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Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa

For breakfast this morning I made a new recipe that I found on 101 Cookbooks a long time ago. I had never thought of eating quinoa for breakfast. But I’m so glad I tried it. This is really good! And super easy too. And…I soaked yet another grain! While I was thinking about what I had to get out/prep for meals yesterday it dawned on me that you might be able to soak quinoa. So I looked it up. Sure enough. Same idea as soaking flour, etc. I put the quinoa in a bowl with water and a little plain yogurt last night. Then rinsed it this morning and followed the recipe from there, using a little less liquid. Hardly any hands on work required to make this breakfast. You just have to wait a few minutes for the quinoa to cook. We added raw honey, blueberries, flax seed and a mix of almonds, walnuts and pecans. Such a healhty start to the day. It’ll be fun to try it with different toppings too. Anything you can do with oatmeal you can do with quinoa. I only made a half recipe. A perfect amount for Justin and me.

*Edited 2/9/11 to be NT compatible and adjusted to 2 serving recipe.

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
serves 2

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup organic quinoa, (I soaked mine in water and yogurt over night – see directions below)
1 cup fresh blackberries, organic preferred (I used a cup of blueberries from our freezer, thawed)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Toppings:
pecans, walnuts or almonds (preferably soaked and dehydrate)
raw honey or real maple syrup
plain or vanilla yogurt
dried cranberries or raisins
butter

To soak quinoa:
Cover the quinoa in water (a couple inches over quinoa) and about 1-2 Tbsp. plain organic yogurt. Soak it over night and rinse it in the morning. Then proceed with recipe.

Combine milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in blackberries and cinnamon; transfer to two bowls and top with desired toppings.

Oatmeal Muffins

Last week I had to make some muffins for a church event. And while I was looking through my recipes I found a recipe for oatmeal muffins from my MIL. I had never made them, but they sounded good…and it looked like a recipe that would be easily adapted to soaking grains and replacing the white flour with whole wheat flour. I mixed the flour, oats and buttermilk early in the morning yesterday. And then baked them later in the afternoon. They turned out great! We’ll be having them with our dinner tonight. Rebecca and I tried one right out of the oven. Very good. I added some raisins and ground flax seed for extra nutrition. This recipe works very well as a base recipe. You could add any dried fruit, fresh fruit, nuts, spices, etc. I’ll definitely be making these again. So easy, so healthy and so good! I’ll post the recipe the way I made it.

This recipe is linked to GNOWFGLINS probiotics every meal – breakfast ideas. Check it out for some other healthy breakasts.

Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup cultured buttermilk (I’m guessing kefir or yogurt would work too…I’ll have to try that the next time I make them)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground)
1 egg
4 Tbsp. coconut oil (melted butter would work too)
1/2 cup brown cane sugar (they are quite sweet…you could decrease this if you want to cut back on sugar)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
(a little cinnamon would probably be good in these)
1/2 – 1 cup add-ins (raisins, flax seed, nuts, seeds, fresh fruit, dried fruit)

Mix oats, flour and buttermilk in a glass bowl. Cover and let sit at least 7 hours.

Heat oven to 400. Stir remaining ingredients into oat mixture. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 min. Makes 12-14 muffins.

**If you do not want to soak the grains, mix just the oats and buttermilk and let sit 1 hour. Add egg and oil/butter. Mix dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry. Mix until just dampened. Fill muffin cups and bake as directed above.

Totally Alone

Have you ever felt totally alone? I mean completely. Like the world was silent? 3 weeks ago tomorrow I found out that I was not pregnant. We had been so hopeful…things were progressing. And then it ended. I was in shock. I was so upset. I was confused. I was angry. How could God let it happen? That day I was just really upset. But the next morning was when I experienced something I don’t ever want to feel again. I felt alone. Completely alone. I stood in my kitchen and it felt like everything around me had disappeared. Everything was silent. There was nobody there but me (even though my family was upstairs sleeping). Nobody to lean on. Nobody to turn to. Nobody to cry to for help. What I mean is…it felt like God was gone. I have never felt that kind of loneliness in my life. Although I could tell myself God was right there with me, I couldn’t feel his presence. And it was scary. So very scary. It felt like I couldn’t even pray. Because nobody would be there to listen. I almost felt panicked. As the day went on I gradually felt more and more aware of God’s love and his arms around me. He was there. I knew he was. But I’ve never felt like he wasn’t before until that moment. And I hope I never feel that way again. Since then I have thought about it often. And it made me think…there are people that feel that way every minute of every day of their lives. They don’t know God. They don’t feel him nearby, guiding them. They don’t feel like no matter what happens in this world that there is always someone to turn to that will not leave them. And my heart hurts for them. I would live my life in total fear if I did not know God, if I couldn’t offer up a quick prayer any moment of my day and know that God was in control, if I felt like I had to do it all on my own. I don’t want anyone to have to live that way. It’s so scary. Just feeling it for a few hours was enough for me. I pray that whoever is reading this does not feel that loneliness. And if you do, I am praying for you. God loves you. You never have to be alone.

Whole Wheat Flour and Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Yesterday I finally tried my new grain mill attachment for my stand mixer. I ground some hard winter wheat berries. It’s so easy. And it makes awesome, soft flour. It is noisy and takes a little time. But not too bad. I made about 4 1/2 cups of flour yesterday. And I’ve already used most of it 🙂  Freshly ground flour really does make your baked goods taste better. I’m excited to do this more often. I just need to find a good source for wheat berries…cheap 🙂

The first thing I tried making with my freshly ground flour was pizza dough for homemade pizza last night. I used the same dough recipe I always use, but modified it slightly to make it 100% whole wheat. This was awesome! It had great flavor and texture. I also made homemade sauce for our pizza. It doesn’t get more homemade than that…all the way down to freshly ground flour. So healthy and so good! I topped mine with tons of veggies. Mmm. This makes me very anxious to try making whole wheat bread with my fresh flour. My camera battery was just about dead, so I had to take a picture as quickly as possible…and didn’t get a very good one. Maybe I’ll try again tonight when we have leftovers. But you can still see the crust.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. cane sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
2 Tbsp. cane sugar
3 Tbsp. EVOO
1/2 Tbsp. salt
4 cups flour (I used 3 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour and 1 cup white whole wheat flour)

Sprinkle yeast, wheat gluten and 1 Tbsp. sugar over water. Let bubble (about 5 min.). Add 2 more Tbsp. sugar, oil, salt and flour. Mix. Cover. Let rise about an hour. Spread on pizza pan. Add toppings. Bake at 450 or 500 for 15-20 min. Let pizza rest a few mintues before cutting.

This makes enough for 2 pizzas or 1 pizza and breadsticks.

Coconut Cake

My BIL and SIL are both graduating. They will be having a potluck open house next Saturday to celebrate before they move down to Kentucky to continue school (residency and PhD work). I decided to bring a couple different kinds of cupcakes. One of them is coconut. I found this recipe in my Barefoot Contessa cookbook a while back. It sounded like something a little more unique. The actual recipe is for a cake. I made cupcakes. This recipe makes a lot of batter. I think it would work better in 3 cake pans instead of 2 (like the recipe says). I made 30 cupcakes. I’ll add cream cheese frosting with a layer of coconut. I let Justin try one last night. He really liked it. Rebecca and I tasted one without frosting. Not very strong coconut. Tastes more almondy. But I think the frosting really brings out the coconut flavor. These were easy to make and turned out well. Someday I’ll have to try actually making the cake. I’m not making her frosting recipe. I just don’t have time. I’ll be making a different frosting recipe.

Coconut Cake

3/4 lb. (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pans
2 cups sugar
5 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I just used large eggs)
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract (This makes it pretty strong. I might cut back if I make it again.)
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup milk
4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut (I might add more next time)

For the frosting:

1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. pure almond extract
1 lb. confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6 oz. sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans, then line them parchment paper. Grease them again and dust lightly with flour (I think 3 pans would work better). Or you can use muffin cups.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don’t be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 oz. of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and smooth the top with a knife. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, until the tops are browned and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a baking rack to finish cooling. I made 30 cupcakes…baked at 350 for about 25 minutes.

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until just smooth (don’t whip!).

To assemble, place 1 layer on a flat serving plate, top side down, and spread with frosting. Place the second layer on top, top side up, and frost the top and sides. To decorate the cake, sprinkle the top with coconut and lightly press more coconut onto the sides. Serve at room temperature.

Very Aware of Infertility

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. Although I didn’t know this week existed until a few days ago, I have been very aware of infertility for quite some time. I am very open about the fact that we used in-vitro fertilization to have our daughter. You can read about our experience in this post about “my body.” But what I have not been open about is what has happened since then. I have gone back and forth about how much of our struggles to keep private and how much to share. At my last MOPS meeting we heard a wonderful speaker and she talked about taking off your mask…admitting your flaws, letting people see all of you, acknowledgeing your fallen nature, opening up to others, not trying to be perfect/just show people the good parts. And after a lot of thought and prayer and discussion with my husband and some close friends I’ve decided to share a little more and slowly remove one of my masks. It’s scary, but I’m praying God will use my struggles for his purpose. I’m partly doing this for myself. Although it is personal it’s also freeing to open up and let go of secrets. I’m also doing this for anyone that might read my blog and be struggling with infertility. I am always happy to be a source of support or encouragement. My thoughts are a little scattered, so bear with me. I will be using terms you may not be familiar with if you don’t know anything about IVF (in-vitro fertilization). I appologize in advance, but it’s tough to explain it any other way.

Like I said before, we did IVF to have our daughter. We were very fortunate to get pregnant on the first try. But since then our journey through the world of infertility has gone down hill. In October of 2009 we decided to start trying for a 2nd child. We did a frozen IVF transfer using our remaining embyros. It did not work. So we had to start over. In November of 2009 we did a fresh round of IVF…stimulation and retrieval. Just like our first IVF cycle, I hyperstimulated (produced over 40 eggs). Because of this I can’t do a fresh transfer. We froze our embryos and waited while I recovered. In January of 2010 we did a frozen transfer. A few hours after the transfer I came down with the stomach flu. And knew right away it wouldn’t work…and it didn’t. In February of 2010 we did another frozen transfer. Somehow our family managed to get the flu yet again. Rebecca came down with a bad case 2 days before my transfer. And of course I got it a few days after my transfer. And had a negative result again. Since then the Dr. has told us that he was really surprised that the transfer did not work based on the embryo quality. He said the flu could have been what caused the failure. We went on to do a third frozen transfer in March of 2010. This transfer emptied the freezer again. At the end of March I had my pregnancy test. The results came back inconclusive…not positive…but not negative. Over the course of a couple weeks the hcg levels started rising and we were hopeful. But my 4th test showed that the levels were going back down…an early miscarriage. And now we are back to square one again. This was just a few weeks ago. And we are still getting over it. We don’t know why all this had to happen. And I don’t think we will ever understand. It is a struggle. Some days are easier. Some days are very tough. But we are trusting that God has a plan and a purpose. He can use our struggles for his good. So we are waiting to see what He has in store. We did have a very good consult with our doctor and will be moving on to another round of IVF later this year. We are hopeful that God will bless us with the family we have always dreamed of. We pray for Rebecca each day that she will experience the joy of having siblings. And we know that in all this God has a plan, a purpose and perfect timing.

So that’s where we’re at in our experience with infertility. And we are not alone. So many people struggle with infertility. It is good to hear about things that raise awareness. It is not a life threatening illness, but it is one of the toughest things anyone can go through. It can consume your whole world. It can be tough just to go to the store or church or wherever. There is a constant reminder of what you don’t have. It is so tough physically and emotionally. And it puts a strain on you financially (I wish MI required insurance to at least cover some of the expenses!). If you don’t konw much about infertility, please take a moment to read up on it. If you know someone that struggles with infertility, support them in any way you can. It’s not something you should have to go through alone…but most people do. This is National Infertility Awareness Week…and I am very aware. Are you?

RESOLVE

A few facts from the RESOLVE website about infertility:

Infertility is a disease that results in the abnormal functioning of the male or female reproductive system. Both the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recognize infertility as a disease.

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse (six months if the woman is over age 35) or the inability to carry a pregnancy to live birth.

•Infertility affects 7.3 million people in the U.S. This figure represents 12% of women of childbearing age, or 1 in 8 couples. (2002 National Survey of Family Growth)

•Approximately one-third of infertility is attributed to the female partner, one-third attributed to the male partner and one-third is caused by a combination of problems in both partners or, is unexplained. (http://www.asrm.org/)

•A couple ages 29-33 with a normal functioning reproductive system has only a 20-25% chance of conceiving in any given month (National Women’s Health Resource Center). After six months of trying, 60% of couples will conceive without medical assistance. (Infertility As A Covered Benefit, William M. Mercer, 1997)

•Approximately 44% of women with infertility have sought medical assistance. Of those who seek medical intervention, approximately 65% give birth. (Infertility As A Covered Benefit, William M. Mercer, 1997)

•Approximately 85-90% of infertility cases are treated with drug therapy or surgical procedures. Fewer than 3% need advanced reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization (IVF). (http://www.asrm.org/)

•The most recently available statistics indicate the live birth rate per fresh non-donor embryo transfer is 28%. (Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005)

•Fifteen states have passed laws requiring that insurance policies cover some level of infertility treatment: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia. (For more on this visit the insurance coverage section of resolve.org.)

•Offering a comprehensive infertility treatment benefit with appropriate utilization controls may actually reduce costs and improve outcomes by eliminating the inappropriate use of costly covered procedures and allowing specialists to use the most effective, efficient treatment for a specific type of infertility. (Infertility As A Covered Benefit, William M. Mercer, 1997)

•A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (August 2002) found that the percentage of high-order pregnancies (those with three or more fetuses) was greater in states that did not require insurance coverage for IVF. The authors of the study noted that mandatory coverage is likely to yield better health outcomes for women and their infants since high-order births are associated with higher-risk pregnancies.

Whole Wheat Soaked Cinnamon Raisin Coffee Cake

I continue to experiment with soaking grains and swapping ingredients. I had some buttermilk and plain yogurt to use up, so I decided to see what I could do with my recipe for yum yum coffee cake yesterday. I replaced the AP flour with half whole wheat flour and half white whole wheat flour. I used organic butter. I replaced all of the sugar with organic cane sugar. I added a few raisins. And I soaked the grains ahead of time. And the verdict…AMAZING! Seriously. It is way better than the original version. So moist and delicious. All 3 of us munched on a bunch right out of the oven even though it was close to dinner time. It was just too good not to. Rebecca kept asking for more. And she walked around saying “mmmmm.” I’m so glad I tried this. I’ll be making it this way from now on. And I’ll feel much better about serving it and eating it knowing that is much healthier. And hooray for my 3rd successful attempt at soaking grains! I think I do notice a difference in my digestion when I do it. So I will definitely keep trying. This was such a treat for breakfast this morning. Still just as moist this morning as it was yesterday right out of the oven. And I’m glad I have a bunch more in the freezer now. I’m going to post this as a separate recipe since it’s quite different from the original.

This recipe is linked to GNOWFGLINS probiotics at every meal – breakfast ideas. Lots of yummy, healthy breakfast ideas.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Coffee Cake

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used half whole wheat and half white whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, at room temp
2 eggs
1 – 1 1/2 cups cultured buttermilk or plain yogurt…enough to get all of the flour moist (I used about half each…what I had on hand) (kefir would work well too)
1 cup cane sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Topping:
1/3 cup cane sugar (regular or brown)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup nutmeats (optional)
———————————————-
To soak grains:
Mix flour, buttermilk and/or yogurt. Cover and let set on counter at least 8 hours.

When ready to bake:
Heat oven to 350 deg. Grease a 9×13 pan.

Mix topping ingredients, set aside.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add vanilla and mix. Add wheat mixture, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well. Add extra yogurt or buttermilk if too thick. Put half of the batter in the prepared pan. Top with half of topping and all of the raisins. Spread the rest of the batter on top. Top with remaining topping. Bake 35-40 min.

Serve warm or room temperature. Freezes well. Can be served for breakfast, brunch, a snack or even dessert (with vanilla ice cream:)

Rebecca’s Birthday Cake

Rebecca turned 2 yesterday! We had a fun family day. I decided to make her a Dora cake this year. And Rebecca requested sprinkles and rainbow ice cream. So I made a white cake with rainbow colors (bottom layer yellow and green, top layer pink and blue). It’s tough to see them all in the picture…we haven’t quite gotten to the blue yet 😛  But you can at least see a little of every color. And we had rainbow ice cream with it. She loved it! And we did too 🙂  And Rebecca even got to eat it on her Dora plate. I’ll post a picture of the cake layers so you can see the colors.

Ice Cream Cones

Since it was such a rainy day yesterday Rebecca and I tackled another experimental baking project…ice cream cones! I haven’t had much luck finding a recipe that looks all that great. But I found this one from Disney Family Fun a long time ago. Figured I’d give it a shot. The cone is like the cookie style cones you sometimes see at ice cream shops. It reminds me of a mix between a sugar cookie and a fortune cookie. I think I made them a little thicker than I’d like, but it was a first attempt. The really tough part is shaping them. I don’t have a cone shaper (note to self…put on gift list:), so I have to try to do it by hand…while they are super hot, just out of the oven. It’s tough to roll it and pinch the end before it starts cooling. But it was a fun experiment. One didn’t roll well at all, so we used that to munch on. We haven’t tried them with ice cream yet. I’ll update when we do. This is a decent base recipe. It would work well for making ice cream bowls or even making your own fortune cookies. And best of all, no HFCS or hydrogenated oils! I’m glad we tried it.
**Edited 4-13-10: These taste great with ice cream!!

Ice Cream Cones

2/3 cup sugar
3 egg whites
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup melted butter

Heat the oven to 400º F (350º F if you’re using a dark-coated baking sheet). In a medium-size bowl, beat the sugar and egg whites with an electric mixer for 30 seconds.

Mix in the flour until smooth, then add the vanilla extract and melted butter. For each cone, scoop 2 1/2 tablespoons of batter onto the baking sheet, spreading the batter into thin 6-inch circles (use a measuring spoon for accuracy). (Try to get it quite thin…I think that is the trick. And I also think it helps to grease the baking sheet.)

Bake for 7 or 8 minutes or until golden, then remove the sheet from the oven (they need to get quite dark to work well, darker than I expected. Otherwise it stays too doughy.). Working quickly, form each cookie into a cone (a parent’s job), pinching the tip to seal it tightly. Allow the cones to cool seam side down on a rack.

Chocolate Cake

Tomorrow is Justin’s 30th birthday. We celebrated yesterday. One day while I was in the process of figuring out what kind of cake to make Rebecca and I happened to browse through my Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook…yes, Rebecca likes to read cookbooks with me 🙂  And I came across her recipe for Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. It looked so chocolatey and good. I decided to try it. The secret is that she uses coffee to really bring out the chocolate flavor. This is a VERY moist cake…super chocolatey. And very very good 🙂  I’m glad I tried it. All 3 of us love it. I also made her recipe for chocolate frosting to go with it. It was also really good. A little on the light/fluffy side for my personal taste, but still very good. And I think the frosting has a bit too much coffee flavor…again, for my taste. Justin thought it was great. This is a cake I’ll make again for sure! We had it with homemade chocolate peanut butter cookies and cream ice cream (I fournd some organic oreo-type cookies with peanut butter filling…mmmm). 
 What a birthday treat!! Poor us…having to eat this for a few days in a row 🙂  I’ll probably have to freeze some of the cake, though. It’s quite rich, so you can’t eat a huge piece. And I don’t think any of us needs to eat it every day for a week straight 😛  Try to focus on the pictures of the actual cake and not the decoration. I did the frosting/decorating in a rush early in the morning. And Justin told me to use his cake to experiment with some tools he had gotten me for Christmas. So this was my first attempt at the side deco. I was also using up some old icing…that was not very good consistency. So shortly after I took the pics it just started to all melt together. Glad I took a few pics right away 🙂

Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting

6 oz. good semisweet chocolate
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbsp. instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don’t whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

And here are a couple pics of the cake Justin is bringing to work. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting in the middle and cream cheese frosting on the outside.