This chocolate cake with hazelnut ganache & vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream is the cake I am making for a friends wedding this month. I am going to make it big enough to serve 80 people and build two tiers. The bride wanted lemon and raspberry flavour but the groom wanted Nutella involved, so I told them they couldn’t have both. They agreed to settle on the latter and so I conceptualized the cake I would make. Having done a delicious Nutella ganache in my second cookbook sweet, I knew I would modify that for the filling.

I also wanted to try the Magnolia Bakery Devils Food cake for the sponge component because it’s a spectacular recipe and I’m a long time fan of this cute and iconic bakery in NYC. And because it’s a wedding and the cake was going to be very rich, I decided on a modified Swiss meringue buttercream to cover the outside. It has a silky smooth texture that is a dream to work with, perfect for a wedding cake and is not cloyingly sweet like a buttercream frosting.

This was the trial cake I made and comprises 3 layers of sponge and is the full recipe from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. It will also be the top tier of the actual wedding cake. I’m going triple the recipe in total to get me to the final wedding cake. After much Googling and research I have established that this is the size cake that will feed 80 people.

I have no problem with the baking, assembly and icing part of the cake. Even though I have never made such a big cake before, I follow enough cake makers on Instagram to know how it’s all done. Watching cake-icing videos is therapeutic for me and I have all the equipment. What I am very stressed about is transporting such a huge cake in my mini over two hours out of Cape Town in summer. Visions of them toppling over as I ascend up Sir Lowry’s pass have crossed my mind, so I have decided to assemble the cake on-site at the wedding venue. I keep telling myself that I have worked on over 90 TV shoots on location so putting together a cake will actually be child’s play for me. Wish me luck!

Ingredients:

Cake

• 360gm flour (3 cups)
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 170gm salted butter (11/2 sticks or ¾ cup) *if you are using unsalted butter then add in ¾ tsp salt
• 380gm sugar (2 cups) – I used half white and half firmly packed dark brown sugar (the original recipe calls for 2 cups light brown sugar)
• 3 large free-range eggs
• 250gm dark chocolate 70% (9 oz)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Nutella hazelnut ganache

• 250ml cream
• 180gm chocolate – 70%
• ½ cup + ¼ cup Nutella
• 80gm-toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Swiss meringue buttercream

• 3 large free-range egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 200gm room temperature butter
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

full instructions please see : drizzleanddip.com

Best Banana Cake - This is truly the Best Banana Cake Recipe ever! It’s soft, sweet with the perfect amount of banana and it’s topped with creamy frosting!

I have been holding out on you. You see, this banana cake. Oh this cake. It’s been on my list to share for some time now, but I always seem to get side-tracked!
So today I end the hold-out and talk cake…specifically this EPICALLY DELICIOUS BEST BANANA CAKE.

Dudes, it’s so great I can’t even tell you. Like so great you should probably go ahead and make it now. Plus, bananas + cream cheese = breakfast material folks. Sprinkle a few chia seeds on top and you’re basically drinking a smoothie.

Also, you may think that you don’t need a WHOLE cake sitting on your counter on a random weekday. I’m here to debunk that negativity.

You do need cake. Cake needs you. It’s a relationship that’s bound to happen, so don’t fight it. You can diet when the cake is gone. Trust me, that’s my life’s motto.

Ingredients
Cake

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3/4 cup butter, room temp
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3 cups flour
• 3 ripe medium bananas mashed, approximately 1 1/2 cups

Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (I used Challenge Cream Cheese)
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1–2 tablespoons milk
• optional – 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F
2. Coat 3, 8-inch round cake pans or 2 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray. Cut parchment paper into rounds to fit into the bottoms of the pans. Place the parchment into each pan and coat again with nonstick spray. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl combine the milk and lemon juice. Stir and set aside.
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle at
5. Add in the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
6. Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and milk in alternating additions, beginning and ending with flour, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
7. Finally mix in the bananas until just incorporated.
8. Divide the batter evenly among the pans and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans in the oven half-way through baking.
9. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15-20 minutes and then remove from the pans and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and cream cheese together for 2 minutes until creamy. Turn mixer to low and add in the powdered sugar.
2. Finally add in the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk.
3. Turn the mixer up to medium and mix until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
4. If desired add in the remaining tablespoon of milk and mix until combined.

Frost cake.

1. If desired place the coconut in a nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently. The coconut will begin to turn golden brown. Watch closely, as the coconut will burn quickly.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the coconut to cool completely.
3. Garnish cake with the toasted coconut.

full instructions please see : cookiesandcups.com

Easy pan-seared scallops wìth lemon butter and garlìc sauce. Made wìth lemon, butter, garlìc, and fresh parsley. Seared ìn a cast ìron skìllet.

Ingredìents

• 8 large sea scallops, sìde muscle removed
• 1 tablespoon olìve oìl
• salt and pepper to taste

lemon butter sauce

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, mìnced
• 1–2 cloves garlìc, mìnced
• juìce of half a lemon, squeezed

Instructìons

1. Pat scallops dry and season wìth salt and pepper. Mìnce the parsley and garlìc and set asìde. Add the olìve oìl to a 12 ìnch cast ìron skìllet and brìng to hìgh heat.
2. Once skìllet ìs hot, add the scallops to the pan and sear for 2 mìnutes per sìde or untìl golden brown on the top and bottom.
3. Remove scallops from the skìllet and set asìde. Add the butter, garlìc, lemon and fresh parsley to the skìllet, stìrrìng occasìonally untìl fully melted.
4. Return the scallops to the skìllet and cook for an addìtìonal mìnute per sìde. Place on a servìng dìsh and drìzzle wìth extra lemon butter sauce as desìred. Sprìnkle wìth a pìnch of leftover fresh herbs and serve ìmmedìately.

Recipe Adapted From kitchenswagger.com