candied rose & crushed pistachio brownies

We're three weeks away from Valentine's Day! For those of you who know me pretty well, you'd probably think that I absolutely hate Valentine's Day. At this point, I've convinced myself that I'm probably going to be eternally single and die alone; but really, any holiday that revolves around the consumption of sugar is a great one in my eyes.    

Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorites. One of my absolute favorite memories of elementary school was coming home from school with a huge box full of candy and valentines every year. Seriously, why did we stop doing that after like 5th grade? Okay, yeah, maybe that would've been a little discomforting at my all-boys high school but damn, sometimes a boy just wants some chocolate. Can we please bring that back? Sure I'm a senior in college, but who wouldn't want to receive One Direction valentines (WITH STICKERS!!!!), candy, and some freshly baked brownies? Nobody. 

Over the past few years, I've always made an effort to do something fun on Valentine's Day. Usually, this just means going to dinner with a few of my friends and then gorging on way too much chocolate because you know, it's always nice to forget about your loneliness by stuffing your face with fifteen mini Reese's hearts! 

This year, I teamed up with my friends at West Elm to create three different Valentine's Day recipes for you to make for your boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend, ...yourself. Make sure to tune back in the next two Fridays for some delicious recipes!

It’s undeniable — Valentine’s Day is synonymous with roses and chocolate. Though the two are often gifted together, most people aren’t eating their roses.

To prove your love in the best way possible (i.e., food), whip up a batch of these sinfully fudgy brownies, topped with chocolate ganache, crushed pistachios, and candied roses. 

I find that the thought of eating flowers usually sends people into a bit of a panic. Rest assured: yes, roses are edible. And no, you will not die. For this recipe, please use organic roses — pesticides and other chemicals are not very romantic, in my opinion. 

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Candied Rose + Crushed Pistachio Brownies 

siiiiike! The recipe is on West Elm's Front and Main blog!

the best ever cookies & cream cookies

I've been neglecting my roots lately. And no, I'm not talking about my hair. Those are so far gone that labeling my overgrown roots as ombre is totally passable. 

Let's put the hair drama aside, I'm talking about my baking roots. 

Like many a home baker, my journey through the wonderful world of sugar started with pre-made cookie dough. Looking back, I shudder at the very thought of cookie dough that isn't congruent with my regularly scheduled fantasies of mountains of dough made with fancy European butter, Tahitian vanilla, or twenty plus dollars worth of quality chocolate. You can say I've spoiled myself, I just like to think I take my cookie dough very seriously. 

Given that I haven't posted a cookie recipe in more than a hot second and I was beginning to quite literally feel the absence of brown sugar-laced mounds of deliciousness from the blog, I'm sharing one of my absolute favorite recipes today: the famed cookies & cream cookies. 

These cookies are a total fan favorite. Every baker has an arsenal of perfected cookie recipes, but these are easily the most requested of the bunch. I oblige at every request, mainly just so I can eat some of the cookie dough before I bake them and wrap them up for my friends. Beware cookie dough bingers! This stuff is LETHAL. 

I could write an entire fan fiction about me and these cookies, but to spare you the ranting, I have developed a super helpful list of why you should drop everything and bake these immediately: 

1. Uh, there are COOKIES inside of COOKIES. This is a good enough reason on its own. (Side note: Can we make #cookieinception a thing?) 
2. Because dipping Oreos in milk is the greatest and these cookies are the cookie equivalent of going through a whole sleeve of Oreos and a glass of milk in five minutes flat. 
3. The cookie dough itself is out of this world. Like... eat-four-cookies-worth-of-dough-every-single-time good.  
4. There's cream cheese and brown sugar involved, so these bad boys will stay soft for days and days. This means that you can have a cookie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for five consecutive days without them going stale on you. Caloric hoarding, ftw! 
5. You'll be introduced to the wonderful world of milk powder, which is essentially the MSG of the baking world. 
6. THEY HAVE ACTUAL, REAL LIFE GROUPIES. (I'm looking at you, Ali, Ashley, Abbey, and Brooke.) 
7. Do I need to mention the fact that there's Oreos in them again? 

Just bake the damn cookies. Seriously, you won't regret it. 

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Graham's Notes:

• My special secret to the deliciousness of these cookies lies in the addition of milk powder to the dry ingredients. Milk powder makes creamy, milky flavors more pronounced. Milk powder can be found in the powdered drink aisle of your local grocery store, or by the powdered baby formula. (But please, for the love of God, don't use Similac in these cookies.)
• When baking with white chocolate, I try to stray away from baking chips, as they are generally of pretty poor quality. Unless you're using the Whole Foods brand of baking chips, do yourself a favor and buy individual bars of white chocolate and chop them up yourself. I prefer Lindt or Callebaut. 

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Cookies & Cream Cookies 

• 4 oz. (half a block) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste or extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons instant milk powder ** (see note) 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 cups coarsely chopped oreos (about 18-20 cookies)
• 1 cup chopped white chocolate 
• sugar for rolling

make: 

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, combine oreos with 2 tablespoons of instant milk powder and set aside. 

In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and butter until light and creamy, about a minute. Add the brown sugar and egg and beat on medium-low speed for 3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Stir in vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in the coated oreos and white chocolate. 

Measure out 1/4 cup portions of cookie dough. Roll each cookie in sugar and arrange on the prepared baking sheets, providing at least 3 inches between each cookies. Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, until edges begin to brown but the middle is still relatively gooey! Cool and enjoy with a big glass of milk!  

blood orange mimosa cake — #madewithchobani

Do you ever feel like everything is moving in hyper speed?

I'm having a hard time believing that it's 2015 already. Like, can somebody please teach me how to stop writing 2014 on every. single. assignment. that my glittery One Direction pens touch? Forging the number 4 into a 5 makes for an absolute atrocity and my obsessive compulsive ways have been tested beyond their limits lately. To any of my classmates or teachers reading this, I apologize in advance for any sporadic outbursts featuring some, errrr, colorful language. 

Looseleaf-induced drama aside, my life seems to be in a state of eternal fast forward as of late. The holidays came and went in virtually no time, leaving me with a feeling of constant exhaustion and general delusion that I can only describe as a holiday hangover. My symptoms are near identical to the hell that is the morning after getting a little too... turnt, for lack of another word. (Minus all of the drunk text regret, thank GOD.) 

A few weeks back, Chobani contacted me to take part in their #MadeWithChobani campaign and create an extra special recipe using their signature greek yogurt as a key ingredient. Given that I've been in desperate need of a lazy Sunday brunch and am a definite advocate for kicking a hangover with extra alcohol, I decided to cure my ailments with a mimosa cake. (Disclaimer: they also wanted something relatively healthy, but I'm a firm believer that: 1, cake is good for the soul and 2, calories don't count when you're curing a hangover. Duh!) 

This one-layer boozy citrus situation was inspired by this satsuma yogurt cake, a lesser-known gem from when I first started blogging. (Fun story: I've eaten that whole cake in one sitting on two separate occasions; it's that addictive.) I adapted that recipe to create a blood-orange scented cake made with Chobani's plain greek yogurt, topped it with a surprisingly light and airy champagne whipped cream, and then went all science-y and made blood orange "caviar" because champagne and caviar and honestly, who doesn't love a little extra drama. 

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Graham's Notes: 

• I've always been enamored by the general drama of blood oranges, so I decided to replace traditional orange orange juice with the juice of some freshly-squeezed blood oranges. They're so delicious and perfectly ripe around this time of the year, so I recommend you use them. If you're not into them, no worries, you can always use traditional navel oranges. 
• Please don't forget to add the vegetable oil at the end of the batter-making process. I did that on two separate occasions. *facepalm* 

This recipe was created in conjunction with Chobani Greek Yogurt for their #MadeWithChobani campaign, though all opinions about the deliciousness of their yogurt are my own. Take a look at what other bloggers have been dishing up by searching #MadeWithChobani on Instagram! 

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Blood Orange Scented Yogurt Cake 

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup Chobani plain greek yogurt 
• 4 small blood oranges, zested 
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla paste or extract 
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. fine salt 
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup freshly-squeezed blood orange juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar 

make: 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9" round cake pan with parchment and lightly grease and flour. 

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, greek yogurt, and orange zest until smooth and fragrant. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Sift in the flours, baking powder, and salt and mix until just fully combined. Finally, stir in the the vegetable oil. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. 

While the cake is cooling, combine the blood orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture thickens and forms a syrup, about 5-10 minutes. Immediately pour and brush over the top of the cake. 

Champagne Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 1/4 cup champagne
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar 

make:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, the cream, champagne, and sugar until soft peaks form. Spoon onto the top of the cake and top with blood orange caviar. 

Blood Orange Caviar 

(adapted and inspired by Sprinkle Bakes) 

• 2-3 cups vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 oz. packets of powdered gelatin 
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 3 oz. blood orange juice 
• ice
• 1/4 cup coarse salt for ice bath
• a small squeeze bottle 

make:

Refrigerate the vegetable oil for at least 24 hours. The oil must be very cold to properly set up the gelatin for the caviar. When you're ready to make the caviar, fill a bowl with ice, cold water, and the salt to create an ice bath. Place the bowl of cold vegetable oil in the middle of the ice bath. 

Mix together the gelatin and cold water until no lumps are left. Set aside. 

On a stovetop over a medium-low flame, heat the orange juice until warm to the touch. (You can also do this in the microwave.) Once warm, whisk the juice into the gelatin mixture and stir until the gelatin is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer this liquid into your squeeze bottle and let come to room temperature. 

Using the squeeze bottle, drop the orange gelatin liquid into the oil until balls forms. They will eventually sink to the bottom. Repeat the process until you have enough, then scoop them out of the oil and drain through a mesh sieve. Use immediately on top of the whipped ream or store refrigerated with excess oil for up to 10 days.