Italian Love Cake: Happy Valentine’s Day

Posted on by

Not sure on the history of why this is called love cake, but I will tell you its two major components are items I love dearly: chocolate & cheese!! (It’s ricotta, chill) Anyway, it’s not super laborious, but it’s also not your traditional cake. Set aside a good amount of time to make this and it’s actually best if you make the night before serving. Also! there’s an element of magic involved. That’s right kids, magic.

  • 1 boxed chocolate cake mix AND the ingredients listed on the box (I know I’m a disappointment to Martha but whatever, I love me a solid shortcut)
  • 2 lbs. (32 ounces) ricotta cheese (seemed like an insane amount when I was buying it but is actually the right quantity)
  • 4 eggs
  • 3/4 cup sugar (my coworkers seemed to think 1 cup would’ve been better as that layer wasn’t quite as sweet, so use your judgment)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 (5.1 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup cold milk (yes that seems like too little, but just trust the recipe please, also I may swap this for Kahlua next time and see if that improves/ruins this “frosting”)
  • 8 ounces Cool Whip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9×13 inch pan and set aside. In a large bowl, prepare your cake mix batter according to the directions on the box. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a super strong whisking arm like mine), beat together the ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and use an off-set spatula to spread evenly in the pan. Next, carefully pour the ricotta mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter. Gently spread the ricotta mixture so it evenly covers the cake batter. (The layers will switch while baking so the ricotta moves to the bottom and cake to the top – like magic or the scientific reason that ricotta weighs more than cake batter, whatever I am sticking with MAGIC.)

Bake for 60 minutes or until cake is set. Let cake cool completely before “frosting.”

Once the cake is cool, whisk together the pudding mix and milk until combined. Gently fold the Cool Whip into the pudding until combined. Spread the pudding mixture over the top of the cooled cake. Cover the cake and refrigerate at least 6 hours, or overnight, before serving. You know what -this cake SHOULD be called Love Cake because if I have to wait overnight to dive into this puppy I must really love you/it.

Not a very “pretty” picture but this is all I could sneak in as my coworkers devoured the cake.

IMG_6405

We are sending you all loads of Italian love this valentine’s day: tanti baci!

Happy Eating, XO.

Foodie Fav: Cinnamon Twists

Posted on by

Valentine’s Day is coming up (don’t act like you forgot gentlemen) and while flowers are really nice, we’re pretty sure your girl wants some sweets too. Cue these super easy and super cute cinnamon twists from Lil Luna. So easy, even a man can make them. (Yes, we went there.) Throw them in a Ball jar to make them gift worthy and you’re as good as gold. Ok, maybe not gold. You should probably go get her that gold necklace as well, just to be safe.

  • 1 can crescent rolls
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking sheet. Roll out the crescent rolls so they make four rectangles (as opposed to the triangles they want to be), pressing the inner edges together to bind them. Mix your sugar and cinnamon together and set aside. Brush 3/4 of your melted butter on to two of the rectangles, and sprinkle with 3/4 of the sugar mixture. Take the two un-buttered rectangles and lay them on top of the sugar coated ones, pressing the edges to seal them.

Cut both rectangles in to six strips (I found a pizza cutter is the easiest way to do this). Brush on the remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Lil Luna suggests baking them for 8-10 minutes but I found that mine actually took around 20 to get a nice golden brown. I was able to try a bite of them at the party and they really are heavenly!

Cinnamon Twists

 

Happy Eating, XO.

An Ode to Pittsburgh

Posted on by

Being that Jess and I were both home over the holidays, the Burgh has been on my mind…

I wanted to make a Yinzer classic and so I got to thinking what was the quickest way I can get a yummy, easy Pittsburgh-ese meal on the table. The inspiration came from my 12 hr. pub crawl on the Southside the day after Christmas! And despite how many beers, shots, wine, etc I drank, I remembered the amazing food I had. It truly was a taste of home in your mouth. Good ole’ kielbasa and pierogies…

Crock Pot Bourbon Glazed Kielbasa 

  • 1 pound Kielbasa, sliced
  • 1 cup apricot preserves (orange marmalade would work too, but this is way better)
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp. of bourbon (or apple juice, being cognizant of my knocked up friends)

Combine everything in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. While that is getting delish, I boiled a box of the frozen Mrs. T’s potato and onion pierogies. Now don’t hate that I didn’t make those from scratch, after all I live in Philly now and I will leave the scratch making to the Polish (just kidding, stay tuned for a quick- at home way, to make your own). In a bind though, it all tastes the same when you are washing it down with an ice cold Iron City.

Happy Eating, XO.

Tricked Out Toast

Posted on by

We always like to keep things interesting and fresh, and toast is no exception. No longer will we settle for just butter or jelly! Here’s just one version of making toast a little more exciting (and filling!). If you have any other interesting toast toppings you use, let’s hear about it!

  • 2 pieces of health nut bread (or whichever kind you choose)
  • 1/2 of a pear, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp ricotta cheese
  • 1 tsp honey
  • Dash of cinnamon

I’m sure you know the drill here – toast the bread, spread on the ricotta cheese, layer on the pear, drizzle the honey, and dash on the cinnamon. Viola! A delicious and filling breakfast.

Tricked out toast
Now Sonia claims she does toast better: mashed avocado, sea salt and a boiled egg. My sweet tooth thinks, I prevail. Team #trickedouttoast

Happy Eating, XO.

Homemade Gnocchi

Posted on by

Being Italian, I thought it was high time to learn how to make pasta from scratch. Although, with it being just after the holidays I can’t afford a pasta attachment. The next best thing? Hands! The second best thing? Pairing it with our homemade red sauce (or gravy, or whatever you want to call it). Pour yourself a nice glass of Chianti, turn up your best Italian Pandora station and get to it!

  • 2 russet potatoes
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp salt

(that’s LITERALLY all you need!)

Peel the two potatoes while bringing a pot of water to boil. Boil the potatoes for about 30-40 minutes or until tender enough to mash. In a bowl, mash the potatoes until completely smooth. (I made the mistake of not mashing them enough the first time and the chunks create air pockets in the dough.) Once you have some smooth potatoes, add in the flour, egg, and salt until a dough begins to form. Kneed it until completely blended, but is still a little sticky. (Add a dab of water if it gets too dried out.) Take a fist size chunk of the dough and roll it into a long thin rope. Cut it into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

If you want to get fancy, with fork tines, make small indents in the pieces (another great fancy tip is adding a pinch of dried rosemary or chopped chives, both pair super well with gnocchi or any potato based dish). Boil another pot of water with a dash of salt in it and drop in the gnocchi pieces. You’ll know it’s done when the gnocchi starts to float to the top. In the words of Frankie Sinatra, now that’s amore!

Gnocchi

Happy Eating, XO.