Coffee Love

I discovered this Melitta coffee a few weeks ago and I've been hooked ever since!

The Best Chocolate Cake

January and February are by far the two craziest birthday months in our family. I did 5 out of 7 cakes in just 2 months! Everyone is still managing to stick to their diets though, so I don't feel that guilty!

I've been saving Barefoot Contessa's Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe for months so when my dad asked for chocolate cake- I had a plan. I think I'm safe to say that I will never need another chocolate cake recipe ever AGAIN. It was amazing!! I could go on and on about this cake because it seriously was the best I think I ever had. The Contessa does it again!

I used Scharffen Berger cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate which is a bit pricey, but very high quality and totally worth it for this recipe.


Sorry for the sloppy picture. I almost forgot to take one.

Here are my slight changes to the recipe:

Cake: I used a 1/2 cup of coffee and added a 1/2 cup of water to it.
Frosting: I used 1/2 tsp. of instant espresso powder instead of 1 tablespoon.

You can add as little or as much as you like, but since my dad hates coffee I was afraid to add the whole thing. I plan on making it again with the entire amount because being the coffee lover that I am, you can never have too much!

The Best Coffee

Yesterday my sister-in-law, Sara and I were shopping at our favorite discount store called Glennwood Foods. I mentioned before how we always find organic foods and all kinds of other gourmet specialty foods, super CHEAP!

Well, she turns to me holding this can of coffee and says, "is this coffee any good?" I was at the other end of the aisle and came running up to see if she was really holding what I thought she was holding. It sure was Illy Coffee. I wanted to scream, I was so excited and grabbed all of the cans on the shelf. 13 total. Sara only wanted 3 so I got the other 10.

When I finally looked at the price, I freaked out even more because it was only $1.79 a can!!! Sara of course thinks I'm crazy because I get this excited about coffee. But seriously it is so good that an 8 ounce can is normally $13.00.

I only had Illy coffee one other time, but have always dreamed about having again. It is so smooth and there's no bitter or after taste like other coffees. And I especially love it because it's authentic Italian coffee, simply the best!