Raspberry, Mascarpone, and Pistachio Tarts

After baking and eating these adorable tarts, I can definitely say that they have been added to the list of our favorite desserts. The pistachio shells are delicately crisp and the mascarapone filling is to die for! I have to admit that while assembling them, more filling went directly into my mouth than into the tarts. :)

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Rustic Cabbage Soup with Gruyere Croutons

A quick, delicious, healthy dinner. Recipe found here. This soup goes great with a side of bread, either a warm baguette or crunchy croutons make the dish! I added gruyere croutons which I made by buttering both sides of the bread and placing the slices in the oven under the broiler for a couple minutes. When the bread became slightly golden, I flipped each piece over, added gruyere cheese and fresh thyme and broiled for another minute. 

Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Buttercream and Nutella

I had been craving chocolate cake for a couple weeks and this past weekend when I was looking for something to make I knew it had to be cake. I love the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts, but I wasn't able to find a recipe that included both, so I had to improvise. I used this recipe for the cake part and added toasted hazelnuts into the batter. Then, I made a hazelnut buttercream by using this recipe for the buttercream and added hazelnut praline to it. I made the hazelnut praline by combining toasted hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor for about 3-5 minutes, until it was creamy. To assemble the cake I spread each layer with the hazelnut buttercream and a thin layer of nutella. The result was delicious!