Chocolate and Coconut Milk Cake

This is not my recipe or photo for that matter, but I made this cake with my mom and it was insane!!! So so good! I love coconut and I love chocolate and this is just a little piece of heaven! I got the recipe off my friend, Rachelle's blog, who I trust like no one else when it comes to delicious treats, and she got it off of this blog.

Chocolate and Coconut Milk Cake

2 ounces semisweet chocolate

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup boiling water

6 TBS butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup coconut milk

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

toasted coconut (for topping, optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line bottom of 9" pan with round of parchment paper, butter paper, and sides of pan.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot water and cocoa powder. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

In a bowl add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs (adding one at a time) until thickened slightly and light colored (about 3 minutes). Slowly add coconut milk, and melted chocolate mixture, beating until combined well. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.

Pour batter into pan, and bake in middle of oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.

Cool cake completely before frosting.

Chocolate Coconut Buttercream

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2c-3/4 cup coconut milk,

1/2 tsp - 1tsp pure coconut extract

Beat butter, cocoa, powdered sugar, and coconut extract, and add coconut milk a little at a time until you reach a consistency you like.

Top with coconut flakes and toast it for a few minutes at 450° if you like.

enjoy!

Tomato Basil Soup

I just LOVE fall! And one thing I always look forward to is this comforting tomato basil soup on a brisk evening. And I could eat this soup for dinner at least once a week in the fall, it is just so delicious!!!

INGREDIENTS:

4 carrots, chopped

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1-2 large onions, chopped

3 tsp. minced garlic

1 Tablespoon dry basil

1/3 cup olive oil

3 – 28 oz cans Italian-style tomatoes

1 – 14 oz vegetable broth

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

4 Tbsp fresh basil

a dash of cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

Chopped Fresh Basil to top

Fresh Grated Parmesan to top

Instructions: In a large pot, sauté the olive oil, carrots, and onions at medium heat for 12 minutes.

Add the dry basil, salt, pepper, and tomatoes and bring to a simmer, simmer 20 minutes. Add the broth to the pot, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 45 minutes. Puree in a blender while adding the fresh basil, add cream and simmer. Enjoy!!!

Raspberry Muffins

This is BY FAR my favorite muffin of all time! In my opinion, they are perfection!!! This has been a long time recipe of my mom's, so I have been enjoying these delicious babies my whole life. When my mom makes them, she uses three different kinds of berries- blueberries, raspberries and blackberries- but I was always looking for the ones with the most raspberries so I thought why not make them all with just raspberries, I like the tartness, but they are good as triples too!

I have also made it in a pan, like a coffee cake...just can't go wrong!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

1 - 12 oz bag frozen raspberries. Don’t thaw or the batter will turn pink. (My mom makes these as triple berry muffins with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries- but I was always looking for the ones with the most raspberries so I thought why not make them all with just raspberries, I like the tartness, but they are good as triples too!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugar and beat till fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla, baking powder, and salt. Fold in half the flour and then half the milk then repeat with remaining flour and milk. Fold in all the frozen berries. Spoon the batter into muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Bake about 25 minutes or until done.

Streusel Topping Mixture:

1/4 cups flour

1/4 cups sugar

2 Tbsp butter, cut in

Mixture should be crumbly.

Just having a little muffin picnic in the front yard