple syrup and melty butter while still holding its waffle-y shape.

After comparing a series of very popular and wildly different recipes, I think I found the one. Aretha Frankensteins' (what a name!) Waffle's of Insane Greatness were spot on.

What's your "go go juice"?

With love,
Erica

	Jimmy’s Shortbread Waffles	Waffles of Insane Greatness	Rich Buttermilk Waffles	World’s Best (waffle mix) Waffles
Description	These waffles have a very thick and rich batter that is scooped not poured into the iron. It has a dense, buttery crumb and the consistency of a light, buttery shortbread cookie.	These waffles are famous in the food blogging community, known simply as “WIG.” The light batter uses vegetable oil and cornstarch.	Simple, pancake-like batter, with the addition of a whipped egg white. I used sour cream thinned with ¼ cup milk instead of the buttermilk (which was one of the suggested substitutions). As the title suggests, these are very rich waffles.	A way to modify Bisquick waffle mix in a way that comes “very close to mom’s homemade waffles”
Tasters’ Notes	Very cookie-like Sugary Not “fluffy” waffles Dense Doesn’t even need syrup Shortbread Dessert	Light and airy Mind-bogglingly crisp exterior Unique Toasty Caramelized	Eggy Rich A bit chewy Soft soggy?	Traditional Expected Not special
Conclusion	More of a cookie than a waffle. Nevertheless, these were delicious. These are perfect for dessert, with syrup and maybe some ice cream	They are curiously light and fluffy on the inside, and have a shatteringly crisp crust. They are also the easiest (come together in one bowl, and no nonsense with egg whites)	These were very soft. They were rich, but had no crunch. Still, they were tasty and tangy, just not, the waffle.	These are tasty if you’re in a rush. But nothing beats homemade, and these aren’t anything special.

Aretha Frankenstein's Waffles of Insane Greatness

From Aretha Frankenstein's restaurant in Chattanooga, TN.

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk (or a combination)
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Butter and pure maple syrup, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Heat a waffle iron. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and pure maple syrup or hold in a 200 degree oven, directly on the rack (don't stack them or they'll get soggy). These also reheat very well in the toaster.

red velvet cupcakes

2013-02-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

Somehow it has become socially acceptable to dislike Valentine's Day. Some people say that it's a meaningless marketing scam run by card and chocolate companies. Others try to be witty, saying that we should profess our love every day of the year.

You all need to relax. I hate Halloween -- but you don't hear me complaining!
I remember in lower school we would get to decorate a big envelope with glitter, puffy paint, and heart shaped doilies. Everyone in the class would exchange cut-out Dora the Explorer valentines and Hershey's Kisses.
...and everyone liked Valentine's Day.

Fast-forward 5 years, and (unlike a few of my friends) I still like Valentine's day -- maybe I'm a bit biased because I love arts and crafts, chocolate, and sparkly, corny love notes.

Valentine's Day shouldn't be a day to be sad that you're single, or rolling your eyes at every lovey-dovey couple you see. It's a national holiday, so you might as well get into it. I can't think of a better way to do that than with cupcakes. There's something special for everyone (and it all starts with these cupcakes).

If you have a significant other, good for you. Make a batch of these cupcakes, turn on a good movie or romantic music. Valentine's Day = done.

If you're crushing for someone, an you see a glimmer that he or she might feel the same -- maybe you can finally get something going. What better way to do so than with a cupcake that says "text me" on it. Bazinga. Valentine's Day + new number = done.

If there is a boy who's always on your bus, and you've been wondering what his name is, what books he reads, and what your children would look like, speak up today! Better an 'oh well' than a 'what if' right?! If you get a positive vibe, you can go back to your place and give him one of these cupcakes. New love + Valentine's Day = done.

If you're spending Valentine's Day with your girlfriends, thank them for listening to all of your boy woes for the past year. Nothing says "thanks for listening" quite like red velvet.

If your friends are all with their boyfriends or they don't condone Valentine's day (their loss), it's all good. Just make these cupcakes and share some with all of the people in your life who touch your heart every day -- teachers, little kids in the neighborhood, the ladies at the local community center, and the postman with the really nice smile.

It's Valentine's Day, why not spread a little love?

With love,
Erica

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package red velvet cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coffee granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin wells with paper liners.
Beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and instant coffee mixture until well combined.
Distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells. (I like to use an ice cream scoop)
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup crisco
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons milk

Place butter, crisco and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth.
Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
Slowly add the milk until you reach desired consistency.
Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

mardi gras recipe roundup

2013-02-12T14:12:00.001-08:00

Mardi Gras is international pancake day! Unfortunately, unlike on World Nutella Day, I wasn't able to bake up a batch of pancakes on this exact day (there are math tests to be studied for and much needed showers to be taken).

But not to worry, I came up with this quick little round-up of all of the pancake recipes here on Cannella Vita. Breakfast for dinner anyone? ;)

With love,

Erica

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Apple Pancake Rings

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Vanilla Bean Ricotta Donuts

Apple Blender Pancakes

Caramel Apple Crepes

pina colada cupcakes

2013-02-07T14:41:00.001-08:00

I do a lot of wondering
It's just how my brain works. I'm always asking questions.
Maybe it's because I'm young, maybe it's because I'm restless. I'm probably a little bit of both.

If you could peek into my brain at any given moment, it would look something like this:

What hair color do they put on the driver's license of a bald man? How many times will I fall in love? Why does extra sharp white cheddar cheese taste so good on stale Ritz crackers? Do my socks match today? Why can I never find the tape? If tomatoes are a fruit, isn't ketchup technically a tomato smoothie? Why do I ask so many questions? Did I forget to log off of the library computer? Are cats and dogs are really smart and just acting dumb to freeload off humans? Did the teacher notice I was on Pinterest all class? Can Pokemon only say their name, or are they named after the only thing they can say?

Why do my hands always smell like buttercream?

Ok, so I know the answer to the last question...

It's because I've been going through a total cupcake craze. ~~Borderline~~ full-on obsessed. I just can't get enough of piping neat little swirls of buttercream. I love the big cloud of confectioner's sugar hovering around my stand mixer and all of the sticky, Ziploc bags of frosting (my mom on the other hand isn't so enthusiastic...). The first thing I do when I step in the house is preheat the oven to 350 and fill a muffin pan with paper liners. This has been going on for a while. I need help. But for now, just take a look at these Pina Colada cupcakes while I run to the store to buy more confectioner's sugar.

With love,
Erica

Pineapple Cupcakes:

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups canned crushed pineapple (drained slightly)

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until slightly thickened and a light cream color (about 2 minutes).
On low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended.
Add in the pineapple and sour cream and mix until fully incorporated.
Add the flour mixture and blend until just combined and smooth.
Line a cupcake pan with 12 paper liners and fill about 2/3 full.
Bake cupcakes in a pre-heated 350*F oven for about 22 minutes.
Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Frost with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

Recipe yields 24-28 cupcakes.

Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup crisco
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar
1-3 tablespoons milk

Place butter, crisco and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth.
Add vanilla extract, coconut extract and powdered sugar (1 cup at a time) and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
Slowly add the milk until you reach desired consistency.
Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.

To Assemble:

Additional Ingredients
sweetened coconut
maraschino cherries

Frost each cupcake with a swirl of coconut cream cheese frosting. Roll in sweetened coconut. Top with a maraschino cherry.

Inspired by Glorious Treats

cookie dough brownies

2013-02-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today, I am sick in bed with my laptop and a pile of magazines. One of my favorite magazines is Oprah (totally normal for a 16 year old girl... feel free to judge). My favorite part is the column at the end called "What I Know For Sure," where every month, Oprah comes up with some super deep, super true comment on life to make, with a perfectly appropriate anecdote to go with it. Classic Oprah.

I've been thinking, what do I really know for sure? This has been eating away at my brain for the past hour and a half and driven me all the way to Crazyville and back. Maybe it's all the DayQuil I've been taking...

I've finally come to the conclusion that the answer is: not much.
I'm unpredictable, spontaneous, maybe even a little confused.
My handwriting changes on an hourly basis.
Some days I wear earrings that dangle down to my shoulders, other days I look like I stepped out of a J. Crew catalog.
I never know what to order at restaurants.
I don't know how I feel about real Christmas trees. One one hand, they smell lovely and are so romantic. On the other hand, it makes me sad to think that this little tree was cut down just to be thrown out in a few weeks.
I often forget my keys and I have no idea what I think about the situation in Afghanistan.

But then there are things that are uniquely "Erica." Nothing huge, but these are things that I can count on, which is comforting.
Here are a dozen things I know for sure.

Lullabies make me cry.
There's no feeling quite like putting on socks fresh out of the dryer.
Face masks are always better in theory than practice.
I cannot drink plain milk.
I will never be able to pronounce the word "sixth."
I start a disproportionate number of my sentences with the phrase"but wait."
Honeycrisps are the best kind of apple.
Nothing is more refreshing than drinking ice water after brushing with minty toothpaste.
Caltrate chocolate calcium chews are delicious.
One of my eyes is a lot bigger than the other.
Crunching on ice cubes is seriously addictive.
Cookie dough brownies are really tasty.

These are the things I know for sure, the rest I’m just making up as I go along... and that's OK. For now, I think I'm going to pour myself a glass of apple juice (not milk), eat ~~three~~ one of these cookie dough brownies, and wait for the DayQuil to die off before I go crazy contemplating any more existential questions.

What do you know for sure?

With love,
Erica

P.S.
One more thing I know for sure: DayQuil and chocolate lead to hours of profound ruminations on life.

Ingredients
For the brownies:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 oz dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

For cookie dough:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp almond milk or regular milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips

For chocolate glaze:

3 1/2 oz dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on two sides.
For the brownies, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside. In a double boiler or a heatproof pan set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter together. Stir until smooth and remove from heat. Whisk in the brown sugar until it is dissolved and the mixture has cooled slightly. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Using a large rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until just incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the cookie dough, beat together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in the milk and vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Add the flour and salt and stir until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Gently spread the dough onto the cooled brownies, smoothing the top into an even layer. Refrigerate while the glaze is prepared.
For the glaze, melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler over low heat. Stir until smooth. Pour over the cookie dough and carefully spread into a thin, even layer. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.

From Eats Well With Others

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

oatmeal dark chocolate chip pancakes

2013-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

Last Friday was the Sadie Hawkins dance at school.
Scratch that.
Last Friday was the "Girls Ask Boys Winter Formal." Apparently "Sadie Hawkins" isn't politically correct enough for my school. I'm technically on Spirit Committee... I should know these things.

My friend Veda and I had a track meet ~~before~~ during the dance.
When my coach told me I had to sprint 400 meters, I though he was kidding.
He wasn't kidding.
I gagged a bit just thinking about it. Then after it was over, I gagged all over the place. Yeah, I'm a real superstar on the track team. ;)
But at least I bring brownies.

When I finally got back home, it was already nine, and the last thing I wanted to do was get dressed. But I did.
I put on my dress, slopped on some red lipstick, hoop earrings, and heels. Then I smooped my hair into a bun because I couldn't even think of touching a flat iron (smooped isn't a word, but "twirled" is way too elegant of a word to describe what I did to my poor hair). In the end, it was half decent. Sort of like iCarly meets flamenco dancer.

By the time we got to the dance, there were only 30 minutes left. Everyone was already talking about who should have the after party. Suddenly, I got a second wind. Kind of like how I have a second stomach for dessert (no matter how stuffed I am), I have a reserve of energy for a good party (no matter how insanely tired I am).

But, as last minute plans usually go, no one ended up having one.

And you know what? I was secretly happy. Don't get me wrong, I love a good party as much as the next person (I'm a high school girl, I'm normal I swear...), but by then all I wanted to do was put on my Pink sweatpants (the ones with strawberries on the butt), lie on my bed with a huge bottle of Blue Powerade Zero, and play "never have I ever" with my friend Veda (even though we know everything that we've "never" done, it's fun anyways).

I dropped off to bed around 1:30. It was a long day.

In the morning, I woke up refreshed and with a serious chocolate craving.
And these pancakes happened.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg

a hand full dark chocolate chips

Place flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, vanilla, oil and egg in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Sprinkle with dark chocolate chips. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

nutella cupcakes

2013-02-05T05:57:00.002-08:00

February 5th is World Nutella Day. Hold on... today is February 5th, and I just serendipitously have a Nutella recipe to share with you all.

I missed International Bacon Day, Biscuit Day, and even National Julienne Fries Day (August 12 in case you were wondering...).

I keep track of time by tests, track practices, hours wasted on Pinterest, and the occasional high school party -- not by the food blogging calender of seasonal recipes and National Fondant Day. I baked with pumpkin in July. I made pina colada popsicles last week. #YOLO

But today, the odds were in my favor. And my crazy little baking whim just happened to coincide with an international holiday.

This is not just any old Nutella Recipe, this is the ultimate glorification of the chocolaty spread. This recipe uses two entire jars of Nutella. Tempted? Keep reading.

I started with my favorite, mind-bogglingly easy chocolate cupcake recipe, filled it with generous spoonfuls of Nutella, topped it with a big swirl of Nutella buttercream (this stuff is dangerous I ~~almost~~ piped about half of it straight into my mouth), and a Ferrero Rocher.

So on this glorious morning of Feburary 5th, let's pay homage to Nutella by baking a batch of these sinfully awesome cupcakes. If you're in a pinch, a fresh jar and a big metal spoon would do.

What's your favorite way to eat Nutella?

With love,
Erica

Erica's Best Chocolate Cupcakes Ever
Adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon coffee granules dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin wells with paper liners.
Beat together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs, vanilla and instant coffee mixture until well combined.
Distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells. (I like to use an ice cream scoop)
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes.
Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

Nutella Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 13-ounce jar of Nutella
pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1.5 pounds confectioners’ sugar
6-8 tablespoons milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening until well combined, thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue mixing until well blended.
Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 3-5 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Set aside 1/4 of the mixture to use as the vanilla buttercream. Add the Nutella to the remaining mixture and beat for another 3 minutes.

How to Assemble:

Additional Ingredients:
24 Ferrero Rocher candies
melted chocolate for drizzling

Bake chocolate cupcakes and allow them to cool completely.
Hollow out each cupcake I used a cupcake corer, but an apple corer would work just as well.
Fill a piping bag with a 13 oz. jar of Nutella and pipe the Nutella into the center of each cupcake.
Prepare the Nutella Buttercream, reserving 1/4 of the vanilla buttercream before adding the Nutella.
Prepare a piping bag with a round tip, and fill with Nutella buttercream.
Prepare a piping bag with a star tip, and fill with vanilla buttercream.
Pipe a swirl of Nutella buttercream on each cupcake, and drizzle with melted chocolate.
Top with a swirl of vanilla buttercream and a Ferrero Rocher.

vanilla bean ricotta donuts

2013-02-04T17:34:00.003-08:00

This is the ideal brunch recipe. When you're lazy, sleepy, and expected to whip up a storm, these come together in one bowl, and are done and dusted within 20 minutes. Unlike Aunt Jemima's, these emerge from the kitchen to ohhs and ahhhs. Plus they look oh-so-elegant when served with chocolate sauce and lemon wedges.

I imagine whipping these up on a hazy Sunday morning, wearing an adorable, little striped robe and sheepskin slippers. There would be sunflowers on my windowsill in a little glass vase.
There would be frothy lattes in Antropologie teacups and music would be playing from a creaky record player. I'd sprinkle these with powdered sugar, and the air would smell like lemons and vanilla.

I know these kinds of things exist somewhere, I've seen them on Pinterest.

http://sihhlolipophaty.blogspot.com/

But in reality, I don't own an adorable striped robe, nor a creaky record player. In reality, I don't have jars of sunflowers on my kitchen window sill, rather, I have half a batch of buttercream leftover from my attempt at making a s'mores flavored cupcake.

In reality, I eat these on Tuesday afternoons standing up at the kitchen counter. With a jar on honey in one hand, and my iPhone in the other.

In reality, I am wearing my dad's "Old Guys Rule" shirt.

It's OK. No problem-o. Life's not supposed to happen like it does on Pinterest.
No one in their right mind has the energy to go pick sunflowers before their first mug of coffee. Life's not supposed to be that sensible. I burned my mouth four times eating donut balls that were too fresh from the pot. Did I learn my lesson? No. I'd totally do it all over again. See? Nonsensical.

I guess life's kind of nonsensical like that. It's messy, fun, and sweet... kind of like these sinfully quick, deep-fried balls of dough dunked in honey.

With love,
Erica

P.S.
If you do happen to have an adorable, little striped robe and a creaky record player, I respect you.

http://blog.nuji.com/

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
8 oz (1/2 lb) ricotta, whole or skim
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Canola oil, for frying (or another oil with a high smoke point)
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting
Deep-fry thermometer

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add sugar, eggs, ricotta, vanilla extract, and lemon zest. Mix until just combined.

Pour the oil into a deep, heavy pot. Leave at least two inches of space at the top for safety. Using a deep-fry thermometer, heat the oil over medium until it reaches 325-375 degrees F.

Fry a test doughnut: Using a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, drop a scoop of batter in and turn it occasionally. It should take 3-4 minutes to turn golden brown. Carefully remove and cut in half to check if it's cooked all the way through. Test another if needed.

Fry the remaining doughnuts. Don't overcrowd the pot; fry in batches. Place doughnuts on a plate lined with paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Depending on how big you scoop them, this should make around 12 donuts.

Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve warm with honey, jam, or melted chocolate.

Adapted from A Cup of Jo

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

recipe showdown: blueberry muffins

2013-02-03T17:17:00.001-08:00

It's been way too long since I've done a Recipe Showdown. My last showdown was "Sweet Potato Casserole." That was before Thanksgiving. Santa has come, we have rung in the new year, I've finished exams... heck, it's almost Valentine's day.

For the past four months, the most prominent thing on my blogging to-do list has been "DO A RECIPE SHOWDOWN" (the second most prominent thing is my attempt at drawing a croquembouche... but that's beside the point).

What's been getting in the way?

To tell you the truth, Recipe Showdowns are hard.

First, I have to scour the Internet for the best recipes out there, making sure they're each a bit different to make the tests interesting.

Second, I have to halve each recipe so I don't end up with 10,000 muffins in my house (being the OCD little math geek that I am, this takes a while...)

Third, I have to buy all the ingredients, battling my way through the supermarket in search of "Cream of Tartar," and other funky ingredients.

Fourth, I have to bake them all. (coordinating oven times, oven temps, my stand mixer, and my sanity is quite an ordeal).

By this time all I want to do is drown my sorrows for a few hours on Pinterest. But the Showdown is not even halfway done.

I still have to conduct tests.

Do I seriously want to conduct tests? Ain't nobody got time for that! By this time, I JUST WANT A DAMN MUFFIN.

But alas, I conducted tests. On my parents, on my friends, even on a few random freshman... and I found the supreme blueberry muffin recipe. Oh, the sacrifices I make for you guys.

Once I sunk my teeth into the soft, pillowy, sugar-crusted, blueberry-studded muffin of my dreams, I realized why the painstaking process that is Recipe Showdown is so worth it. I also realized that the big, blueberry juice stain on my Lululemon yoga pants was so worth it. It's like a battle scar. A mark of honor.

Lastly, I realized I should really drag my butt off Pinterest more often and do more Recipe Showdowns.

With love,

Erica

	Smitten Kitchen	Cooking Classy	Joy the Baker
The Facts:	Almost biscuit-like, these muffins have a super thick, almost cookie dough-like batter, which keeps the blueberries afloat and evenly distributed.	These are light and fluffy, moistened with vegetable oil and a touch of sour cream. They are topped off with a light crumb topping and a sprinkling of sparkly raw sugar.	These have the magical addition of brown butter in them (you all know how much I love brown butter!). There is no sour cream in the batter. These muffins are topped off with a chunky streusel.
Tasters’ notes:	A bit dry and biscuit like... Very crumbly For all of the butter and sour cream, you would think that these would be lighter and less dense.	LOVE the raw sugar crust Light and fluffy Pretty Very moist Don't miss the butter at all! Sweet	Love the brown butter taste! A bit cake-like Dense Crumbly
Verdict:	My dad liked these the best (he said the others were too sweet, and he loves biscuits). However, this was definitely not the conventional favorite.	THE SUPREME BLUEBERRY MUFFIN!	Brown butter is delicious, and it is definitely a close second, but the dense, crumbly consistency wasn't up to par with Cooking Classy.

The Supreme Blueberry Muffin
From Cooking Classy

Yield: 14 muffins

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
7 Tbsp vegetable oil* (the easiest way to measure: measure 1/2 cup remove 1 Tbsp)
1 large egg
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp chilled butter, diced
1 1/2 Tbsp Raw Sugar

Prepare crumb topping by combining 1/3 cup flour, 1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar and 2 1/2 Tbsp butter in a food processor. Pulse just a few seconds until combine, it should be very fluffy (if you pulse it too much it will become dense). Pour crumb mixture into a small bowl and whisk in 1 1/2 Tbsp raw sugar (please do not leave this ingredient out, it's the crowning jewel of these muffins, it's a MUST), set aside.
In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a seperate mixing bowl, using a wire hand whisk (no electric mixer allowed here =), mix together 1 cup granulated sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg and sour cream for 1 minute. Gently whisk in dry mixture just until combine, batter should be slightly lumpy (do not over-mix, key to fluffy muffins). Fold in blueberries with a spatula. Divide mixture evenly among 12 - 14 paper lined muffin tins. Allow muffins to rest at room temperature 10 minutes, meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees.
After muffins have rested, fluff crumb topping with a fork and sprinkle each muffin evenly with 1 Tbsp crumb topping mixture (if doing 14 muffins you will want to do a scant tbsp). Bake muffins 19 - 23 minutes until lightly golden and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool several minutes in muffin pan before removing to wire rack to cool.

© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.

ferrero rocher brownies

2013-01-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

My track coach is a very wise man. He always pushes the point that although painful, the 200 meter dash takes up a mere 30-seconds of your life, and that sometimes, one has to suck-it-up for a little bit to reap serious rewards.

I've applied his wisdom to less painful pursuits than the 200-meter dash -- like getting a pedicure, shopping, and baking brownies.

My friend Emilia and I treated ourselves to pedicures last weekend. What could be better than an entire hour devoted to pampering yourself? I can't think of many things I'd rather do than get a pedicure (except for maybe shopping or baking brownies... keep reading). Every moment is pure bliss... except for those few minutes at the beginning when the lady scrubs the bottom of your feet with a pumice stone. I am painfully ticklish, and it takes every ounce of will power to not start screaming/crying/laughing. But once that's done, I've still got another 45 minutes of bliss to go.

I love shopping for shoes, and often find myself falling head-over-heels for the latest, crazy pair. Suddenly, there's nothing I'd rather do than buy them on the spot, take them home with me, rip the tags off, and walk around in them for the rest of my life. However, I've learned the hard way that buying shoes (and ripping the tags off) without trying them on is a recipe for blisters and tears. Although frustrating for an impatient girl like me, waiting to try them on saves me a box of band-aids.

Just like enduring the pumice stone and waiting to try on shoes, these knock-your-socks-off brownies require a bit of will power as well. I had to unwrap not one, but two boxes of Ferrero Rochers to put in these brownies, and couldn't even eat one. However, after struggling through, and waiting for these to (almost) cool, I got to stuff three of these super fudgy bad boys in my face. Totally worth it.

With love,
Erica

P.S. I think I've found my new go-to brownie recipe! Tartine's brownies are the perfect balance between cakey and fudgy, with a beautiful, crinkly crust!

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 large eggs (the original recipe calls for five eggs, but I don't like tall brownies)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. If the heat from the butter does not fully melt the chocolate, put the pan back over the heat for 10 seconds and stir until melted. Set aside to cool.

Sift the flour into a small mixing bowl. Set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until the mixture thickens and becomes pale in color and falls from the beater in a wide ribbon that folds back on itself and slowly dissolves on the surface, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold the cooled chocolate into the egg mixture. Add the flour and fold it in quickly but gently with the rubber spatula so that you don’t deflate the air that’s been incorporated into the eggs.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and smooth the top with a spatula. Drop the Rocher candies evenly throughout the brownie batter (4 rows and 5 columns). Make sure you cover each Rocher with a bit of brownie batter so their tops don’t get burned while baking. Bake until the top looks slightly cracked and feels soft to the touch, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 squares, or size desired. The brownies will keep in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week.

Adapted From Tartine and Mrs. Renaissance