Cannella Vita

texas sheet cake

2015-10-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hello again!!!

So it's been exactly one year since my last blog post. During my year-long hiatus, I…

1) got glasses

2) worked at a boathouse

3) graduated high school

4) went to college

5) ate a lot of store-bought frosting

I’ve left my cozy kitchen back home for a single dorm room out here in the Californian desert. Needless to say, I’ve been here for six weeks and I have already taken over the dormitory kitchen at the end of my hall, bought four pounds of butter, and the staff at the local Trader Joe’s already knows me by name.

Truth is, baking is a lot harder in college than it was at home. I can’t just walk down the street to Safeway to buy 10 boxes of Oreos at the drop of a hat, I haven’t eaten off a plate that’s not paper in six weeks, and most tragically, I don’t have my KitchenAid mixer here.

Regardless, I’ve realized that baking and cooking are such fundamental parts of my life, and I am going to do my best to adapt this blog to college living. I will scope out ingredients that I can find at the dining hall, and provide recipes and inspiration for other college students who want to cook.

Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me during this long hiatus. Now, this is no longer a blog about a girl baking her way through high-school, it's a blog about a girl baking her way through college (!?!). I am excited to see what this new chapter in my life brings, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a little bit of sheet cake.

With love,

Erica

Ingredients:

cake:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 heaping tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

frosting:
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 pound powdered sugar
1 tsp instant coffee granules

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 inch square pan with parchment paper.

Mix together the flour, sugar and salt.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in cocoa. Add water and allow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and add flour mixture. Stir.

Add the milk, egg, baking soda, and vanilla and stir quickly into the butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Melt the butter in a pan. Add the cocoa and coffee granules. Remove from heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir well, and then pour over warm cake.

Allow to cool (if you can wait that long), and then cut into squares.

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

© 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.

flaky mooncake

2014-09-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival was last Monday. It's sort of like the Chinese version of Thanksgiving -- a time for reflection, giving, and family.

I celebrated in my own way by reflecting a little on this blog of mine.

Sometimes, I click the"older posts" arrow on my blog a bunch of times until I get back to freshman year.

Sometimes, I have this urge to delete all of my old blog posts and start fresh, so I can have one of those pristine, consistent blogs like Smitten Kitchen or Martha Stewart.

I want to erase all of the times that 14-year-old me gave embarrassing Instagram "lifestyle" posts, the times my pictures were taken with a Pentax point-and-shoot, the times I listed "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" as an ingredient, the times my font size was all wonky and I tried to sound like the Barefoot Contessa (and failed).

... but then there'd be nothing. So I stop, and restrain myself from pressing delete.

As tantalizing as the idea of a fresh start is, I don't think I'll ever do it. There's something endearing about those old recipes, and having them lined up all neatly in order chronicles my life all the way from ratatouille to flaky mooncakes. All the way from being awkward during my Freshman Orientation scavenger hunt to sitting here as a Senior in the library, tapping away at my college applications. It's my whole high school existence archived in buttercream, brownie batter, and banoffee banana bread. It includes all of those milestones: finding my blogging voice, learning how to get a DSLR, going to the emergency room while making layer cake, and getting butter inextricably wedged into the dials of my camera.

My backdrop has evolved from a leftover piece of poster-board from my 8th grade science fair project to the fancy-pants piece of marble that my dad got me for Christmas.

Yes, the perfectionist in me will surely look back at this time with this same sort of head-shaking disdain in a few months when I think I've got funnier stories, better backdrops, and tastier recipes than I do now. But isn't that the whole point of a blog? We are moving onwards and upwards from here!

Here's a tasty recipe for flaky mooncakes, traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Something that hasn't changed much since I started blogging is that I've still got to get this timing thing down so I can get you all these holiday recipes before the holiday happens. Planning, someday it will happen. Anyways, I was going to bring these in to my Chinese class, but ended up eating them all singlehandedly with my mom (sorry). The flaky crust is surprisingly simple to make -- using an oil and water dough technique (much less tedious than rolling puff pastry. Give it a try!

With love,

Erica

This recipe makes four moon cakes, so feel free to double.

Ingredients

water dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or butter
1/2 cup water

oil dough:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or butter (melted)

filling:
-red bean paste
-lotus paste
-coconut paste (recipe below)

topping:
one egg (for egg wash)
sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the water dough, mix the flour, sugar, and shortening together roughly. Pour all of the water in at once and knead to form a soft dough. Set aside.

For the oil dough, mix the flour and melted shortening together to form dough.

Dust the water dough with flour and roll into a 1/2 inch thick circle. Roll the oil dough into a ball, place in the middle of the water dough, and seal it inside of the water dough.

Roll out the new ball of dough (the oil dough wrapped in the water dough), into an oval shape. Then, roll it up like a swiss roll. Turn it lengthwise, and roll out into an oval again. Roll up swiss roll-style once more, and roll out into a 1/2 inch thick oval once more.

Cut the oval into four even sections, fill each section with filling of choice and seal. Place seal side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pastries. Brush each pastry with egg wash, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Coconut paste:
1/2 cup cream of coconut or condensed milk
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla, matcha powder, or cocoa powder for flavoring (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together into a paste.

© 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.

green tea frappucino bars

2014-08-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

One of life's more important questions:

If you were a Disney princess which one would you want to be?

Sometimes I want to be Jasmine, running around the house in my glittery balloon pants (classy PJ pants), showing the sultan who's boss, and chilling with my awesome cat.

Other days I want to be Belle. Telling that Gaston guy he's a jerk, being the nerdy Disney princess, and getting sung to and fed by dancing silverware.

Pocahontas is a compelling choice too. Down with global warming and the evils of colonialism! I'd get to talk to animals (and not in the loopy way that Snow White does), wear turquoise everything (my favorite), and paint with all the colors of the wind (that's a lot of colors).

The only thing I knew for sure was that I wouldn't want to be Sleeping Beauty (Aurora... but who remembers that girl's name?). Hopefully I don't lose readers over this, but she was by far the lamest Disney Princess. She just slept for a while and looked pretty... that's it.

But today, I'm feeling like a total modern day pre-Prince Charming Cinderella. That's because my oven's been in overdrive lately and started spewing smoke so I had to clean it. Currently I'm sitting here in my 8-year old baby blue dress with my hair in a huge messy bun and soot covering every inch of my body.

Anyways, my hour spent cleaning the oven was totally worth it because I got to make these blondies afterwards!

Remember my super-easy blondie recipe?

I pimped it out with some matcha powder, white chocolate chips, and marshmallows. BAM. Starbucks' Green Tea Frappucino in bar form. You're welcome.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
8 tablespoons butter
1 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon matcha powder
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter an 8x8 square pan.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Once melted, add the sugar and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour and matcha powder until the whole thing is a light green color. Fold in white chocolate chips and marshmallows.
Pour into a prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until set in the middle.
Cool and then slice into squares.

© 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.

guest post: gluten free overnight swirly blueberry buns

2014-08-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, quick update before getting into this delicious guest post by the beautiful and talented Thea of Baking Magique. Last time we talked, I was still off in California stargazing. Since then, I finished my research project on supernovae, went to Disneyland (!!) and visited my cousins in Honolulu. Now I'm finally home, working at the restaurant, facing the ginormous mess in my closet, and oh yeah, baking like a mad woman (I've been away from my oven for over a month! Can't help it).

Hello everyone!

I’m Thea and I am the writer of a gluten free baking blog called Baking Magique. I always get excited when I find another teen food blogger in the internet world. I can’t remember how I found Erica’s blog but I was stuck immediately because of her personal posts and unique recipes. Even though most of Erica’s recipes aren’t gluten free I still get inspiration to use in my own gluten free baking experiments.

Some notes about the recipe:

1. It’s made with fresh yeast because that’s what I’m used to bake with and I prefer it over dry yeast in gluten free baking.

2. I think it’s much easier to measure my ingredients by weight and in this recipe I’ve included units in both oz and grams. I created the recipe using grams and therefore it will be most accurate if you use grams. For the filling I’ve also used cups for some ingredients.

3. Gluten free baking is very different from ”normal” baking. The dough won’t look like a dough at all before rising, it will rather look like a batter. But whatever you do, don’t add more flour because that will give you rock hard and dry buns! Trust the recipe and trust me. I promise you, these buns will taste divine if you follow the recipe.

4. This is not really about the recipe but you may have noticed in the pictures above that I used aluminum foil instead of parchment paper... DON’T DO THAT! I was out of parchment paper and had to do it but it’s not fun to tear off the foil from the buns when they come out of the oven...

Gluten Free Overnight Swirly Blueberry Buns

12 pieces

50 g (1,8 oz) butter

350 g (12,3 oz) milk

12 g (0,4 oz) yeast

1 tsp freshly ground cardamom

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt

100 g (3,5 oz) buckwheat flour

60 g(2,1 oz) rice flour

60 g (2,1 oz) potato starch

15 g (0,5 oz) psyllium husk

100 g (3,5 oz) soft butter

1/4 cup raw cane sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup of fresh blueberries

1 tbsp powdered sugar

1 tbsp potato starch

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the milk. Heat to 100°F/38°C

In a large bowl crumble in the fresh yeast. Pour the liquid over and whisk until the yeast is completely dissolved in the water.

Add the freshly ground cardamom, sugar and sea salt to the bowl and whisk.

Then stir in the rice flour, buckwheat flour and potato starch.

Stir in the psyllium husk powder very quickly so that no clumps will form.

Cover the bowl with cling film and let rest for 1 hour. Then put it in the fridge over night(9-12) hours.

In the morning: Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a 12*14 inch / 30*35 cm rectangle. Turn it a lot as you roll it out and add more flour when needed. You do not want it to stick to the surface.

Mix the soft butter, raw cane sugar, vanilla powder and vanilla extract in a small bowl with a fork. Spread it out on the dough. In a small bowl gently mix the fresh blueberries, potato starch and powdered sugar. Evenly spread out the blueberries on half of the rectangle. Fold over the other half.

Cut off a little of the sides and then cut the rectangle into 12 equally big strands.

Twist the strands by gently rolling them on the work surface and then roll together to a swirly bun.

Add some blobs of butter on the parchment paper on a baking tray and sprinkle some raw cane sugar on top. Place the buns on the tray and cover with a tea towel. Let rest for 1 1/2 hour in a warm and non drafty place. Preheat your oven to 435°F/225°C.

Brush the buns with egg wash and sprinkle raw cane sugar on top.

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 12 minutes, until they’re golden brown.

Let cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Note: These buns are best eaten while still warm from the oven but you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days and they will still be delicious!

© 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 oatmeal nutella pancakes

2014-07-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been doing a lot of "in the larger scheme of things..." thinking. Here at astronomy camp, we've been talking a lot about big things, like black holes, supernovae, and ominous things like "dark matter" and "dark energy."

Thinking "in the larger scheme of things" can make me feel small and insignificant. I am smaller than a dustbunny of a dustbunny of a dustbunny in our solar system, which is one of many in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is one of billions of billions of galaxies in a universe that is constantly expanding. We are living on the periphery of a very average galaxy, orbiting a very average star... puts my seething rage toward the dude who took my java chip frappuccino at Starbucks yesterday into perspective.

That's the thing...if I'm so incredibly small, do things really matter?

The universe isn't going to care if I smiled at you on the Metro. Space aliens will never find out if I replaced the toilet paper roll. Mars wouldn't know if I wrote you a handwritten letter or a sloppy Facebook message. The black hole at the center of our galaxy definitely doesn't give a damn whether I washed my hair this morning (thank god).

I guess this is one way of looking at things, "in the larger scheme." But the other geeky way of looking at our place in the universe is that every action has a reaction. Every shake and rattle sets off another and another. In this scenario, the little things do matter.

Although the former way of thinking about it is tempting (and gives me an excuse not to wash my hair so often), I'm pretty convinced that the latter is better.

Think about flipping pancakes. The trick to making good pancakes is to wait until you see little bubbles form around the edges of the pancake. These super tiny bubbles signify that the pancake is "flippable."

These bubbles are smaller than my pinky fingernail. In the "larger scheme of things" they are practically invisible. However, that little bubble makes the difference between a big, shriveled, goopy mess of pancake batter and a glorious, fluffy stack of pancakes. The difference between a grouchy, hungry morning spent washing batter off my black yoga pants, or leisurely watching pools of butter melt atop fresh flapjacks while sipping a mug of coffee.

With love,

Erica

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 banana, mashed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 cup milk

2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Nutella

Stir together all of the ingredients except for the Nutella in a large bowl until well combined. Gently swirl in the Nutella.

Spoon the batter into a hot skillet over medium heat. Cook each pancake until the batter starts to bubble at the edges, flip and cook until golden brown. Continue cooking remaining pancakes.

Enjoy with butter and maple syrup! (and perhaps some more Nutella!)

protein pancakes

2014-06-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

It has been almost two weeks since I've been on the Internet -- I'm going to tell you what I’ve been up to.

Not much. But then again, a whole lot.

I actually was somewhat busy -- just two Thursdays ago I took my Chinese final and went to prom (I'll save that story for another day). Then, I just sort of dropped off the face of the Earth. I worked part-time as a hostess at a cafe, did some reading (just finished Paper Towns by John Green), snapchatted, did some almond butter stress eating, and a whole lot of wandering.

Yesterday, I wandered down the street aimlessly, first into a CVS to buy a few pointless things like tanning oil and Icebreakers gum. Then I talked to some of the volunteers collecting signatures outside the metro station for a good while about string quartets and the weather. Then, I wandered downtown and had Mediterranean style tacos with my mom at 3pm. Leisurely summer livin' at its finest.

A few nights ago, I got into bed at 10:10 p.m. Turned off the lights. My room was nice and warm because I never turn the AC on. I stayed up until midnight just watching Breakfast at Tiffany's on my laptop and then drifted off to sleep.

It's like time just slowed down twofold. My brain cells were burnt and fizzled to a crisp. The thought of sitting down and writing made my stomach turn. I ate a lot of Popsicles.

And then I realized that I had not been blogging and felt totally ungrounded and lonely -- so I’m back! I'm looking forward to going on wild summer adventures and telling you all about them. I'm going to bake luscious cakes and eat them and tell you all about those too. I don't regret my disappearance; I think it was healthy to do a bit of wandering. Now, I'm ready to get caught up in the world again like I'm known to do and attack whatever comes my way and report to you all about it.

Speaking of attack, this is total "attack food." These protein pancakes have two ingredients, protein powder, egg whites, and pure power. Eat these for breakfast and you will feel like a literal beast for the rest of the day.

With love,

Erica

Ingredients

1 scoop protein powder
3 egg whites

Beat the protein powder and egg whites together well in a bowl. Add a dash of cinnamon/vanilla/stevia to taste. Heat a bit of coconut oil in a skillet and cook for about 3 minutes on each side over medium heat.

Feel free to jazz these up with chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas... whatever floats your boat.

© 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.

avocado chocolate chip pound cake

2014-05-09T05:38:00.001-07:00

I'm currently studying for my U.S. History exam, and to be honest, it's a lot of mindless memorization. The kind of memorization that makes my brain mushy and eyes dizzy.

The one thing that keeps the subject mildly interesting are the diary excerpts that sometimes show up in the DBQ section (document-based essay section). I recently read an excerpt from a diary of a Lowell factory girl talking about how awful the other girls at the factory were, and how terrible the conditions were in the summer -- this humanized the dates and numbers behind the Industrial Revolution; suddenly, history got a lot more interesting. It's literally reading someone else's diary, but in a socially acceptable way.

In this digital age, I'm not penning my thoughts with a quill on parchment, or even scribbling in a fancy-pants moleskine notebook. But the thought of a diary fascinates me.

In a way, my diary is the Notes section on my iPhone. It's a lot less romantic than a diary, but just as raw.

I used to get super paranoid when my friends would look at pictures on my phone, for fear that they might stumble across my notes page. I'm less paranoid now because A) my notes are hidden deep in the depths of my app folders where no one can find them and B) even if you read my notes you wouldn't be able to figure them out.

To get totally crazy here are the first five notes in my phone, and what (I think) they mean.

"When I see your name" ~ when I see someone's name I feel a certain way.

"Plan:" (followed by no plan to do anything) ~ classic.

"Gm cherry get cash not target demographic" ~ this was probably written at a dark moment while studying for some test. I wish I could tell you what this means, but I have no idea. Sounds interesting

"Bunky" ~ an old man who wears wife beaters and takes drop-in advanced adult ballet with me. He wears loafers instead of ballet shoes and, thus can't point his feet. He has a faded tattoo that spells "bunky" on one of his arms.

"Write about how good it feels to get your scalp massaged at Hair Cuttery" ~ self explanatory

These bits of jibberish are pretty important to me. I am always paranoid about forgetting things -- so when some stroke of so-called brilliance hits me, I have to write it down or else I will forget it immediately. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night, and furiously tap out "boys look cute with visors" (true story). Other times, I'll write down something a little more constructive like "avocados are the butter of the Earth." Some of these snippets end up being stories I tell to you all, some of them end up being baked into pound cake, most of them remain in the gigabytes of my phone collecting cyber-dust.

Nonetheless, these shards and memories are the good stuff, like the artichoke hearts of life. When I'm rolled over in bed at 2 a.m. furiously typing a note to myself, you best believe it's important.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
1 avocado
1 stick of butter, softened
1 1/4 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line and grease a 9 inch loaf pan.
In a stand mixer, beat the butter, avocado and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth, add vanilla extract and beat once more. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Stir into avocado mixture until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and spoon into loaf pan. Bake 65 minutes or until golden brown. Cool, slice, and enjoy!

© 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.

nutella and biscoff pocky sticks

2014-05-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

I really like my job as a hostess because I get to see so many people in one day. Every shift, I probably see over a thousand people, and talk to all of them.

Yes, my job is technically just to say "good morning/afternoon," and simply jot down their name and number so I can call them when a table's ready. I am supposed to show them to their tables, tell them about the brunch specials, and move on to the next party.

However, I approach it a bit differently. I like to think that I give a little piece of myself away to every person I meet.

I'm the girl who talked to you about how weird bratwurst is. You helped me pick up my fallen menus when it got windy, I thanked you. Your kid kicked me in the shins, and I laughed it off. A lady spilled her heart out to me as she waited for her table about her recent divorce.

Over winter break, I visited Providence with my mom. We were exhausted, and decided to have dinner around five in a big empty restaurant. I will never forget our waitress. After we placed our orders, she just started talking to us. She told us how she wanted to go into nursing or criminal justice, she told us about how she and her ex-boyfriend had joint custody of her dog, she talked about her big Portuguese family and showed us her Instagram. I think many people would have been really annoyed by this, but I will never forget her.

Of course, I'm not going to give my customers my whole life story (I'm not trying to get fired...), but I want to leave an impression on them, figure them out a little bit, scratch the surface. I like to think that one day, when that recent divorcee is old and sitting on a park bench watching her grandchildren play on a tire swing, she'll remember me, the hostess she talked to for half an hour about her new lifestyle choices.

I don't know what this has to do with Pocky sticks, I just wanted to talk about it. Enjoy this recipe for jazzed up Pocky sticks!

With love,
Erica

Cookie Sticks

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 dash salt
1/4 cup softened butter
1 egg white

Nutella coating

1 cup candy melts
1/4 cup Nutella

To make the cookies, beat all of the cookie ingredients except for the egg white together in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until a dough forms around the paddle. If the dough is too stiff, add a tablespoon or two of water.

Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap, pat into a disk, and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Divide the dough into 32 balls (divide into quarters three times).
Roll each ball into a thin stick, about 5-6 inches long.

Transfer each stick to the parchment-lined baking sheet and brush with egg white.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the sticks are golden brown. Cool completely.

To make the coating: Melt the candy melts either in the microwave or a double boiler. Once the candy melts are melted, stir in the Nutella (you can substitute Biscoff for a different flavor!). Pour this mixture into a tall glass.

Once the cookies are cool, dip each cookie stick into the candy melt/Nutella mixture and decorate with sprinkles. If the candy melt mixture is no longer smooth, add a drop of vegetable oil to the mixture until it is a good dipping consistency.

Repeat with the remaining cookie sticks. Refrigerate coated cookie sticks until just before serving.

Enjoy!

rainbow cake

2014-04-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

So last week I gave you a little talk about real talk. Basically, I don't want to be a confectioners-sugar-dusted-phoney. That's why I've decided to get crazy with some real-life confessions on here.

Confessions. That's a scary word.

So here it goes, here's my first confession.

I like reading Craigslist Personal Ads.

Disclaimer: I would never ever ever in a million years even think about posting an ad on Craigslist (or answer one), but I like to read them.

Yes, some are creepy, some are weird (ex. "I enjoy theatrical-quality tomfoolery"...what), and some are downright fake. But some are nice. My favorites are in the "missed connections" forum.

This is where people leave messages hoping to find people they've crossed paths with. There is something less sinister about this forum than the others, no creepy requests, no augmented biographies pleading for a date. Instead, there's a sort-of-sad sad sincerity in these posts.

These people couldn't get a face/aura out of their mind all day, and are now beating themselves up for not saying anything. There is hope and regret intertwined in all of the posts ("I would have talked to you but I was too shy"). The regret of not seizing the moment, the hope that maybe this little "message in a bottle" (via Craigslist) will miraculously reach that special person.

The sweet, sad thing about this is that 99 times out of 100, these ads are never reciprocated. That person who was reading Harry Potter 5 on the train is probably back at home, flipping through the pages and eating Lean Cuisine and will never see the post on Craigslist. But the admirer posts it anyways.

Here's one I liked:
"I wish I went and sat next to you and said hello, but obviously I didn't and here I am posting this note you will probably never read. Wherever you were going, I hope you got there safe, and that despite the rain you are having a great day"

I like think about all of the faces I see in a day, and all of the stories, fears, and adventures that lie behind all of those faces. I'm not advocating talking to strangers. But I guess this should inspire us to seize the moment and not miss an opportunity to speak to someone. Yolo?

Anyways, now that I've shared something weird about myself with you all, I am going to share this weird cake recipe! It's super easy, super funky, and will knock all of your friend's socks off when you serve it. It looks like an unassuming vanilla cake... and then BAM! Rainbow madness on the inside. Check it out.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

White cake batter, divided (you can use box mix or homemade)

Food coloring

Your favorite buttercream frosting

Rainbow sprinkles!

Prepare the cake batter, and then divide into however many colors you would like.

Use food dye to color the batter, use a lot so that the colors turn out really nice and saturated and brilliant.

Drop the batter into a prepared cake pan(s) and bake as normal.

Frost, decorate with sprinkles, and enjoy!

fried banana bread bites

2014-04-17T06:06:00.001-07:00

At this time of year, bunnies are supposed to popping out of flower beds left and right, and baby chicks are supposed to be hatching from Easter eggs.

So far I've seen none of these things happening... I guess they just don't happen when you live in the city.

Nonetheless, bunnies and baby chicks are all symbols of rebirth and new beginnings. I've definitely had some of my own new beginnings this Spring.

For one thing, I can't sit still. I feel this intangible energy pulsing through the air, and this fire in my throat that definitely wasn't there in December. It's hard to describe, but I feel like life right now is the opening scene of a movie, where there's just a bunch of dew and morning dust floating around and it's unclear what the movie is even about.

I am slowly getting the hang of my hostessing job. No longer am I the girl who looks like a deer in headlights, awkwardly racking my brain for something to say as I guide people to their tables. Some one even laughed at one of my corny jokes yesterday when they sat them at a table (I know... what?!).

I have come to terms with the mess in my room. I now accept the fact that there will eternally be dresses and shoes and mismatched socks strewn about the floor, and I'm actually more comfortable that way than in a spick and span room.

I've learned how to properly apply self-tanner without looking like I have strange bruises everywhere (hello white shorts).

These are little changes, but I can say with confidence that I feel at peace.

Another new thing is that I have come to terms with deep-frying. It doesn't freak me out as much as it used to. However, I still wear Speedo swimming goggles while deep frying so oil doesn't spurt into my eyes (super dorky, yes. but would oil make me go blind? probably). Thank goodness I conquered my fear so that I could bring you all these majestic fried banana bread bites.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
1 loaf of banana bread
oil for deep frying
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cut the banana bread into 1 inch cubes.

Preheat the oil in a heavy metal pot to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

While the oil is heating up, stir together the sugar and cinnamon.

Drop small batches of the banana bread cubes into the hot oil, fry for 3 minutes until golden brown.

Immediately roll the fried cubes in the sugar mixture, and place on a paper towel.

Repeat until you've fried all of the banana bread.

Enjoy!

deep-dish apple pie pizza

2014-04-09T06:56:00.002-07:00

Nothing's really that simple.

On this blog, I often worry that I am compelled to portray myself as this teenage Martha Stewart-wannabe, but that's not reality.

If I were Lauren Conrad or Martha Stewart, this would be different. It is their job to look super fabulous and manicured for their readers -- exhibiting guru-like knowledge on flower arrangements and sock buns that don't look stupid. For me, this whole blogging thing is a little different. I don't have endless funds to spend on peonies, my hair will never look good in a sock bun, and I have no authority to tell you all how to mix a pink mimosa.

my beautiful, blank pizza canvas

My goal is to get closer to you all as readers and tell it like it is. I want you to be able to read my blog posts and be all like "whoa, she gets it!," or "omg me too." Definitely not a "my life is in shambles, how can I be more like her" (because believe me, my life is in shambles sometimes too).

Yes, I have a collection of vintage mason jars and milk bottles, I have a bin dedicated to washi tape, and I make my own granola. But that is just one side of me.

The part that you don't see as much is the fact that I am a worrier, I enjoy a little bit (lot a bit) of mess in my room, and I am often very stubborn. Thus, along with the baker's twine, DSLR shots, and confectioners sugar comes real feelings, real mistakes, and the real joy beyond making a photogenic batch of cupcakes. Also, I often eat things straight out of the fridge (i.e. not plated with perfect lighting and garnishes).

One of my favorite things to eat standing up at the fridge is apple pie. My dad used to always buy those grocery store apple pies, and I'd always keep standing up, sneaking over to the fridge and eating just a little sliver (by the end of the hour the pie was usually half eaten). That apple pie tasted so much better than warm apple pie all served up with ice cream and whipped cream and a mint spring (mint does not belong on apple pie). Something about the cold, gooey, finger-food nature of it made it just that amazing.

Pizza is another classic "fridge food," cold pizza straight from the fridge is a delecacie of its own. It tastes nothing like pizza, but it tastes pretty good!

look at that big, fat crust!

Enough chit-chat. Let's talk about this pizza. This is a real life recipe.

Ain't nobody got time to make real apple pie on a school night. But we've got time for pizza pie. This pizza version of apple pie is all of the cinnamon-y apple goodness without the opressive pastry/pie crust rolling! (especially if you use store-bought pizza dough... that's real life)

The thing is, real life often tastes better than "ideal life" (a life in which I made a mile-high apple pie with a rum syrup reduction with apples that I picked from my garden). This strange amalgamation of the classy, the trashy, and the unique creates something truly spectacular. This pizza is a wonderful hybrid between you're grandmother's apple pie (classy), Domino's Cinnastix (trashy), and a cream cheese frosting drizzled cinnamon buns (unique?).

The end result? Something perfect to eat standing up at the fridge.

If you're looking for more easy-peasy pizza recipes to eat standing up at the fridge, you're in luck. It's Pizza Week on NoshOn.It! Checkout the hashtag #PizzaWeek on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or check out the Pizza Week Pinterest Board. The inspiration is endless!

Some favorites are:
Gerry's Prosciutto, Pistachio, and Burrata Pizza
Amy's Kimchi Pizza
Shanna's Grilled Pineapple, Crispy Pork Belly, Burrata and Arugula Pizza

With love,
Erica

it's so gooey I'm gonna die!!!!!

Ingredients

for the dough:

2 packets of active dry yeast (1/4 oz. each)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

4 cups all purpose flour (plus more for surface)

(alternatively, you could use store-bought dough)

for the filling:

1/4 cup sugar

1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened

for the topping:

one small apple, thinly sliced

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons cold butter

cinnamon

First, make the pizza dough.

Pour 1 1/2 cups of warm water into a large bowl, stir in yeast, and let stand for about 5 minutes until foamy.

Whisk in the sugar, oil, and salt. Add flour and stir until the mixture forms a sticky dough. Transfer to a clean, oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Preheat the oven to 460 degrees F.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll the ball of dough out into a big circle.

Now, make the filling. Beat together the sugar and cream cheese until it becomes a uniform mixture. Spoon this mixture evenly around the crust, about an inch from the edge. Fold the edges over the cream cheese to seal it inside the crust.

Lay the sliced apples out on the dough. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Now, prepare the streusel. Crumble together the 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, white sugar, brown sugar and butter until the butter is the size of pebbles. Sprinkle this mixture generously all over the pizza. Give the pizza another nice sprinkling of cinnamon.

Bake in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven, and enjoy while warm!

orange scented french toast

2014-03-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

soak:
to lie immersed in liquid (as water): become saturated by or as if by immersion

Soaking is a magical thing. I love the idea that things can drastically improve by just sitting in liquid. This idea of idle productivity is particularly appealing to me right now, as I am procrastinating on typing up this MASSIVE outline for finals.

Things that get better after soaking:

T-shirts. There's nothing like a soft, vintage, sun-kissed t-shirt. I recently did a little DIY project, soaking some of my stiff, school t-shirts in a salt water bath for a few days and then machine washing them. After a few days of soaking in salt water, they were light and soft. Easy-peasy.
Legs. Not quite soaking, but the absorption process is similar -- letting thick, minty lotion soak into the skin for a few hours makes such a difference. Scaly legs put me in an awful mood. So does lotion that smells old-ladyish. I've recently been obsessed with Seacret Ocean Mist Body Lotion. No, I am not being endorsed by Seacret, although I'm quite flattered if you thought so. I get sent stuff like industrial sized jugs of almond butter and oats (not that I'm complaining), not fancy-schmancy body creams and cosmetics.
People. No matter how awful of a mood I am in, a soak in the bath never fails to melt some of the angrys away.
Breakfast. Ahem french toast...

This is literally just stale bread, taken to unbelievably classy heights by a quick soak in heavy cream and orange zest. That soak turns a boring slice of bread into an eggy, custardy, zesty sensation!

I wish more things worked like this. I wish I could soak in a special bath and come out knowing all of the countries in the world, or maybe I could soak in a magical concoction and emerge speaking fluent Portuguese. That would be convenient (especially with AP exams coming up). If I could soak in some sort of magical U.S. history bath, life would be hella easier.

Maybe someday I'll soak myself in some heavy cream and orange zest and come out extraordinary. Never know!

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

3 eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream, and 1/2 cup milk *you could just use milk, but cream makes this really rich and custardy
1/3 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one orange
dash of salt
6 thick slices of challah bread (slightly stale is ideal)
butter for cooking
blueberries, syrup, and/or orange marmalade for serving

In a large dish, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, juice, vanilla, zest, and salt together.

Soak the bread slices in this mixture (about 15 seconds on each side)

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium-high heat until it begins to sizzle.

Add as many slices of bread to the pan as will fit -- and cook until golden and crisp (about three minutes per side). Repeat until all of the bread is cooked)

Serve with orange marmalade, syrup, and some fresh blueberries!

everyday vita: snow days and spring days

2014-03-22T15:00:00.002-07:00

This week started out with a snow day, and ended with me running in shorts and a tank top. Funny how that happens. Also funny how I always seem to start my blog posts with a description of the weather. A bit hypocritical, because I don't like it when people talk about the weather in real life... anyway...

I really like doing these weekly update posts! It's like a weekly diary, that's public! There's something marvelously appealing about over-sharing some of the details of my life with people on the Internet.

Monday: Snow day! Although I'm kind of over this whole snow ordeal, it was really nice to have a break. This was the last week of school before Spring break, and there were a million things to be done. A snow day was a nice opportunity to procrastinate for just one day longer. I made homemade pocky sticks, took a long walk with Carly, and just read by the window for a while (something I always think about doing but never actually do).

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: All a blur really. So many tests. So many papers. So much furious Buzzfeed scrolling to get away from it all. I am proud of myself for getting one recipe out to you guys! Also, a number of people at my school who read my blog came up to me and said that they agreed with my whole subtweeting argument. It makes me immensely happy when real-life-people agree with things that I ramble about on here.

Friday: I had some really nice falafel, went for a run, and then ate my weight in hummus. This wasn't as painful as I thought it would be! I got to see my friend from Georgia, Alli G. (yes, like the Sacha Baron Cohen movie) here in D.C.! We first met in Santa Fe on a community service trip when I was a freshman, and have kept in touch since. We've seen each other around this time every year, and it's always hilarious to relive that dysfunctional trip with her, just talk about life, and see how things are going in the ATL.

Saturday: Today, I made this crazy rainbow cake! But it's not just any cake, it's a birthday cake. I've started a new project where I make birthday cakes for homeless children's birthday parties -- because they should be able to have sprinkly, sparkly birthday parties like everyone else. This looks like an unassuming vanilla cake... but when cut open, it's an explosion of rainbow colors! I dyed white cake batter all sorts of different colors and swirled them up all cool inside. I'm already dreaming up cakes I can make for other birthday parties, if you have any ideas, let me know!

Carly was dropped off at doggy camp this morning and I miss her already. :(

Today I officially started the #100happydays project! It's awesome! Basically, you do something that makes you happy every day, tweet a picture of it, and then after 100 days, you have a nice collection of happy things to look back on. Follow my challenge @cannella_vita.

Happy Saturday!

With love,
Erica

cookie monster cupcakes!

2014-03-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'm sick and tired of subtweets.

Subtweets are basically the epitome of digital passive-agressiveness... precariously bordering on downright aggressive. According to Urban Dictionary, "subtweet" is short for "subliminal tweet" which is directly referring to a particular person without mentioning their name -- i.e. talking about someone behind their back (but actually directly in their face on Twitter).

Subtweeting happens all the time at my school. There is a group of people who think they're awesome that they always have these "witty" observations about everyone else.

Examples:

"Wearing sunglasses and carrying a purse to school. #whodoyouthinkyouare."

"I feel so awkward for some people #awkward"

"I love it when girls act like they're still in middle school. It's so adorable." (condescending tone)

The funny thing is, sub-tweeting is probably the most middle school move of all. So what if a 14-year old is concerned with their eye-health, and likes to carry a purse? So you feel "awkward" for someone... thanks for sharing! I feel awkward for you, spending hours a day thinking of "witty" little things to say about people on Twitter! I can see that you "love it when girls act like they're still in middle school" -- that's what you're doing! Yay for self-love!

Subtweeting works the exact opposite of how you want it to. First, subtweeting just makes you uncool. Second, you're blatantly admitting that whoever you're subtweeting about has the influence to occupy your mind.

Can't we all just relax a little bit? Let the sunglasses crew wear their sunglasses, let the awkward people be awkward, and you all can just go about acting like middle-schoolers and not bother the rest of us who just want to read our tweets in peace. I think we should all just eat a cookie and relax, even better, a cookie monster cupcake! I was inspired to make these by a tweet I saw -- I would have seen this tweet sooner if it wasn't for all of the subtweets I had to scroll through! *sigh*

But alas, I have realized that this blog post is sort of a "subliminal blog post" against all "subliminal tweeters." Oh well, before I dig myself deeper into this icky, subliminal hole, let me show you all how to make cookie monster cupcakes! Yay!

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
1 batch of your favorite cupcake recipe
24 small chocolate chip cookies, such as Chips Ahoy. If you're feeling ambitious you could even make your own!
48 white candy melts (for the eyes)
48 chocolate chips or brown M&Ms (for the pupils)

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

blue food coloring.

Prepare the cupcakes, and allow to cool fully.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and confectioner's sugar until blended and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and blue food coloring and beat for five more minutes.

Fill a piping tip fitted with a star tip with the blue frosting, and pipe onto cupcakes. Press two candy melts onto each cupcake as the "eyes" and glue on a chocolate chip with frosting as the "pupils." Cut each chocolate chip cookie in half, and place upright on the cupcake as the mouth. Enjoy!

everyday vita: new beginnings

2014-03-16T11:43:00.002-07:00

I think Spring is finally here... then again I feel like I've been saying that for the past month... and we're supposed to have a snow day tomorrow (not that I'm complaining about that at all).

Spring is a time for new beginnings, and this week was full of new beginnings.

This week I wore a skirt without tights for the first time in what feels like forever.

I was wearing that classed up outfit because, guess what?! I'm employed! I'm now the official hostess at a local brunch cafe! What you can't see in the picture are my stretchy leggings and orthopedic ballerina flats. I was on my feet all day seating people at tables and running back and forth from my podium to the floor. Thank the Lord for spandex and rubber soles.

I started drinking apple cider vinegar this week. It sounds really blecky, but when mixed with apple juice and cinnamon it just tastes like diluted apple cider. And it's supposed to be really healthy.

I bought farm fresh eggs, and they really are quite different! For one thing, the yolks are orange, not yellow!

I started running again, and realized that I am definitely a solo runner. Some people really enjoy running in groups, I am not one of those people. I really like to listen to books on tape when I run, and listening to books on tape in the presence of other people is considered antisocial :(. Also, wireless headphones are a game-changer.

I put up chalkboards in my room to keep track of my to-do lists. Question: do you ever do something slightly productive (that wasn't on your to-do list), and then proceed to write it on your to-do list just to cross it off? I do this ALL THE TIME. Those extra things that I get done while procrastinating should be worth something. (and since this is the last week before Spring break, I have a million and one things to cross off).

I have a pretty cool "diy" post that should hopefully come up soon. I've never done anything crafty on Cannella Vita, so this should be interesting.

Happy Sunday!

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.

tres leches cake!

2014-03-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

NOBODY IS LISTENING TO YOU!

And I'm not saying that in a mean way.

When I was in elementary school, my teachers pegged me as "a shy kid." Thing is, I was never shy -- actually I've always been a performer and a little crazypants. In those elementary school days, I'd often be prancing around the supermarket in a crop top and cat ears proclaiming that I was Josie from Josie and the Pussycats, putting glitter glue on my eyelids (not smart if you ever plan on blinking), or singing Disney princess songs into my mom's camcorder. Definitely not a quivering daisy.

I guess this whole predicament started out when one day, I had my head in the clouds and didn't find it necessary to say stuff. At the beginning it was fine, I wasn't lonely or surly. I was just rolling around the sandbox by myself thinking about things.

But then it got awkward.

People love labeling people. Oh! You're the funny kid! Oh, you must be the precocious little genius kid! Oh hey there, you must be the shy kid. I learned that once you're labeled the "shy kid," people have all sorts of expectations of you...

People would get this surprised look on their faces whenever I said things, and when people started giving me that look, I stopped saying things. As you can imaging, this became a vicious cycle. My teachers didn't always help. Teachers seem to like shy kids. Shy kids don't break eardrums or break bookcases. Thus, my teachers would often make an example of me -- telling the class to "stop shouting and be more like Erica." I would smile, but this was always super awkward. First, because kids don't like the kid who they're told to be like, and second, there was this little girl inside of me who liked to wear purple leopard print and sing "Under the Sea" really loudly in a Jamaican accent who just wasn't allowed to come out. Imagine how awkward it would have been if one day I came out of the reading corner singing "Under the Sea" in my Jamaican accent?! I was pretty sure the ceiling would have fallen down. Once people had this expectation of me to be the "quiet" and "behaved" Erica, I stuck to it.

There were times when I thought that I lost that purple leopard print little girl. I truly believed that I was shy... and I hated it. Especially as I got up in elementary school and wanted to be like Sharpay from High School Musical and I wanted boys to like me. In 5th grade, boys don't like shy girls. And I believed that I was a shy girl. I wished I could be like those bubbly girls who crimped their hair and wore glittery nail polish. Nonetheless, I kept on being the nice little shy girl at school, and then when I got home, I dressed up like a mime and rapped Snoop Dogg while I rode around the house on my Waveboard (did you ever have a Waveboard?).

One day, I was dozing off during assembly. The assembly was the drama acting out the book Hungry Hungry Caterpillar (who came up with those assemblies?!). When I came back to my senses, I noticed that the kid who was dressed up as a watermelon slice who just recited his line looked like he was about to puke. No, he looked worse. He looked like he was about to get publicly executed. And you know what I noticed? That I couldn't have told you what he said if I was offered a million bucks. That kid was about to poop his pants over something that nobody was listening to at all.

That's right, I was not paying attention at all, and neither was half of the audience. It was this realization that helped me "shed my shy kid image." I realized that every sentence isn't a matter of life and death, because no one's really listening anyways. I realized that the ceiling wouldn't fall down if I emerged from the reading nook and played dress up. I realized that no one would care if I pronounced the "g" in "trough" when we read aloud in English class. I realized that regretting not saying something is much worse than saying something awkward.

Now that I am in high school, I am glad that I had this realization. Sure, the "shy kid" image is sticky like condensed milk and takes time to wash off, but there have been many opportunities since I witnessed that quivering watermelon that I have spoken up without regrets -- and my life has been so much better/less awkward because of it.

Yay for super awkward transitions! Condensed milk! It's in Tres Leches cake! Which is the recipe I'm sharing with you all today! This cake is super squidgy and moist because you literally pour milk all over it. I frosted mine with cream cheese frosting for my friend Veda's birthday because she likes cream cheese frosting.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
Cake:
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk

Sauce:
1 can condensed milk (1 cup-ish)
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Frosting:
2 8oz. packages of cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sweetened Shredded Coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and grease it well. Beat butter and sugar together in a stand mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping the sides as you go. Add the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Add buttermilk and stir slowly. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Take out of the oven, and mix together the three milks. Cool the cake for five minutes, and then poke holes all over it with a fork. Pour the milk all over the cake. Let cool completely in the fridge for at least an hour.

Beat together the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer. Beat in the vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Frost the cake.

To make the toasted coconut, add the shredded coconut to a frying pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until lightly browned. Sprinkle over cake.

Loosely Adapted from Pati's Mexican Table

© 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.

easy king cake

2014-03-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was young, I have been disturbed by the concept putting trinkets into cake.

Yule logs with coins in them, Epiphany cakes with thimbles in them, Mardi Gras king cakes with babies in them (plastic babies). They're all a disaster waiting to happen.

I'm expecting to bite into a soft, sweet, cream cheese laden cake, and then ouch! I just chipped my tooth on a plastic baby Jesus. How do I know that the "lucky" coin hidden in my slice of yule log wasn't on the floor of the subway last week... not feelin' so lucky anymore. Or worse yet, what if someone choked on the thimble in the Epiphany cake? That would be awkward. so.many.issues

The lore behind the Mardi Gras king cake is that the person who gets the slice with the baby wins. Winning means that they have to host the next King Cake party. To some that would be a real treat (I would have a field day buying my weight in cream cheese and sanding sugar), others not so much.

So if last year you were the one to get the slice with the baby in it, were lucky enough not to choke/chip any teeth on him, and you're not too enthused about whipping up this years king cake, I have the recipe for you. All this recipe takes is: 1) whacking pressure packed cinnamon rolls on the kitchen counter 2) whipping up some cinnamon-y cream cheese frosting (licking the spoon required) 3) shaking sanding sugar all over the whole thing and making it look all festive.

Easy enough right?

No proofing, zesting, waiting, or (god forbid) kneading. Just pop, lock 'n drop it.... not exactly, but you get the point: this recipe is easy.

Naturally, since it's made with Pillsbury, it doesn't taste exactly like the traditional, yeasty sweet bread. However, it's absolutely delicious and addictive nonetheless (nobody will complain). It tastes a little bit like sopapilla cheesecake. If you've never heard of sopapilla cheesecake, google it now and prepare to have your life changed.

All of this being said, I won't be putting a plastic baby in my king cake, but if you're into that, by all means do it. It's fun and festive and kudos to you for not being a total party-pooper like me with my concerns about sanitary/dental issues. Just remember to stick the baby in after the cake comes out of the oven (if you put him in before, you'll end up with a gooey plasticky mess).

Happy (almost) Mardi Gras to everyone!

And for all of you overachievers out there (or those of you that just like to play with dough), I have a real yeasted king cake recipe coming your way.

With love,

Erica

Ingredients

2 cartons Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, 8 Count (12.4 Ounce Cans) -- save the containers of icing!
1 8oz. block cream cheese
½ cups dark brown sugar
½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons purple sanding sugar
2 Tablespoons yellow sanding sugar
2 Tablespoons green sanding sugar
1 dry bean or plastic baby jesus (if you're into that)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take all of the cinnamon rolls out of their containers, and set the frosting containers to the side. Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll each cinnamon roll into a flat disk (about 4 inches in diameter). You should end up with 16 rounds.

Arrange 8 of these rounds on a piece of parchment paper, overlapping a bit in a wreath shape. Press down where they overlap so they stick together.

Beat together the cream cheese brown sugar and powdered sugar. Add the cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Beat well until combined. Drop this mixture by tablespoonful on the cinnamon rounds that have been sealed into a circle, staying as close to the center as possible.

Place the remaining 8 cinnamon rounds on top of the filling, overlapping and sealing the tops and tucking under to seal the sides.

Bake for 17-20 minutes.

Let cake cool for a few minutes (now is when you stick the trinket into the cake). Frost with the Pillsbury Frosting that came with the rolls. Sprinkle all over with purple, yellow, and green sanding sugar.

Enjoy!

Adapted from So Domesticated

© 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.

yeasted king cake

2014-03-02T12:43:00.001-08:00

Snow days are better than regular holidays for three reasons...

1) No expectations of doing something super fun and fabulous. When people ask me "what did you do with your snow day?" "rolled around on the floor for a while," "watched three episodes of Jerseylicious" (does that show still exist?), and "played with dough all day" are all totally acceptable answers. There's no expectation that I went on some super fancy cruise ship, took a bunch of pictures wearing fancy/sparkly things, or changed the world through some community service trip I took. Nope. This is a day when I can wear fuzzy socks and eat a king sized bag of pita chips and not feel even a little bit guilty about it.

2) No expectations of hanging out with people. Not that I don't like people. But I feel like it's socially unacceptable to lock yourself in the house and talk to your dog over a long weekend. On a snow day, not so much.

3) No expectations of it coming. What? Ok, that didn't make total grammatical sense, but what I'm trying to say is that snow days are unexpected, which make them that much more awesome. I wake up, remember all of the procrastinated assignments that I am obligated to do that day, and then oh wait! I don't have to do any of them because there's white stuff falling from the sky! It's like confetti celebrating the procrastinators of the world.

So yay for the unexpected! Since on snow days I have oodles of time to waste time/avoid humans/avoid responsibilities, they're the perfect opportunity to play with yeast, and make a somewhat involved recipe that has a rising time (a luxury that someone who has to go to school rarely has)! I shared my super lazy way of making king cake with you all a few days ago, but for those of you who are itching to make the real-deal (maybe you have a snow day too), here it is!

As cliche/cheesy as this sounds, nothing compares to the real thing, there's a certain special layer of flavor (love?), that just can't be achieved with something that comes out of a can.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients:

Cake

3/4 cups warm milk
2 1/4 teaspoons or one packet of dry yeast
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 stick of butter, melted and cooled
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Filling:

1 block Cream Cheese (8 Ounce Block)
½ cups Dark Brown Sugar (packed)
½ cup Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk
yellow, green, and purple sanding sugar

Warm the milk in the microwave or a saucepan until it is warm to the touch. Mix the milk, yeast and 1 Tbs. of the sugar in a medium bowl and proof While it is proofing, whisk together the melted butter, egg yolks, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, flour, nutmeg, orange zest, and salt.

Add the butter mixture and the yeast mixture to the flour mixture in the stand mixer. Knead for 5 minutes with the dough hook until smooth. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise for two hours.

After the dough has finished rising, prepare the filling. Beat together the cream cheese, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until smooth. Transfer the dough to a large sheet of parchment paper and roll it out into a 9x13 inch rectangle. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly onto the rectangle, leaving an inch along one of the long sides so it doesn't overflow. Starting on the long end, roll up the dough jelly-roll style.

Grease an empty metal can and place it in the center of a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Gently wrap the dough around the can (seam side down), and pinch the ends together to form a ring.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Let the cake rise as the oven preheats (about half an hour). Bake for 30-40 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove the can and let cool.

Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar and milk. Add a little more milk if the glaze is too thick. Pour on the the glaze and then decorate with sanding sugar.

Adapted from Food 52

© 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.

almond butter blossoms

2014-02-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

"Live in the moment!," "Savor the moment!,"

"Yeah!" we all think to ourselves, "obviously that's a great idea!" when we read these word in magazines and hear them from our friends.

Then we brush these words off and continue worrying about what's for dinner, whether one of our friends might be mad at us, and the future in general, because, as humans that's what we tend to do (I tend to do this a lot).

I recently read this article about a woman who is trying to sue her wedding videographer for a ridiculous amount of money because she hated her wedding video. I watched the video and I couldn't find anything offensive about it... but that's totally beside the fact! The fact is that she had a beautiful wedding and is now happily married. Sweating the details of the video of it all totally killed the "happily ever after" vibe. Instead of savoring the moments of her happy new life, she's now preoccupied with a mega-lawsuit against her poor wedding videographer.

Speaking of weddings and such -- today is Valentine's Day, a totally perfect day to start living in the moment! Personally, I think that the reason a lot of people hate Valentine's Day is because they have totally unrealistic expectations. The media has told us that today, we are going to get taken out to a fancy dinner, someone will profess their love to us, we'll receive heaps of cards in the mail, and eat buckets of chocolate and not feel sick. Unrealistic? A little bit. Unrealistic expectations are the antithesis of "savoring the moment." If you keep waiting for what's next, or keep wanting more, no matter how wonderful your day was, you will always feel dissatisfied and upset.

Thus, instead of wondering why you didn't receive two dozen roses today, why the cute guy who takes your bus route didn't profess his love to you today, or why you feel sick after eating two heart shaped boxes of chocolate, think about the love that you did experience today, no matter what it was.

Today, I felt lucky to be woken up by doggy-kisses from my dog Carly this morning. I was relieved that since today is Valentine's Day, eating 20+ of those Dove chocolate hearts with the messages inside of them was totally acceptable. I was really happy that I wore my rain boots today so I could stomp through puddles, instead of having to walk precariously around them like everyone else. I savored the weather, as today was the first warm, sunny day in weeks. I delighted in the serendipity of running into my dad on the street and joining him for a cookie on my way home.

No stereotypical Valentine's Day shenanigans going on here -- just a really great day... with cookies!

melty chocolate... now that's a moment I want to savor

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I made these almond butter blossoms with heart shaped chocolates instead of Hershey Kisses. I know by now Valentine's Day has come and gone, and you might think it's silly of me to be posting a V-Day recipe this late. But who said that heart shaped cookies are only for one day a year? Who said that today is the day to have a fancy dinner and send lots of cards to your friends and loved ones? Who said today is the day you should be sent flowers? This all seems super restrictive to me. Today is just a day among many other days. I think that sending flowers, eating heart-shaped chocolates, and telling those around you that you love them should not just be a once-a-year occasion. I'm for more flowers, more chocolate, more love, and more savoring the moment! Who's with me?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter or shortening
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar (for rolling)
1 9oz. bag Hershey's Milk Chocolate Hearts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, almond butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the almond butter mixture until well blended. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven, and immediately press a chocolate heart into each cookie. Allow to cool completely; the chocolate will harden as it cools.

© 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.

salted almond butter cups

2014-02-11T08:34:00.001-08:00

I have a new (somewhat ambitious) goal. I want to do something new every week. Being in high school, I feel like I often get stuck in the school/homework/procrastinating on the Internet rut. Don't get me wrong, homework will still get done and there are way too many fun personality quizzes on the Internet to give them up entirely. However, I really want to seize life by the horns, live to the fullest, and conquer my fears. I have a lot of fun ideas of things I want to add to my "new things bucket list" -- and I am extraordinarily excited to give this new project a try.

I love the idea of a bucket list to begin with -- maybe I'll publish one on this blog someday to hold myself accountable and see how many of the things on it I actually get done. Simply writing my dreams down makes them come more alive. I want to see a koala in real life and see the northern lights with my own eyes. I want to attach a lock to a love bridge and go to la tomantina in Spain. However, I'm not going to get a plane ticket to Australia or a tomato chucked at my face this week (hopefully).

Nonetheless, there are a lot of slightly less extravagant, yet exciting new things right in my own neighborhood. Starting this week, I want to try something new every week -- even if it's as small as eating something that resembles a peanut butter cup. This is a project that I want to continue for the rest of my life. Think about it -- that means 52 new things a year! 156 new things before I turn 20!

Here's to Day One of my 365 day adventure trying new things. Today, I am going to eat something that resembles a peanut butter cup.

Now, you're probably thinking "wow, this girl has really lost it now." What's so special about a peanut butter cup? If you've been reading Cannella Vita for a while, you may have noticed that my blog is completely devoid of recipes with peanut butter. It's a little odd since every other baking blog on the planet has some sort of chocolate-peanut butter thingamabobber.

I'm a pretty adventurous eater, and am usually totally down to trying new things, but peanut butter makes me queasy. I've always steered clear of it at all costs. Once, after eating a peanut butter granola bar, I had hives for a week! Thus, never in my life have I tasted a peanut butter cup.

This is ironic because my dad is obsessed with peanut butter cups. He will always happily take them from my bag of Halloween candy.

Obviously, I am not going to eat something that is going to give me hives for the rest of the week -- however, I came up with an alternative so that I, too can experience the joy of peanut butter cups -- almond butter cups!

These are mindbogglingly easy to make -- and are a little more gourmet than a drugstore peanut butter cup thanks to the addition of maple syrup and a sprinkle of Maldon salt.

If you're in need for some almond butter to try out -- take a look at Barney Butter, it comes in all sorts of mind-blowing flavors like vannilla bean-espresso and cocoa-coconut!

What new thing will you try this week?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

7 oz. dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup almond butter (I used Barney Butter)
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. fine grain salt
sea salt flakes for topping

Place the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1-2 minute intervals, stirring between, until completely melted.

Line six muffin cups. Spoon about a teaspoon of melted chocolate into each cup.

Mix the almond butter, syrup, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt together until smooth to make the filling. This mixture should be dough-like.

Scoop out a tsp. of the almond butter mixture and gently roll it into a ball between your palms. Flatten it out a bit and place it on top of the thin chocolate puddle. Repeat so that there is an almond butter ball in each cup. Spoon chocolate, about another tsp., on top of each almond butter ball to cover completely. Add a little pinch of flaked sea salt on each one and chill in the fridge to set.

© 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.

homemade muesli

2014-01-09T16:50:00.004-08:00

I would have thought that all of the "healthy new years resolution" buzz would have slightly died down by now (i.e. some people would have already given up). But no, everything is still in full swing. People are bumbling left and right carrying yoga mats, Safeway is totally sold-out of kale, and I have to elbow through people while trying to run my normal (usually very uncrowded) loop around the block. Right now, everyone is so focused on what they want to change about themselves/their routine.

What about the things that we actually like about ourselves? What about our little daily rituals and routines that make us happy?

I think that this whole mentality that we need to "fix" our bad, former ways, and "totally revamp" our routine is problematic. So Dr. Oz told you that the gingerbread latte that makes you smile is going to slowly and painfully kill you, or your neighbor told you that Cross Fit is so much better for you than your weekly Friday night yoga class. Do you need to switch your gingerbread latte for celery juice? Should you tone your booty with jump squats instead of utkatasana?

Personally, I don't think so. New Years is a great time for trying new things, and sometimes they work out (I recently became re-obsessed with green smoothies). But why be miserable for the entire month of January? A little bit of familiarity and routine is important to hang on to in this crazy, unpredictable world that we live in.

Right now, things are a little crazy for me (exams, track starting again, new semester... not to mention that it's beyond freezing outside). This is a recipe that I've been making forever, it's a little bit of familiarity in this otherwise chaotic time. My special muesli has powered me through many English exams, track meet, and chilly days -- I know it'll still work.

What's a familiar thing that you're going to hold on to in the new year?

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

1 gala apple, grated
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup juice (I love Odwalla!)
1/2 cup yogurt
Large pinch ground cinnamon
a dash of cloves
1/2 cup nuts and dried fruits of your choice
1 Tbs. chia seeds (optional)
fresh fruit (for serving)

Combine all of the ingredients except for the fresh fruit in a container with a lid. Place in the fridge overnight. In the morning, scoop into bowls and top with fresh fruit.

raspberry jam crumble bars

2014-01-09T16:26:00.002-08:00

"An artist is nothing without his or her obsessions, and I have mine."

-Andres Serrano

In English, the word "obsession" has a negative connotation.

From Mariah Carey taunting us all with "why you so obsessed with me?," to the fact that being "obsessive" seems synonymous to having a "disorder."

Who said being "obsessive" is a bad thing? Does being "obsessed" with something make you a crazy person?

I don't think so. In fact, I think that I can be an "obsessive" person, and it's one of my favorite things about myself.

The root of my obsessions lie in things that I'm passionate about. Today, I'm going to talk about two of my obsessions: baking and writing.

Are you an obsess-er too? How do you know what an obsession feels like? For me, it feels like a mosquito bite that I've been trying to ignore too long -- I have to itch it.

It's like when I get home from school, throw my backpack onto the floor, and power walk to the kitchen. In no time, I've got the oven preheated to 350 degrees, the KitchenAid whipping at full-speed, and a stick of butter softening in the microwave. I haven't even taken my coat off.

It's like right now, when it's 12a.m. on a Friday night, I'm sitting in bed with my notebook and laptop typing away about obsessions. Most kids are probably watching T.V., doing homework, or partying -- I'm sitting here trying to think of a way to describe the feeling when I can't sit still and have the sudden urge to whip up a vanilla buttercream.

It feels naughty sometimes, like watching six episodes of Wipeout! in a row or eating an entire pint of Java Chip Frappuccino Ice Cream in one sitting. I feel like I shouldn't do it but I really really want to. That's how I feel about baking and writing. That's when I knew I was obsessed.

Everyone from Martha Stewart to Gwyneth Paltrow to Michelle Obama all seem to be touting living a "balanced" "whole" life. These buzz-words are on the cover of every woman's magazine and snuggled in the pages of all advice books. Although I believe that some balance is needed for survival and happiness (balanced meals, hydration, family time, alone time, homework time), I think that if you're super passionate about something, obsessed with it, why try to fight that?

Obsessions are things that don't feel like work -- you can do them for days and weeks and the hours just slip away. I can stand over a layer cake for hours, I can sweat over a short story for days. Since it's so effortless to spend a lot of time on the things that you're "obsessed" with -- you will naturally get better at them with time. Practice makes better. Thanks to my obsession, my cakes no longer look like science experiments, and I no longer write short stories about elves and horses. Now, thanks to my "obsessions" I make cakes with buttercream roses, and I write short stories about real things, like trying to go vegan, the perils of driver's ed, and the smell of Astroturf in May.

If spending an hour at the gym as part of a "balanced" day makes you want to lock yourself in a closet, but you're itching to go dancing this Friday night. Why in the world would you strap yourself to the treadmill? Life is SHORT (and dancing is great exercise). I'm not saying that we should all just neglect unpleasant responsibilities, but if they're not vitally important to us, we can let them go and succumb to our obsessions.

I whipped up these raspberry jam crumble bars approximately thirty seven minutes after I handed in my English exam last week. Obsessive behavior? Perhaps. Am I concerned? Not at all.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 oz. raspberry jam (or any other flavor you like)
1 cup granola without dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper. With your electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until combined. Add vanilla. Sift flour and salt together, add to the butter mixture until it all sticks together in a ball. Place dough on a board. Gently press 2/3 of the dough evenly in the bottom of your pan and about 1/4 inch up the sides. Spread evenly with jam. Mix the granola into the remaining dough, break it into small bits and crumble them on top of the jam, covering the surface. Bake for 45 min, cool completely, cut into squares, and enjoy!

© 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.

orange cranberry pound cake

2013-12-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that a hot shower feels 100x better than normal when I come inside after a cold and sweaty run, a bag of pretzel sticks tastes amazing when I'm ravenously hungry, and my bed is the most comfortable place in the world after a busy day.

Actually the last one's always true... no matter what I did that day.

What I am trying to say is, contrast makes everything more awesome.

This adorable pound cake plays upon this awesome concept of contrast. Sure, a sweet vanilla pound cake is always yummy -- but it can get a little boring after the third bite. This pound cake is the perfect yin-yang balance of tart, zesty, and sweet. (i.e. not boring)

This cake never gets boring because it totally nails the "contrasty" thing. Fresh cranberries are super tart. Oranges are fresh and citrusy. Pound cake is rich and sweet. Mingle all of these friends together and you have the perfect, totally-not-boring, pound cake. Pound cake perfection.

This is a great counter-top cake. You know, the kind of cake to just put on the counter top looking all pretty, and as people walk in and out of the house -- mom, dad, the dog walker etc., the cake slowly gets nibbled away.

And when the glaze hardens and gets all nice and crackly... Ugh. I just wanna pour it on everything.

glaaaaaaaaze

With love,
Erica

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup vanilla yogurt/plain yogurt/or sour cream
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 eggs
zest of one large orange
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup frozen cranberries

1/3 cup orange juice

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a larger bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, orange zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter. Fold in the cranberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

While the cake is in the oven, cook the 1/3 cup orange juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. While the cake is still warm, pour the orange-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

Once cool, carefully remove from the pan. For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

most popular recipes of 2013!

2013-12-29T14:04:00.002-08:00

2013 is coming to a close -- and although I am knee-deep in studying for exams, fighting off my cinnamon bun cravings, and battling a nasty cold, I can't help but feel extremely grateful for all of you who visit my little corner of the internet.

Cannella Vita wouldn't exist without you all. If it wasn't for you, who would I rant to about the agony of baking a wonky batch of brownies, instagram inspired FOMO (fear of missing out), and the time I lacerated my thumb making lemon blueberry cake. Yeah, without you, I have no one to over-share with, so thank you for being there.

Without further ado, here are your five favorite recipes from 2013.

5) Minion Cupcakes -- I'm so glad this made the list. I just got the Despicable Me 2 DVD for Christmas and that movie totally changed my life (I personally identify with Agnes and her love of unicorns and bangs).

4) Banana Nutella Eggrolls -- A banana smeared with Nutella is a very good thing. A good thing is always made better when it is wrapped in dough and deep-fried. Case and point.

3) Really Good Marble Cake -- this marble cake is really good.

2) Sex in a Pan -- This recipe won #1 recipe of the year on Best Dessert Recipes.com. I guess with a name like that it's hard not to get noticed ;).

1) Julia's Banana Bread -- I made this recipe as an afterthought while studying for a math quiz. It was the most popular recipe of the year by a long shot. I guess the moral of the story is "when you have to study for a math quiz, bake banana bread." I can live with that ;).

hehehe I'm the winner!

What was your favorite Cannella Vita recipe of the year?

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.

brownie stuffed chocolate chip cookies

2013-11-13T18:11:00.001-08:00

Look at these chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven. So innocent looking, right?

There's nothing about these cookies that could possibly reinforce your trust issues.

They're chocolate chip cookies. They look so inviting and comforting sitting next to a tall glass of cold milk. They're a little large and lumpy... but a homemade chocolate chip cookie is a homemade chocolate chip cookie. The largeness/lumpiness just enhances their whole "homemade" vibe. Right?

WRONG! These seemingly innocent cookies were all large and lumpy because they were hiding a full on double-fudge brownie on the inside! You sneaky cookie you!

Let me tell you how these stealthy cookies came about. I was experimenting with a new brownie recipe, and I screwed up... they tasted pretty good but they were unbelievably skinny, and no one likes skinny brownies.

I was about to chuck messed up batch in the trashcan when I felt a bout of sympathy for those brownies. It wasn't their fault that they were too little to cut it in the harsh world of thick cut, chocolate chunk brownies. They hadn't done anything wrong... it was my duty to save them.

So with a little help from some homemade cookie dough, those sorry little brownies were saved. I wrapped each one in a big layer of soft cookie dough, and they were transformed into these huge, amazing mounds of bake-sale-worthy-goodness.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients
1 pan of baked brownies (either homemade or from a mix)
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. chocolate chips

Cut your brownies into 10, 1 inch squares. Enjoy the leftovers for yourself ;)

To make the chocolate chip cookie dough, beat butter and sugar with a mixer until creamy. Add the eggs, yolk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and add to the butter mixture until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Let dough chill covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Scoop out 1/2 cups of the cookie dough (I told you these are HUGE!). Place the dough onto the baking sheet. You can only fit six cookies on a standard sized baking sheet -- so you will have to make several batches.

Make an indention in each mound of cookie dough and place a cut brownie in the center. Press the brownie down and work the remaining dough around the brownie. Shape the dough into a ball.

Once all your cookies are "stuffed" with a brownie, bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. Return the remaining dough to the refrigerator until time to bake the second batch. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then cool completely on a 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.