Welcome to the weekend, my friends! It’s been a whirlwind of a week in Switzerland, exploring the area around Lausanne, enjoying the ballet, and eating copious amounts of cheese, chocolate, and pastries.

I’ll be sharing more in a full post on the blog after I’m home again, but in the meantime, let me just say that the Alps are gorgeous, the architecture is fascinating, and the weather has been lovely.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: This dairy-free Pineapple Banana Smoothie is light and refreshing, perfect with breakfast or as a snack any time throughout the day.

Fluffy pancakes are infused with the juicy flavors of ripe pineapple, sweet coconut, and a sprinkle of crunchy macadamia nuts, kicking these Hawaiian Pancakes into high gear.

Tender, savory beef simmers with a medley of herbs and earthy veggies under a golden, flaky pie crust in this simple Beef Pot Pie.

A handful of simple seasonings transform frozen green beans into a wonderful side dish with these Italian Green Beans.

The rich and hearty flavors of cabbage and root vegetables combine with savory beef in a simmering pot of Cabbage Beef Stew. This is the kind of comfort food that warms you right down to your toes.

Bursting with the sweetness of fresh apples and spiced up with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, these old fashioned Apple Cinnamon Cookies take you right back to grandma’s kitchen.

This creamy, rich Blueberry Ice Cream is filled with chunks of dark chocolate that will melt in your mouth. This ice cream has been my weakness for several years now. Make this as soon as possible – you will not regret it.

What I’m CRAVING: Salads! Just about every time I travel, I start craving fresh vegetables and salads like mad by the time I’m ready to head home. This Spinach Orzo Salad with Cranberries and Goat Cheese needs to happen asap, as does this Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with an Apple Cider Vinaigrette.

My FAVORITE THING this week is my pocket size pill organizer. I’ve been using this tiny pill case for a few years now. This might be the mo

The Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake [+Video]

Homemade Chocolate Cake like this is not easy to find. This is the Most Perfect Moist Chocolate Cake recipe, and that’s coming from an obsessed cake tester!

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting

You all know how I work. It’s why we have the best Traeger Ribs, Buttermilk Pancakes and Banana Bread recipes among a gazillion others. I get all sucked into finding the best of the best for a specific recipe and I can’t let it go until I’ve achieved it.

And friends, I’ve discovered which chocolate cake is best. If you’re needing chocolate cake for a birthday or a family celebration, you just step right up.  (Who am I kidding, just make it because you are surviving the crazy these days.)

Everyone I know loves a moist chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, but no one has great luck with a homemade chocolate cake without just using a cake mix. I am crazy giddy to share all of my secrets!

Don’t go crazy, but this is a chocolate cake recipe without butter. That’s for a very specific reason. As much as I thought that butter would be all the difference in flavor, it just wasn’t the truth. The flavor didn’t count enough for how much the cake lacked moisture.

Apparently butter doesn’t make cakes moister, which makes sense. Butter has a high water content that evaporates as steam in the baking process so it can’t keep the moisture like an oil can. If you really want to use butter you can, just use equal amounts or half and half, but all oil did lead to a better chocolate layer cake!

Homemade Chocolate Cake Ingredients

As I already mentioned, the moistness of this homemade chocolate cake is thanks in part to the oil used in the batter. Our other secret? Buttermilk! Yep, this is a buttermilk chocolate cake.

Any time a recipe calls for buttermilk, it makes me think it’s going to be a fancy recipe. But in reality, this chocolate cake from scratch couldn’t be simpler to make.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this moist chocolate cake recipe:

1. All-Purpose Flour: I’ve tested all sorts of flours but had the worst luck in a chocolate cake with cake flour.
2. Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Do not use dutch-process cocoa powder, but opt for an unsweetened cocoa powder, which will give a better rise. Try Hershey’s or a similar brand just in the grocery store. Not crazy trip to a gourmet store needed.
3. Espresso Powder: Espresso powder is optional, but listen, as one who does not drink coffee for religious reasons I really do believe this makes a difference in the chocolate flavor.
4. Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Yes, use both!!! I’ve tried many baking powd

This creamy, rich blueberry ice cream is filled with chunks of dark chocolate that will melt in your mouth. Oh, my friends, make this. You won’t regret it – and I’m willing to bet that you’ll fall in love with it at first bite. I know I did.

This creamy blueberry ice cream with dark chocolate chunks has been my weakness for the past couple of years. I haven’t been keeping it a secret from you, but up until recently, I haven’t had the recipe. I’m beyond excited to finally be sharing it with you.

When I tell you that this ice cream is absolutely divine, you can take that to the bank. I first tried this ice cream at Rusconi’s American Kitchen when we lived in Arizona.

Rusconi’s has been my favorite date night restaurant, girls’ night restaurant, happy hour, and special occasion destination for a while now – and I still make a reservation for dinner there every single time I’m back in the valley.

The selection of ice cream on their dessert menu varies according to what the chef has made that day and I always cross my fingers that this flavor will be available when we’re there.

Blueberry Ice Cream

The first time we heard about this ice cream, the couple sitting at the table next to us was asking the waiter if there was any blueberry ice cream available. They ordered a pint to take home and then leaned over to us and told us about it.

They grinned at us as they apologized for taking the last of it home with them and told us that we simply had to try it the next time we were at Rusconi’s.

You can bet that this ice cream lover ordered a scoop of blueberry ice cream to try the next time we ate there. I may have sighed with happiness at the first bite, and the second bite, and every bite down to the very last bite.

From then on, this ice cream has been my favorite ending to every meal at Rusconi’s and I am disappointed when it is not available.

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Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

This weekly menu plan is full of all the recipes you love! Some quick and easy, some a little more involved but all totally fabulous for dinner! Plus, the braised pork Thursday and casserole on Saturday are brand new recipes!

Monday: Baked Chicken Meatballs with Orzo

Tuesday: IP Taco Soup

Wednesday: 15 Min Chicken Stir Fry

Thursday: Apple Cider Braised Pork

Friday: Red Chicken Enchiladas

Saturday: Cheesy Ground Beef and Potato Casserole

Sunday: Stuffed Pork Chops

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Feb. 5 to 11

Tender, savory beef simmers with a medley of herbs and earthy veggies under a golden, flaky pie crust in this simple Beef Pot Pie.

Beef Pot Pie

Isn’t pot pie just the epitome of cozy comfort food? Rich, savory gravy hugging every chunk of meat, nestled beneath a flaky crust. The vegetables are wonderful, too, but that’s not why I’m making this easy beef pot pie recipe.

The boys at my table don’t think about the vegetables too much when it comes to beef pot pies. They want steak in their pot pie nearly as much as they want it in their chili. It makes the meal, let me tell you.

Ground Beef Pot Pie

This recipe uses steak, but you could easily swap it out and make a ground beef pot pie. The flavors would be very similar.

That said, I highly recommend making it as written with steak. The texture of tender steak that has been properly seared is something incredible to experience in a pot pie.

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