tiramisu bread pudding

I seem to be on a tiramisu kick lately... I apologize to anyone who doesn't like coffee, and chocolate, and whipped cream, and mascarpone. But, quite honestly, if you don't like any of those things, I feel bad for you anyways ;) Hahah. This is another of those easy peasy recipes that are both quick and delicious... my favorite! It's just a bit unfortunate that it's a hot dessert because it's so uncomfortably hot out, and I personally dislike even turning the oven on in these circumstances. But, it's definitely worth the extra heat, I believe. And the cream cheese whipped cream is the perfect accompaniment for it. Yum! The first time I made this recipe, it was out of necessity... my mom had left out a whole loaf of French bread for a couple days, and it had literally turned into a rock. So, bread pudding was the perfect way to use up hard bread, not to mention, it's really really good. Score!

nectarine almond galette

Hi there. Do you live in Texas? Cause I do. Do you know how hot it has been down here? Well, way too hot! Wanna know what the temperature may or may not get up to this week? Wait for iiiit... 114F. Oh my gosh, kill me now. I want an ice cream maker! I need to cool off! Heeeelppp! But, my complaints are not why you are here. I will admit, I haven't blogged for nearly a week... simply because I haven't been baking. As if I'm gonna be the one turning the oven on when I can practically bake something by putting it out on the sidewalk. But, I do have a treat for you all! I made this deliciously easy galette (aka tart) with some scrumptious fresh nectarines and almonds. With some help from frozen puff pastry, this is a cinch to throw together. Totally yummy and summery! It does bake for almost 40 minutes... but unless you live in Texas, no excuses! If you do... well, I think we may need to stock up on sunscreen and ice cream, no? :) On a side note, this tart is a nightmare to take pictures of... too shiny! 

tiramisu parfaits

Did you know that I am full-blooded Italian? Cause I am! All of my family on both of my parents' sides is full Italian, and I can speak it  fluently. But, the best part? All the delicious food my mom cooks! Not to mention the desserts... ohhh, goodness. So, it seems like my duty as a food blogger to show all of you how to make Italian Tiramisu! Real Italian tiramisu, not the stuff you get in certain restaurants, which is basically whipped cream and dry ladyfingers... blech! 

creme brulee'

Be honest with me, what is the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the words "Creme Brulee"? Is it a fancy French restaurant? A super nice dinner party? An expensive dinner out? I'll bet you a hundred bucks it's not "vanilla pudding". Because, really, that's all it is! Plain ole vanilla pudding with a crispy sugar crust on top. Phew, that just made creme brulee' a whole lot less intimidating, huh? I promise you that making this scrumptious dessert will earn you some major points with anyone you're trying to impress! Mother-in-law? Snooty cousin? Girlfriend? They would all be smitten by your crazy kitchen skills! Creme brulee' is (obviously) French, and all it means is broiled cream... which is, incidentally, exactly what it is. If you're able to make a pudding, cook it in the oven, sprinkle brown sugar on top of it, and use the broiler, you can surely make this. I really wish I had one of those cool kitchen torches to caramelize the sugar topping in half a second, and to tell you the truth, that's what kept me from making creme brulee' for the longest time... my lack of a torch! I now know that the built-in broiler in your oven is a perfectly adequate replacement, so what are you waiting for? You officially have no excuses left. :)

fudgy s'mores brownies

Don't you just love when you make really good recipes and you can't wait to share them with your fabulous followers (not to mention the rest of the Internet), and you take pictures and everything and then... you literally can't find the time to sit your butt in front of your computer and edit the pictures and write the post? Because you're so busy working 10 hours a day, and at the same time trying to make time every day to work out? You do? Cause personally, I hate it. It sucks. I feel like I'm depriving my followers and friends of deliciously easy recipes that would make their belly happy, and pictures that will make them drool. But, enough about me! Let's get down to business. 

Two words: s'mores. brownies. Ohhh, my goodness. Do you see how fudgy these are? It is absolutely out of this world. I really don't know what my favorite part was about them... the extra rich chocolate flavor that cures a craving with just a tiny square? The marshmallows that melt away and leave behind their sweet flavor and chewy fudgyness? The fact that it took me maybe 10 minutes to prep and stick them in the oven? Or, the fact that this is magic made with storebought cheats? Tough choice. But, the easiest choice is yours! To make these, or not to make these? It's fairly obvious to me what your answer should be... make them! You.will.fall.in.love. Yum.

tie-dye cupcakes

Yes, tie-dye cupcakes. Okay, well, not actually tie-dyed (obviously), but colorful and swirled and fun as if they were tie-dyed! These little cupcakes are seriously so easy (wow, I feel like I've been saying that on every recipe recently... this may or may not be a recurring theme with me), and these would be a perfect, and delicious, activity to do with friends or kids! I made these with my boyfriend, but I have also made them while babysitting, so they're really just fun for everyone. 



On a side note, I've made these with cake mix before, and they turned out great.. but the vanilla cupcake recipe I used here was so good, I had to share! I found this little gem buried in my 700 page Bon Appetit Dessert cookbook, and I am so glad I found it! It makes for deliciously vanilla-y, moist cupcakes, and they come together in a jiffy. Yes, I really just said jiffy. The swirl of crazy colors (and how cool they looked already!) made me refrain from topping them with frosting, as a dusting of powdered sugar seemed to fit them well. But, I can tell you that if/when I open my own bakery, these will definitely be topped by a little cloud of buttercream vanilla frosting... pure white, of course. Depending on the occasion, you may or may not top them with icing, and I won't even judge if you decide to use ready-made frosting from the store. I mean, if you're baking with little kids, who has the time and patience? They'll be delicious anyways.

crunchy french toast

So sorry to have been a terrible blogger the past few days... I've been busy busy busy with work! Also known as, my real job. Heheh. Anyways, I'm sure I'm not the first person to do this, because I've seen it on the Food Network (and a few other food blogs too, I'm sure!), but since I didn't follow anyone else's recipe, I'm just gonna go ahead and take credit for my version. ;) More than a real recipe, this is a highly customizable, and super easy, method! It's practically foolproof, but it's more special than the standard French toast.

French toast has always been loved in my house, even if it's always been a bit of a special occasion breakfast. Well,  if you consider having stale bread a special occasion... I'm just teasing, Mama! I looove French toast. But, as you get older, you (well, I) get tired of the one-dimension deliciousness that is French toast. Toasty warm bread that's caramelized on the outside and soft on the inside. But, well, really soft. Too much soft is pretty boring. So, to jazz it up, why not coat the bread, post-egg dipping, with crushed up cereal? Genius! Now, I originally made two slices per person as a serving, but I ate one slice and I was already stuffed! So plan accordingly. Also, I would like to point out that I went to the store specifically to buy Texas Toast, which I bought specifically to make French toast... so I suppose this is Texan French Toast. :)

truffle tart

Dear loyal followers, I know you have been patiently waiting. So, your patience is being rewarded! I'm going to post about my truffle tart. My delicious, always perfect, pain-in-the-ass-but-so-worth-it chocolate tart. And, look at that! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. I've been making this recipe for quite awhile, and ever since the first time I made it, I've been smitten. There's no words to describe how out-of-this-world scrumptious this is! A buttery, crispy but not crumbly shortbread crust, and a velvety smooth, ultra chocolatey filling that tastes like the inside of a Lindt truffle. If that isn't convincing enough... I don't know what is. This.is.amazing. It requires a bit of planning ahead, but same day planning works perfectly fine. Just start the dough in the morning and give it time to chill, etc., and prebake it. When it's getting close to serving time, make the filling and fill the crust, and bake it! It's excellent served shortly out of the oven, after a little time to rest, or quite a bit after, after some chilling in the fridge! The truffle texture is more pronounced when it's cold, but who am I to turn down a freshly baked chocolate tart? This is perfect for any special occasion. Consider making it for dad, since Father's Day is coming up! :)

healthy almond joy granola bars

Dear Twitter followers/followees, I love you! All of you. I have been able to connect with the sweetest (no pun intended) bloggers, and I have found some fabulous recipes, not to mention I've gotten some good laughs out of it too. This recipe is one of those lovely little gems I found through the Twitter grapevine! Posted by Anne from fANNEtastic Food (hehehe, how cute is that name?), these granola bars are chewy and dense, packed full of whole grains and healthy stuff, and they're even good for you! And, they have dark chocolate chips, which are obviously delish. Oh, and did I mention they taste super yummy? Well, they do. 

These ridiculously easy granola bars are a cinch to make, and contain no butter, just one egg, and a pretty small amount of sugar. I'm putting myself on a diet because lots of unhealthy (but delicious) treats do not equal a healthy or skinny Valentina. Why does food have calories...? Anyways, I thought these bars were a perfect compromise between tasty, healthy, baked, and quick. Perfect! I was very sad that these granola bars weren't as coconut-y as I was hoping... but they're still really yummy! These make a delicious healthy snack for any time the munchies hit. And I can assure you it's a million times healthier than an Almond Joy. :)

bittersweet chocolate souffles

This recipe is pretty old, so old that I think this may have been the recipe that started it all! The pictures may look familiar... well, they may be familiar if you've been my Facebook friend for a long time. On my personal Facebook. So, in other words, it will be familiar to practically two people. But it's okay! I cleaned them up and edited them a little and it made a world of difference. Practice makes perfect. :)

This recipe is delicious, and it's the ultimate proof that souffles don't need to be scary! It comes from Martha Stewart, who, as everybody knows, makes fabulous desserts. If that doesn't convince you, then... well, how about the fact that it's like eating the richest, chocolatiest, lightest cloud of pure goodness you've ever tasted? Yes. No lies. If you've never made a souffle before, don't be intimidated! It takes a few steps, but you're closer to a delicious souffle than you think.

chubby snickerdoodles

Ahh, finally... another chocolate-free recipe! A rare find on this blog ;) But, delicious nonetheless. Cookies are always good, and it's even better when they're easy. And its super better when they're a crowd-pleaser! Most everybody likes cinnamon and sugar, and most people prefer chewy, soft cookies to hard ones. This deceivingly easy recipe takes the familiar flavors of a crisp snickerdoodle and turns them into a thick, chubby pillow of deliciously warm goodness. You have never had cinnamon-sugar cookies this good. Seriously. Also, something different with these cookies in comparison to a lot of regular snickerdoodle recipes is that the cookie dough is vanilla-cinnamon, instead of sugar and just rolled in cinnamon. So the cinnamon flavor is deeper and layered. Yum!

The only real downside I found when making this recipe is that it barely makes one dozen cookies. It's terribly disappointing because, once you eat one, you are absolutely addicted. So what the heck is one supposed to do with 10 cookies?! Ridiculous. Double this recipe. Don't even think about it, just do it. You'll be so glad you did. 

zucchini ricotta galette

Yes, I am well-aware that this is a sweets baking blog... but a galette is baked in an oven! So it counts, right? Yes. ;) Also, galette is a fancy word for tart, just to clear up any confusion. I made this using my mom's fresh, homemade ricotta and I think that made a whole world of difference! It was so delicious. If you've never made or tasted real homemade ricotta, you should give it a try! It's not hard, just a little time consuming, but it's really all just waiting for the water to drain out. Ricotta made from scratch tastes rich yet really light, and it is a galaxy away from the storebought kind. 




I will confess, I had never made a savory galette/tart/pie/whatever before, but I was pleasantly surprised! I don't think I had even eaten one before, to be honest. But, I think this recipe was a great way to pave the way to more not-sweet pastries. And, this pastry was not only pretty easy to work with, it was SO good. Buttery and flaky and almost melt-in-your-mouth. Delicious! This is probably the tastiest way to eat your vegetables... just sayin. ;)

brownies with peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache

I know, that title is a little long but it's not like I could leave any of it out! "Chocolate Brownies"? Too plain. "Frosted Chocolate Brownies"? What flavor is the frosting? "Peanut Butter Brownies"? Well, that sounds like the peanut butter is IN the brownies, while it's actually not. Just on top. :) I'm sure everyone has had brownies, but I don't think many people have had brownies like these... a fairly thin brownie, baked just until set yet chewy, covered with a thick layer of peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache on top of that. Sounds delicious, right? 

A must for this recipe is that you keep the brownies nice and cold in the fridge until you're ready to serve.. what you end up eating is less of a brownie and more of a... candy bar square. These are ahhh-mazing. Even  if you aren't crazy about peanut butter, try these. They may just convert you... :)