Beatty's Chocolate Cake by the Barefoot Contessa

Happy belated birthdays to my two big sisters and my mom! Since they all fall so close together, we decided to celebrate the three together.  This is by far my sister Tina's favorite cake recipe, and she requests it every year.  It is a moist chocolate cake, but by no means the most decadent or rich one I've ever tasted.  The coffee component adds a nice touch but isn't overpowering, and the frosting? Just check out the ingredients - how could that combination not be delicious?!  

The one complaint I received was "Sunny, why were you so stingy with the frosting?!!!" Mea culpa.  I'll glop it on next time.

This was a funny picture that happened accidentally when my little sister and I 

tried to eat the cupcake with a fork.  He's not really sad; just delicious.  

 

I made cupcakes instead of a 2 layer cake just for portability, but either would work!

Breakfast Crepes

I love crepes.  Not much you can argue with - they're essentially thin pancakes with crispy edges that you can stuff full of different things both sweet or savory. 

I made 2 kinds - one smothered in Nutella, and another (pictured above) with lemon zest, juice, a sprinkling of sugar and blackberries.

Crepes, adapted from Alton Brown
(makes ~18 crepes)

:: blender
:: 8 in nonstick pan

:: 2 eggs
:: 3/4 cup milk (preferably whole)
:: 1/2 cup water
:: 1 cup flour
:: 1 tsp vanilla
:: 3 tbsp melted butter + butter for each crepe
:: 2 tbsp sugar
:: 1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in the blender and pulse for about 15-20 seconds.  Set aside in refrigerator for ideally an hour to let bubbles subside (otherwise your crepes will be delicate and liable to tear).

Heat pan over medium-high heat.  Melt a small amount of butter on the pan for each crepe, then pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the center of the pan.  Immediately begin swirling pan around until it covers the bottom of the pan, let cook for about 40 seconds. 

Flip over (I found a spatula to be the most useful tool for this) and cook an additional 15 seconds.  Lay flat on a plate while you cook the rest. 

Serve with whatever you'd like! This recipe works also great as a savory crepe, but I would probably omit the 2 tbsp of sugar in that case.