The Most Decadent Chocolate Cake

I'm a little late in posting this, but for Valentine's Day, I made my husband the most amazingly decadent, rich, flourless chocolate cake. I don't consider myself a baker, but this has to be the best thing I ever baked! It wasn't too difficult to make and was a really impressive desert to serve and I couldn't help but pick at this cake until it was gone!

Ingredients

8 oz bittersweet chocolate

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

6 large eggs

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

optional: powered sugar, strawberries

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees and buttering an 8 inch round baking pan. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put it into a bowl with the butter.

Place the glass bowl over a pot of boiling water and begin to stir until the chocolate and butter have melted and mixed together.

Remove from the heat and mix in the sugar followed by the eggs and cocoa powder.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. You can dust the cake with some powdered sugar and top with strawberries like I did! This cake is super rich, so a small piece will be more than enough!

Hoisin Chicken Lettuce Wraps

When we go out for Chinese, I love ordering lettuce wraps because they are low carb and very satisfying. I love that they are crunchy and think it's fun assembling your own meal (even though it's also a little messy!) I made these hoisin flavored lettuce wraps for dinner one night and not only were they so easy to make, they were also a big hit with the hubby!

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts

3 scallions

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2 white onion, diced

1 can water chestnuts, diced

1/4 cup slivered almonds

2 large shiitake mushrooms, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, diced

4 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp worcestershire sauce sauce

3 tbsp canola oil

Start by dicing all the vegetables and chicken. This is probably the most time consuming element of the dish.

Heat the canola oil on medium high heat in a wok then toss in the garlic and ginger and let cook for 45 seconds. Add all the veggies and cook until the onions and peppers have wilted a bit. Then add in the chicken and stir until it has cooked throughout. Add the soy, hoisin and worcestershire sauces and rice vinegar and mix.

To serve, wash and pat dry some large lettuce leaves. Smear some hoisin sauce on them and place a big heaping of the chicken and vegetable mixture on top. The diners can wrap their own lettuce and make a bit of a mess in the process :)