Category: Dessert

Chocolate Meltaway Cake

You know those insane 3-tier cakes that you see at fancy birthday parties or weddings (like these)? Well Melissa of Lil’ Miss Cakes is one of the bakers that makes those beautiful creations and I’m super stoked to have her guest post on my blog today! This whole guest blogging thing is so exciting for me because I get to introduce you to some of my all time favorite blogger friends and Melissa is one of them. I love how she posts accessible recipes for us non-professionals (like these stained glass cookies or these pumpkin chai hamantaschen). She’s really bringing it today with her twist on a yeasted babka or kokosh cake. I love me some babka, but the only time I ever make it is when I have leftover challah dough (and I don’t bake challah very often). Enter Melissa’s babka hack and you can be making a no-yeast chocolate meltaway anytime. I can’t wait to try it!

Welcome Melissa!

one of Melissa’s beautiful cakes

Hey hey! I’m Melissa of Lil’ Miss Cakes. Over on my site I kind of do it all. I share my creative cakes, share delicious and dairy-free dessert recipes, and I also design and sell custom cookie cutters. I love Chanie and her blog, she is super talented. Her food photography is stunning and her recipes are spot on, I can always find the perfect family friendly recipe to whip up for dinner. I’m so happy that the blogging world has brought us together and I’m so excited to share a recipe here with you! Thank you so much, Chanie for allowing me to guest post and congrats on your daughter, she is gorgeous! Sit back, relax, and enjoy her!

Since we all don’t always have lots of time to bake, I like to come up with impressive desserts that don’t take all day in the kitchen. I had been craving a chocolate babka/kokosh cake for a long time, but making a yeast dough is too time consuming, and doesn’t always turn out well. I needed a cake that I can mix up and bake quickly, as soon as the mood strikes. It had to be fudgy and super chocolatey, with easy to find ingredients. This cake does it all! It looks really impressive, but whips up in no time. There are a few dishes to wash, but you won’t be waiting for dough to rise all day long. There is no rolling out dough, twisting, shaping, second rising. None of that. Just mix, add to the pan, and bake. The cake is moist and tender, the chocolate is oozes everywhere, and the crumbs give the perfect amount of crunch. The best part of it all, this recipe is pareve, but I bet you won’t be able to tell!

Related Recipes:

Melissa’s cinnamon roll cake

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Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookies

I’m super excited to introduce Sina Mizrahi from The Kosher Spoon today! I’ve been a huge fan of Sina’s since she started her blog (give THESE MUFFINS a try, they’re a family favorite!) because I love that her recipes are healthy, Middle Eastern inspired, and her photography is just. so. beautiful. Sina’s not pretentious about blogging [lets face it, we all know how bloggers can be ;)], she just quietly flies under the radar, doing her thing. She blogs when she has time for it, but I’m always there following her amazing talent – stalking her blog, following her Instagram feed for her Erev Shabbat posts, and reading her columns in Binah Magazine.

When I asked Sina to guest post on my blog, she was more than happy to, even with a move and a baby of her own. I can’t thank her enough! And of course she made my favorite food of all time – COOKIES – and of course they involve almond butter because they’re great for nursing moms – and of course they are healthy and Paleo – because, like I said, this girls is AWESOME. And of course the photography is so simply stunning because THIS GIRL HAS TALENT. Welcome Sina!

I am certain a chocolate chip cookie must be every pregnant lady’s close companion. I know that when I’m expecting I can never turn one down; the craving is strong and the willpower low. Thankfully constant exhaustion keeps my habit at bay, being that baking turns into an afterthought not worth pursuing. I’d rather skip dirty dishes even when the sweet tooth beckons. And in all honesty only a homemade cookie has true merit. But then the sweeter, intoxicating smell of a newborn comes and I crave healthy foods again. With my own baby still being under one, I remember being elated when my friend Rina gushed over these Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. First, she’s a real foodie who can chatter on about pressure cookers and coconut oil, and second they don’t need a mixer and can be made in one bowl (the small bowl for the egg is minimal, k?)

These cookies turned out to be everything I needed come baby. Healthy, pleasantly sweet, and easy. I threw in some ground hazelnuts for a deeper flavor. You might be tempted to envision a Nutella-ish taste because chocolate plus hazelnuts, but they are not at all. The hazelnuts add a depth and nuttiness to the cookie that balances the sugar and chocolate. It’s not something I’d skip. If I were in Brooklyn, this is what I’d bring Chanie, the perfect treat for her and Rosie.

 

Thanks Chanie for having me on your blog! Follow along the kosher spoon as I’m off on a new adventure I’ll tell you all about soon.

 

Related Recipes:

cowboy cookie dough bites
sesame cookies
oatmeal cookies
chocolate olive oil crinkle cookies

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Egg-Free Banana Muffins

This one goes out to all the mom’s out there battling food allergies. I am with you. Boy am I with you. You see, my son suffers from an extensive list of food allergies, some severe (epipen-severe) and some, mild. The thing about food allergies is that just when you think your kid might be outgrowing an allergy, you find out you are wrong. So, so wrong.

Under the guidance of my son’s doctor, we’ve been slowly trying to reintroduce beef into his diet (yes, my kid is allergic to BEEF!) and all was going well until it wasn’t. A mere bite of cross-contaminated chicken (that was grilled together with meat) resulted in an allergy so severe, I had to call the paramedics. THIS is the kind of stuff mom’s of allergic kids have to deal with, and that’s why I’ve made us all cupcakes. Egg-free ones. (And if you’re kid is allergic to dairy, go ahead and skip the frosting, or use vegan cream cheese. Unless your kid is allergic to soy. And gluten. Then just sit down with a giant chocolate bar and have a good cry).

Lucky for us, we’re good on the dairy front and my son LOVES cream cheese, so I love to spoil him with these. The banana muffins are so incredibly moist, you’d never imagine their missing a key component of fluffy baking. No aquafaba required.

I hope you’re all having a fun and relaxing summer. Stay safe out there!


Related Recipes:

healthy thumbprint hamantaschen (egg-free)

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Mixed Berry Frozen Yogurt Bark

The 4th of July holiday weekend is just around the corner and have I got the coolest (pun intended) recipe for you! Creamy, crunchy, sweet, tart, and incredibly refreshing frozen yogurt bark, and it’s red, white and blue too!

If you’ve missed out the frozen yogurt bark trend, it’s a new, fun way to enjoy your favorite yogurt. Forget banana ice cream, frozen Greek yogurt confections are what’s hot! I love that there are endless possibilities – from the yogurt base, to the assorted toppings, there is SO much you can do.

With my patriotic spirit in mind, I went with a mix of berries and added granola for crunch. You can use fresh or frozen, which makes this super easy, and store-bought or homemade granola – so basically, this bark practically makes itself. And with a full summer ahead, we all love those types of recipes! Especially when they’re healthy, refreshing, and cold (have you BEEN outside lately?!).

These recipes aren’t just fun for me, they’re actually a necessity. You see, I don’t tolerate the heat very well (which is why, while I love my family in Florida, I would NEVER move there) and from what I hear, NYC is in for a HOT summer. If I could haul around a freezer of ice chips on my back, I probably would, but I have to settle for light and cold foods instead. I HATE cooking in the summer and with a baby coming soon (aaahhh!!), I hate it even more. Any tips for surviving the heat this season? I’m all ears.

In the meantime, it’s going to be lots of yogurt and fruit for me, which is great, because that’s exactly what I’m craving. I love Norman’s line of thick, creamy Greek yogurts but my favorite of all time is their guava yogurt. I can literally eat it for breakfast, lunch and ice cream. Oh wait, is ice cream not a meal? It is for this overheated pregnant mama ok?!?!?!?!

So, if you’re like me and you like to indulge in yogurt and imagine it’s ice cream, give this no-guilt mixed berry yogurt bark a try! It’s guaranteed to cool you off, if only for a few minutes, until your next venture outdoors.

Good luck with the summer heat you guys, and remember to stay hydrated! Oh, and of course, Happy Independence Day! Enjoy the holiday weekend :)

This post was sponsored by Norman’s. All opinions are my own. 

Related Recipes:

4th of July tartufo
4th of July chocolate-dipped kettle chip stars
blueberry frozen yogurt bites
terra stix white chocolate bark
blueberry sweet potato granola salad with  yogurt dressing

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Strawberry Basil Popsicles

Even though my Shavuot spent in Upstate New York was kinda chilly, there are signs of summer at every turn. The fresh smell of grass in the air, the sun peaking out through the clouds, and the mosquitoes coming out of hiding (scratch, scratch). As a foodie though, I look for the signs of summer at the market. The fresh berries, in-season sweet-as-sugar melon and the beautiful fragrant leaves of basil that blossom to their fullest potential. Ahh, the sweet, sweet smell of summer!

In this quick and easy recipe, the best of summer comes together in a healthy, Paleo creamsicle that is as sweet as it is refreshing. It’s my go-to all summer long!

A bucket of popsicles makes an amazing hostess gift for summer parties! Gift one at your next cookout!

Related Recipes:

orange creamsicle pops
cherry yogurt popsicles
strawberry limonana

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