Nutella. Enough Said.

Nutella, as we all know, is dangerously good. One bite of pretzels dipped in Nutella or banana Nutella toast is never enough. It's irresistibly rich, chocolatey, and nutty, and is outrageously delicious on just about anything.

My brother Elliot showed me this recipe for Nutella hot chocolate, and I can't get over how perfectly simple and divine it is. This hot chocolate is almost as easy as any Swiss Miss mix and is infinitely better. It's going to be so perfect on a cold, blustery day, and I encourage everyone to give it a try!

Ingredients: 1 cup of milk (any kind works, but 2% and whole will be much richer than skim) and 2 overflowing tablespoons of Nutella. That's it!

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan on medium heat.*

2. Whisk until Nutella melts into chocolate (yum) and small bubbles begin to form on the edge of the pot.

3. Pour into your favorite mug and enjoy! 

Last weekend I went to a pottery store and painted this mug; I decided to use an Obama theme, now that it is finally 2012, and it turned out great!

Delicious, two-ingredient hot chocolate? Yes we can!

*I'm not sure if this can be made in the microwave, but I'm guessing it would! For those of you at college without access to a stove, try to microwave it in a microwave-safe mug for a bit on high and stir to combine the milk and Nutella. It seems like a logical option to me!

Baked Alaska Challenge

A few weeks ago my family went to Philadelphia for my grandmother's 80th birthday. We had a delicious meal at Butcher and Singer, complete with a traditional dessert my brother and I have never tried--baked Alaska. We ordered it, not really sure what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised!

A baked Alaska, as we learned, is a dessert where ice cream is scooped on top of pound or sponge cake, and the entire thing is covered in meringue and baked in the oven to create a stiff shell. The baked Alaska at Butcher and Singer had a vanilla sponge cake with banana ice cream, and was delicious.

Elliot, my cousin Lauren, her boyfriend Nick and I loved the dessert so much, and Elliot and I vowed to recreate it at home. It's a simple, fun dessert that can be made with many flavor combinations. Elliot and I decided to keep it simple--for the cake we used a marble pound cake, and for the ice cream we used Haagen Dazs vanilla frozen yogurt.

First, we cut the pound cake into 1-inch thick slices. We put a scoop of ice cream on top and trimmed the cake into a circle. We put them on a baking sheet and put it in the freezer.

Next, we prepared a simple meringue using egg whites, vanilla, cream of tartar, and sugar.

We then piped the meringue to cover the ice cream and pound cake.

We put them in the oven for 3 minutes at 500 degrees and were amazed with how quickly the tips started to brown.

Here are the final baked Alaskas (Elliot's is on the left, mine is on the right)

They turned out great! The pound cake was a little dry, and we want to try a different flavor of ice cream next time, but overall it was a great first effort. Here's a cross-section of one; I need to learn how to make a more compact scoop of ice cream!

We all loved the baked Alaskas, and we can't wait to make them again!