Rich and Moist Chocolate Swirl Cake with Peanut Butter Glaze

I meant to make two yummy little breakfast bowls—a cozy breakfast for two. A warm, vanilly, spiced bowl of quinoa, sparkled with a dazzle of summer cherries and a pretty little ribbon of pecans sprinkled across the top. In fact, I did make this. I stirred it, warmed it, and served it up, only to come face to face with what actually became my morning…and then the rest of the tear-filled, dramatic (maybe a touch overly so), everything-I-thought-I knew-was-suddenly-unsure day. A day that called for something sinful, decadent, and (forget the sweet) bitter—a chocolatiness that the sheer baking of it made me feel like I was creating a dark (albeit extremely yummy) illustration of how I felt: depressed and very, very angry.

But I suppose I should start at the beginning.

Peanut-Butter Frosted Chocolate Cake

(Trust me, it’s all about the frosting)

It’s been a bittersweet week. I’ve finally wrapped up my year of student teaching, and am all but officially a credentialed teacher in the state of California. It’s exhilarating, and I’m ready to move on, but at the same time it’s terrifying to look ahead toward absolutely zero job openings for new teachers, unemployment still rampant, and a whole summer without seeing my hilarious fourth graders. I told myself I wouldn’t, but I didn’t even make it halfway through the whole day without crying. My master teacher actually presented me a gift in front of the class, which included an Anthroplogie (!) gift certificate (aka my favorite of all favorite stores), and a little accordion-like book with pages created by each student, complete with their pictures and drawings. Tears. Some of my favorite gems, straight off the pages:

* “I learned from you how to be shareful.”
* “Yo quiero que te seas una maestra aqui.” (One of my students who learned English this year. She was my little Spanish teacher. Lucky for her, she picked up ingles much quicker than I improved my espanol)
* “You taught me to grafe.” (Perhaps I should have spent more time on spelling?)

I will miss you, my little estudiantes.

Along the bittersweet theme, boyfriend lost his job (someone made a BIG mistake, releasing that one). The good news is that this means he can come back from Michigan to the sunny Bay Area (woot), but now he’s got to find a new one somewhere, somehow. Hopefully it happens easily and close by (I’m confident that it will ☺ ).

Amid all this my sister ALSO lost her job. Luckily, I had stayed the night with her to attend a CPR class in her neighborhood, so when she got off of her (surprise) last day of work, we promptly zoomed across the Bay Bridge and landed straight in my kitchen to do the very best thing of all for lifting spirits (other than drinking about a bajillion Patron and sodas, which we also promptly got down to): We fired up the oven, broke out the bundt pan, and whipped up a bittersweet (I love themes) peanut-butter-cup inspired bundt cake.

Easter Bunny Cake (Gluten and Dairy Free)

What better way to infuse Easter with some spring festivity than by concocting a cake in the shape of a giant bunny? Granted, my clever guests got a few laughs out of my Easter "pig," but this is a lot easier than it looks. While mine didn't turn out exactly as I imagined, making it was a creative project that left me with a gluten- and dairy-free dessert that had even the non-health conscious eaters returning for seconds. Some tips and advice: