It was Valentines Day and I wanted to make something extra special for my husband- my friend- the love of my life. Yes- I’m sappy but its true! Chocolate of course had to be the main ingredient but to kick things up a notch I thought I would use a combo of recipes from Mother of Thyme and then tweak them a bit. She is an inspiration and you leave her blog with your stomach growling. Mother of Thyme did a Biscoff Blondie recipe that looked incredible and then she did a chocolate bundt cake. Put those two main ingredients together and then tweak the cake part to include a yummy decadent creamy biscoff chocolate filling and you have yourself the MOST INCREDIBLE DESSERT KNOWN TO MAN!  GENIUS! The biscoff spread paired perfectly with the melted oeey gooey chocolate filling and the coffee and spice flavor really added a whole new dimension to the idea of chocolate cake. Seriously, if you would have dropped in on me that day you would have found me in the kitchen licking the bowl from rim to rim!

I melted a few chocolate chips along with the biscoff spread before adding it to the chocolate filling so that I could keep the “look” of chocolate but have a nice biscoffy (i made that word up) surprise once you take a bite!

There is nothing extra special about a Molten Chocolate Cake but a Biscoff Chocolate Molten Cake- now that is special. Give thanks to Mother Thyme for the inspiration behind this incredible dessert!

BABY STUFF! Yep- did you see that coming? You must realize that as much time as I spend in the kitchen thinking up new recipes I spend just as much time envisioning redesigning new spaces around our house now that I have two boys. The playroom, Connor’s nursery,etc. We hope to move soon so my husband questions why I would redesign anything right now but back me up here ladies! If I am in the mood to redesign then I am in the mood to redesign and as a stressed out, tired and worn down mom of two small kids-If I want to redesign then redesign I will! LOL!

So what are my ideas? Well, I won’t bore you with all the details but I can say that when my first son was born I wanted to do something to his room that really made it fun and lively but without buying too many accessories. I decided to use a wall decal from Nouwall. Nouwall is a company that specializes in wall decals for any room in your house. I am not talking about some silly sticker. Think much larger- grand and detailed. Graphics of animals, trees, I am speaking of large detailed inate decals of animals, trees, castles, etc. At NouWall you will find conceptual and themed vinyl stickers to match the concept of your interior space. Each unique design is illustrated work by hand and crafted to perfection without using any auto-trace software.

Creating the perfect space for your kids room usually begins with the walls. A backdrop so to speak of the many endless places your kids can go and dream. Maybe it is a safari, a fairy tale or a land of enchanted monkeys and birds. The room can easily be transformed just by your wall design from Nouwall.

I am still trying to decided which decal I want for Connor’s room but I while I am figuring that out I thought a giveaway to my readers and blogger friends might be fun. There are so many cooking bloggers that are pregnant or just had a baby that just think of this as my gift to you- actually Nouwall’s gift to you:)

So Nouwall has graciously offered to giveaway a free decal of their most popular piece- the Urban Forest Decal. It can transform a nursery as seen below, a living room or even bedroom. The giveaway is SIMPLE! Only 3 rules below- check them out and make sure to enter by March 4th! Good Luck

Giveaway Rules

1) Subscribe with your email to Kitchen Belleicious ( on the sidebar)

2) Like Kitchen Belleicious on facebook

3) Favorite the shop on etsy

Well, my philosophy on recipes is this- the older the better and if it comes from a grandmother or church cookbook then it probably reigns over the others. I found a recipe after searching literally through every cookbook I have and lo and behold the second to last one from a small church in Louisiana had a recipe called Praline Baby Cake. At second glance I saw a small note at the bottom that read also known as Kings Cake. The page was beaming with a white light and the recipe was calling out to me! Kings Cake + Praline Filling= BEST KINGS CAKE EVER!

An older woman named Betty came up with this recipe and although I am pretty sure she is no longer with us as the cookbook was written forever and ever ago I know she would be proud! The cake is light, the texture is slightly firm on the outside and gooey and chewy on the inside. The dough couldn;t be easier to make and the icing is near perfection. All bets off, I think this is the ONE. I am not going to jinx myself, I will try again next year but I have a feeling this is the one I will keep coming back to time and time again.

If you are not a nut fan (GASP!) then by all means substitute the praline filling for something like brown sugar and cinnamon or cream cheese or just leave it out all together! Note: I left out the nuts in the filling because of my 2 yr old son but it still tastes like praline and by all means include the nuts for your family if everyone likes them!

I was so in love with them the moment I took a bite that I made extras to take to his little mommy’s day out program. These will not disappoint and if you enjoy cooking with your kids making this Valentines Day treat is the perfect recipe to get your little guys involved with you. I thoroughly enjoyed the strawberry flavor but I think next time I am going to do a coconut flavor or apple flavor using apple cider mix. The possibilities are endless! Get in that Kitchen!

Believe it or not I have never had a shepherd’s pie in my LIFE (until last week of course). If you remember, I have mentioned how I was absolutely horrified of mashed potatoes when I was younger and the thought of a large casserole pan topped with those creamy potatoes just took my fear to a whole new level. I am older now and thankfully my tastes have changed allowing me to not only eat potatoes but LOVE them. However, although I like mashed potatoes now I wanted to follow in the steps of Mary Beth and do something different with the topping for the pie. A crispy cheesy topping of thinly sliced potatoes is considered “different” right?

A mixture of beef cooked with onions and prosciutto, corn and tomatoes gave the dish that extra flavor and the gravy was utterly delicious. The gravy simply could not be any easier than if you used store-bought. Beef broth, flour and a dash of my secret ingredient (beer) gives the filling just the right touch. It’s a gravy to end all gravy’s!

So if your kids have a mashed potato phobia like I once did then this easy one pot meal with the crispy topping is perfect for them!

I am pleased to announce that I joined my friend Reem  from Simply Reem to particpate in a foodblog hop. It is a wonderful group of amazing food bloggers who every month choose an ingredient and make a dish around it.It gets my creative juices flowing and I just love a challenge.Can you guess what this months ingredient is? Yep! Chocolate! You can’t do the month of February without chocolate now can you.

I wanted to do something really different so I thought a nice mix of chocolate and fruit would be perfect. I thought of strawberries but that is classic, then oranges but I’m not a huge orange fan and of course I could do cherries but that’s not fun so I decided to go with dainty little pears. They are light, sweet and seriously perfect paired with chocolate. Now, there are a few chocolate and pear tarts out there in google land but you will find that mine is entirely different. Only in mine do you see the bits of chocolate peaking out from the top. Not until you cute a slice of this heaven do you see the chocolate entirely. I didn’t want the same tart I have seen before so I decided to do a traditional custard with a layer of chocolate on the bottom so as to maintain a fresh feel with the pears and still give you that surprising hint of chocolate bliss.

February is #chocolatelove month!

Please join in on the #chocolatelove by linking up any chocolate recipe from the month of February 2012.  Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event! The twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove .

Cohosted by:

A Little Bit of Everything ~ASTIG Vegan ~ Badger Girl Learns to Cook~Baker Street ~ @bakerstreet29~Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~Baking Extravaganza ~BigFatBaker~Bon a croquer ~CafeTerraBlog ~Cake Duchess ~ Cakeballs, Cookies and More~Cooking with Books ~ Creative Cooking Corner ~Easily Good Eats~Elephant Eats~Georgiecakes~Hobby And More~ Java Cupcake~ Mike’s Baking ~Mis Pensamientos ~No One Likes Crumbley Cookies~Oh Cake ~ Preheat the Oven~Rico sin Azucar ~ Savoring Every Bite ~ Simply Reem ~ Smart Food and Fit ~Soni’s Food for Thought ~ Sprint 2 the Table ~ Teaspoon of Spice ~ That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~The Dusty Baker ~ The More Than Occasional Baker ~The Spicy RD ~The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Vegetarian Mamma ~ You Made That?

If you like this recipe be sure to check out the other #chocolatelove hostesses as well and don’t forget to link up your own chocolate dish below! Happy Valentines!

After putting the kids to bed one night I happily sat myself on my couch with no TV, laptop or magazine and just sat there and ate chocolate until I couldn’t see straight! It was beyond amazing. The potato chip chocolate bar had to be my favorite of them all and the Firecracker bonbon was out of this world.

So what does this have to do with you guys?

Chuao Chocolatier is hosting a crazy contest for Valentine’s Day this year. Open only to specific blog readers, the contest offers a trip for two to San Diego (where Chuao is based), dinner at The Shores restaurant, and a private wine and chocolate pairing event with Master Chef Michael Antonorsi.

You also have the chance to win one of 14 Liminted Edition Sweetheart Boxes filled with 22 signature Chuao Chocolatier bonbons.

In addition, Chuao Chocolatier is offering everyone who reads this post 20% off their entire purchase until February 14th!

Use code BLOGGER at checkout to receive 20% off your entire purchase at ChuaoChocolatier.com

To enter to win that fabulously romantic San Diego trip, visit:

Oh, I almost forgot, this recipe also gave me the chance to use my mom’s hot sauce. Yep, you heard me right, my MOM’S HOT SAUCE. I am laughing while I write this thinking of what you all must be thinking. “Wow Jessica, your Mom is a lady of many talents. A book, radio show, emag and now your telling us she has her own hot sauce?”. Well, it started a few years ago when she first began to make a brand out of  All Things Southern. A friend of hers decided to sponsor this crazy idea and wha la, you have All Things Southern Hot Sauce! Aren’t you so excited to be learning so many new things about us! LOL!

Can’t you just see the spiciness oozing out of those burger patties. Your mouth is watering isn’t it?

I have always been a lover of pecans so when my dad brought me a huge tin of them over the holidays I knew exactly what I wanted to do- pesto!

The pecans give the pesto a strong nutty flavor more so than walnuts or pine nuts and the sage balances it so well. I love this dish for it’s ease and simplicity and I know you will too! That’s it guys- short and sweet! Now u have to get back to my boys!