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!

Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Cherry Granola (+ a giveaway!)

Let's talk about Izy. 

If you're not familiar with Top With Cinnamon, I'm feeling terribly sorry for you right about now. Izy's blog is preeeeettty badass. (Okay, much more than just pretty badass, it's totally, absolutely, one hundred percent badder than all of the asses ever. Including Kim and Nicki and Iggy and J.Lo's.) Izy's also British.... and I have this fantasy that if/when I ever meet her IRL, I'll instantly objectify her accent (out of pure love) and probably hound her about whether or not she knows a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend who knows a One Direction boy. 
Best of all, Izy's freaking EIGHTEEN and just released the most equally as badass cookbook!!! File under: life goals slash productive-things-I-could-have-been-doing-at-18-but-I-was-too-busy-doing-this. 

I bought Izy's book, Top With Cinnamon, on my trip to New York and spent the whole three hour flight home reading and rereading each and every recipe until I forced myself to call for more blue chips out of pure hangry rage. (Thanks jetBlue, you are bae.) Seriously y'all, this cookbook is LEGIT. The pictures. The words. The food. THE EVERYTHING. I keep it out in my kitchen to flip through it whenever I need some inspiration or try to figure out what an 'aubergine' is. Spoiler alert: it's an eggplant. 

I love Izy's book so so so much, that I'm giving away a copy today! You can enter through the widget below and by commenting on this post telling about one of your personal favorite cookbooks. I want to hear all about the ones that you swear by, because that's exactly how I feel about Top With Cinnamon. (This is in no way sponsored, I'm just a really excited fangirl.) 

The cookbook is full of so many amazing recipes. Luckily for me, it's pretty sweet heavy, but there's a good chunk of savory in there too — I like to call this real food, pre-dessert. No but really, I would do naughty things to this halloumi, quinoa and pomegranate salad, y'all.

I'm not the biggest breakfast person, but Izy's granola recipe got me hooked on having a supercute yogurt parfait almost every morning before school because it's that damn good. Screw all of the oven madness, her granola is made by toasting oats and almonds on your stovetop for a hot minute, mixing in some coconut oil and a natural sweetener like agave or honey, et voila! Granola in ten minutes flat. After making her original mixture, I used that same process and made my own wintery mix, complete with pistachios, dried cherries, and chopped dark chocolate because chocolate for breakfast is the ultimate morning win. Cop the recipe below and I'm sure you'll be joining me in my usual granola happy dance I do every morning. 

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Dark Chocolate, Pistachio, and Cherry Granola 

(adapted from Top With Cinnamon) 

• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup roasted salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar or honey 
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional, but #health) 
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
• half a bar (1.75 oz or 50g) quality dark chocolate, chopped

Directions

Place the oats and chopped pistachios into a pan. Toast over high heat for for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make a well in the center of the pan and add in the coconut oil and agave. Stir until the whole mixture is evenly coated. 

Remove the pan from heat and let the granola cool for 5-10 minutes. Once slightly cool, add the chia seeds, dried cherries, and dark chocolate. Stir the mixture quickly to combine. (The chocolate will begin to melt, but this coats the granola with extra chocolatey flavor.) Once thoroughly mixed, serve the granola or transfer to a tightly-sealed container to store. 

Pistachio Rose Water Cake

Every year, I find myself underestimating how much I love Easter. Growing up, I never got too excited over Easter, but in the past few years, I've routinely found myself freaking out once all of my favorite Easter candy hit the shelves. Seriously, I've eaten way too many white chocolate m&m's and mini cadbury eggs that it's kind of disgusting. I've inhaled so much sugar in the past few weeks, that — get ready for it — I'm actually feeling sick of sugar. I think this is a first. I feel blasphemous even admitting this. I guess you really can have too much of a good thing. 

Sugar, if you're reading this, please forgive me for not telling you to your face. It's just, I think I need a little space right now. Consider this relationship open. 

Anyways, back to Easter. Though we usually have a family crawfish boil, we decided to switch it up this year. This year: a giant homemade Mediterranean feast. It was pretty damn legit if you ask me. My mom slaved over a roasted leg of lamb and yogurt-marinated chicken with lemony greek potatoes. Homemade hummus with not-homemade pita. Oops. Rice pilaf loaded with pine nuts and grilled asparagus. 

And as if that wasn't enough, we had TWO desserts. My mom made Galaktompoureko, a creamy Greek custard pie with phyllo that's soaked in orange syrup. Then I made this cake. Can we get a moment of silence for this cake, please. 

Thank you. 

I've been having horrible cravings for pistachio and rose water since the winter. I've even made a couple of cakes that all turned out to be not what I was looking for. But then, it dawned on me that I could take one of my favorite yogurt cake recipes, add some pistachio paste to it, and call it a day. After months of trying to find the perfect pistachio cake, I have finally satisfied my craving. This is it. The cake is light and moist with the most perfect crumb. (Really though, I've never made a cake that had such a perfectly-balanced crumb before.) The pistachio is flavorful throughout and pairs perfectly with the rose water glaze without being overpowering. And god, was it simple.

There's nothing too fancy needed for this recipe, save for pistachio paste. You can make your own pistachio paste at home in your food processor or purchase a jar of the good stuff online like I did. 

Okay, if I don't shut up about this cake I swear I'm going to want sugar again. I've got a busy week ahead of me. I go back to school tomorrow, but then I'm off to Florida for a wedding on Wednesday. I can't even begin to express how excited I am to be at the beach for an extra extra-long weekend. 

Brb y'all, I'll be back with some crazy recipes for you next week! In the meantime, make this and freak out like I did. 

Pistachio Yogurt Cake

• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup greek yogurt (I used half plain, half vanilla)
• 1/2 cup pistachio paste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9" round cake pans or a bundt pan. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 2 minutes on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until blended. Mix in vanilla. 

Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then half of the yogurt, then the remaining half of the dry ingredients, and then the rest of the yogurt. Stir in the pistachio paste. 

Pour the batter into prepared pans. If using 9" rounds, bake for 30-40 minutes. If using a bundt pan, bake for 50-55 minutes. Cool and remove from pan(s). 

Rose Water Glaze 

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/2 tsp. rose water

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together until a glaze is formed. Drench over the base of the cake. (Note: Poking holes in the cake makes it super yummy too!) Top with crushed pistachios. Serve.