bell & basket

cooking. baking. home.

White (or Dark) Chocolate Pistachio Cake

Where my white chocolate lovers at?! This one’s for you. Personally, I LOVE the way this cake looks covered in white chocolate. It’s so crisp and elegant looking, which is why I started out with the white chocolate coating concept. The colors of the green pistachios and pink petals against the white chocolate is so swoon worthy. I could look at the white chocolate covered cake all day.

And because it looks so pretty, I think I want to eat it until I take a bite and remember why I despise the cloying, sweetness of white chocolate. Ugh. I just can’t get into the stuff. But there are people out in this world that love it! So really, the white chocolate version of this cake is for you–wherever you are.

And rose petals? Can we talk about these beauties for a minute? I stumbled across a bag randomly at Whole Foods and thought, I have to do something with these! The problem? I hate the sweet taste of rose almost as much as I hate white chocolate. So really, this cake is not made for me. Aren’t I selfless and angelic?

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Indian Flatbread (or Chapatti)

I’ve been dipping my toe into bread baking after starting the memoir In Search of the Perfect Loaf, by Samuel Fromartz. It’s a fascinating book about an amateur bread baker who learns to make the perfect at-home baguette after traveling to France, California, and a few places yet to be revealed. The book also includes recipes, including a flatbread one that’s pretty similar to the one below (his is in grams, and I don’t have a digital scale yet).

When I was searching for a flat bread recipe, I wanted to make the simplest version I could find. I stumbled across a traditional recipe, with no sugar, yogurt, butter, or anything to complicate things. All this flatbread dough needs is a little time (around an hour) and an awesome soup or stew to go with it, like my All Week Lentil Soup (pictured below).

These chapatti are simple and delicious when dotted with a pad of butter and eaten warm. Next time I make them I’m going to experiment throwing them on the open burner for a few seconds after they cook like Fromartz does to his flatbread for a more toasty flavor.

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All Week Lentil Soup

I make this lentil soup and we eat all week. We take it to work for lunches, we eat it for dinner with crusty bread and a fried egg on top. We eat it when it’s cold and snowy, we eat it when it’s mild and grey. This all week lentil soup has basically become a part of our family…

And what I love most about this lentil soup is that it’s vegan, super flavorful and really filling. It makes sense why Indians eat dal so often because lentils are cheap, full of protein and can be eaten with rice, bread or like soup.

All of the onion and the entire head of celery make this lentil soup really hearty. I sweat down all the veg (except for the carrots) nice and good to build a good base. Then I add my carrots, lentils, water and bay leaves.

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