My favorite way to make iced coffee, you won't believe how easy it is to make! Iced coffee? What? It's cold where you're at? Hold on a sec…

Recently, Nespresso reached out to me, actually twice and said they wanted to send me a new VerturoLine machine to try out. The first time I said no thank you and and the second time, I almost said no. I have been curious though because I know some Nespresso diehard fans. I told them, I'm a fan of another single serve coffee machine and we'll see if I like theirs too.

I'll tell you why I fell in love with this machine. The coffees taste fantastic. The machine automatically shuts off when you don't use it, you don't have to remember to shut it off.

When you open the top to put in a new coffee capsule into the machine, the used one rolls off into a container on the right side of the machine. So simply designed but so functional, I love it! And lastly, the glasses they sent me to go with the machine fit sitting on the left and right sides of the machine perfectly.

It's literally a beautiful and functionally designed machine and it's perfect as a gift this holiday season if you're still looking for gift ideas!

I still like iced coffee even in the winter, I know you probably think I'm crazy. Check out my recipe below or the Iceberg Latte recipe from Nespresso.

And be sure to check it out, I'm giving away a Nespresso machine too!

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Iced Coffee Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1 coffee drink

Ingredients

• 1 Nespresso Elvazio coffee capsule
• 1 to 1 1/2 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• ice

Instructions

• Make coffee according to manufacture instructions. Mix in sweetened condensed milk and mix thoroughly. Add ice and serve. (You can also drink without the ice, making it a regular coffee.)

The post My favorite iced coffee recipe appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I have an obsession with boba milk teas otherwise known as bubble teas. I remember the first time I heard about them, my brother, Eric, mentioned them to me. He told me about them after a visit with family in either Texas for California (I forget which one). I remember vividly trying to ask him to explain them to me over and over again, I didn't get it. So there's a fat straw and you suck up the tapioca and you chew on it? That's weird. I don't think I'm interested.

Fast forward to when I visited family in California with him and he MADE me try it. It was all over then. He didn't tell me that the chewy tapioca kind of reminds you of chewing a gummy bear. And the drinks, the teas, the slushies and smoothies, you can order…all sorts of great stuff. My avocado smoothie that I love was inspired by one I had a boba tea shop in Orlando!

My best friend, Lindsay, has an obsession with passion fruit…she's posting her version of a bubble tea today too! Passion Fruit Bubble Tea. Now that I want to try!

I use these black dried tapioca pearls you can find at your local Asian grocery store or online. You also need the fat boba straws too!

I did make a video to show you how easy it is to make the boba, it just takes a little bit of patience but it's totally worth it!

That's the boba or tapioca pearls soaking in the sugar water. I like to use all light brown sugar or a half granulated sugar and half light brown sugar.

Funny story about this slotted spoon. We have had it for years and a long time ago, Curtis decided to bend it…it's perfect bent…super ergonomic to use! Ha

While these are not completely authentic Vietnamese Iced Coffees…they are a great stand in and making them into a smoothie…out of this world! I seriously made these smoothies three times and the boba…five million times. To test it, to make sure I got it right just for you. Who am I kidding? I'm addicted!

I have to drive an hour for the closest bubble tea shop and now I make them at home. I still go to the tea shops when I'm out and about but you can't beat being able to make these at home! So tell me, have you tried boba tea or bubble tea before?

Be sure to check out Lindsay's Passion Fruit Bubble Tea while you're at it!

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Vietnamese Iced Coffee Smoothie with Boba Recipe

Prep Time 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 2 drinks

Ingredients

• 1 shot of espresso
• 2 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups ice
• 1/2 cup dried black boba tapioca pearls; if making one drink use 1/4 to 1/3 cup
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar

Instructions

• First things first, make the espresso and set aside and allow to cool.
• Bring a pot of boiling water (at least 5 cups) and then add boba (tapioca pearls), stir every so often. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the boba to sit in the pot for about 10 minutes.
• While you're bringing the water to a boil, in a smaller separate pot, add sugar (you can use a mix or all light brown sugar) and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 5 minutes, until reduced. Mix every so often.
• Using a slotted spoon, add the cooked boba to the sugar water and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.
• Add boba to two glasses.
• Add espresso to a measuring cup and add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups. Add sweetened condensed milk and mix thoroughly. Add to blender with ice and blend until smooth.
• Pour coffee smoothie over boba and serve with boba straws.

Notes

Tips: Unfortunately, cooked boba does not keep well in the refrigerator, it's best to serve it the same day you make it.

Boba instructions modified from Food52. Smoothie Recipe from the little kitchen.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.

The post Vietnamese Iced Coffee Smoothie with Boba appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I'm new to the coffee world, I just became addicted just a short few months ago. I have always been a tea drinker but a trip to visit friends in May turned me into a full fledged coffee drinker. So when Green Mountain Coffee® contacted me and asked me to become a K-Cup Ambassador, I said yes!

I found out that I love iced coffee…am obsessed with it. I'm on the sweeter side when it comes to my coffee. I totally get it from my Mom, she puts five million sugars in her coffee.

Every month, Green Mountain Coffee is going to be sending me a new flavor of their K-Cups…and August was their Wild Mountain Blueberry K-Cup. Have you ever had coffee that smelled like the flavor but didn't taste like it? Yep, you know what I'm talking about. This coffee actually tastes like blueberries and it's great. Smooth tasting and I had to make it into an iced coffee.

First, I add the sweetened condensed milk to the bottom of my cup, brew the wild mountain blueberry coffee via my Keurig brewer. When it's finished brewing, mix the coffee and milk really good. Taste and add more milk if needed. Then add about 2 cups of ice and I mixed it with a chopstick. (I use chopsticks a lot as a cooking utensil. )

It kinda reminds me of Vietnamese Iced Coffee with a blueberry flavor. Enjoy, enjoy.

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Blueberry Iced Coffee Recipe

Blueberry Iced Coffee made with Green Mountain Coffee's Wild Mountain Blueberry K-Cup.

Prep Time 3 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 1 drink

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Green Mountain Coffee Wild Mountain Blueberry Coffee K-Cup or your favorite flavor
• 2 cups of ice not crushed

Instructions

• Add sweetened condensed milk to a heatproof cup (at least 16-20 ounces). Brew K-Cup according to your Keurig brewer manufacturer instructions.
• Mix thoroughly after done brewing. Add additional milk to taste. Add ice and mix with a long spoon or chopstick. Enjoy!

For more information about Green Mountain Coffee, be sure to visit them on Facebook and Twitter.

And just for The Little Kitchen readers, here's a promotional code for you. Use YUMMY 8172. This promo code offers 15% off all Green Mountain Coffee® flavored coffees available in K-Cup® packs – including Brew Over Ice. Hurry, the code is good until September 12, 2012.

Disclosure: I'm a paid Green Mountain Coffee K-Cup ambassador. I only share with you my favorite brands and all opinions expressed are always my own.

The post Blueberry Iced Coffee appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

After having a facebook conversation, we all agreed it's not sad at all when you make your own birthday cake. It started after my husband told how sad it was when I told him my plan. I didn't think it was at all…I get what I want! Don't you agree?

What makes this cake so amazing and the best ever? I really think it's the coffee and the buttermilk. Coffee in chocolate cakes just brings the chocolate flavor to a new level and it doesn't taste like coffee AT ALL. The buttermilk lends to the moistness of this cake. The frosting is the perfect ending to this cake. It's fluffy and tastes amazing. Remember though because there's cream cheese and milk in the frosting, the frosting and the cake (after it's frosted) has to be refrigerated.

I have posted this chocolate cake recipe before…it was the first ever post on The Little Kitchen. If you go looking at that post, please don't make fun of those pictures! I already know how bad they are!

In that post, I talked about a whipped frosting (made with pudding) that I would share and I realized I never did so when I told myself I'm baking my own birthday cake…I thought I would share that recipe along with some of my tips for baking cakes.

I learned this from my Wilton cake decorating instructor. I cut out pieces of wax paper that measure the same size as the bottom of the cake pans. Using a silicon brush, I spread Wilton Cake Release on the sides and inside bottom of the pan. Place the wax paper inside the pan and you have a non-stick surface. This cake batter is very wet and if you don't do this, you're likely to have the cake stick on the inside of your pan.

Once the cakes are done, allow them to cool inside the pan on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes before flipping them onto the cooling rack. Once you remove them from the pan, be sure to peel off the wax paper and allow the cakes to cool completely before adding the frosting.

I usually don't have buttermilk on hand but I always have buttermilk powder in my fridge. The brand I use, it's 4 Tbsp of buttermilk powder to 1 cup of water. A tip to keep the oil from sticking too much in your measuring cup, I measure the water first then add the oil.

I actually measure all of my wet ingredients first and have them set aside before I start sifting the flour.

I always sift the flour and cocoa powder. Something else I usually do when I make this cake is measure enough out for several more cakes…in separate bowls and then place my newly made “cake mix” into plastic zippered bags with labels for what it is and date it. Homemade cake mix makes it way convenient later for making cupcakes or a tasty cake in the future…all you have to do is add the wet ingredients and bake!

Doesn't that cake look super moist?

I love this frosting. First mix the instant vanilla pudding mix with milk. In a separate bowl, whip the cream cheese and then add the cool whip and mix thoroughly. Then add the pudding and mix thoroughly.

Torting (cutting the cake length-wise to create multiple layers) this cake is necessary so you get more frosting per square inch of cake. I usually use a cake leveler but I haven't been able to find it since we have our office torn upside down during a remodel. Using a knife and just being very careful, slice the cake lengthwise to create two layers. When I finished, I had a four layer cake.

Here are some frosting shots…it looks like buttercream, doesn't it? Nothing like it…it's very fluffy and creamy. Don't get me wrong, I love buttercream but I love a good whipped frosting too.

Almost there.

Nice, huh?

Almost done…

This is seriously the best chocolate cake ever. My co-worker calls me a cake snob…I'm sorry I guess I am.

I have some other news to share too. I got a new job! This is really bittersweet for me. I really love some of my co-workers, I'm going to miss them. I have worked for this company for almost 8 years and it feels like a family. But I have this awesome opportunity in this new company, I'll have a lot of flexibility and will get to learn a whole lot. I love learning new things and I'm really excited about the work. I'm really excited that I'm going to get to travel a little bit too…I just can't wait to start next month! But today, I'm sharing this cake with my co-workers whom I'm going to miss.

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The Best Chocolate Cake Ever with Pudding Frosting

...the best, that's all I have to say.

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 10 servings

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

• 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup black strong coffee 1 Tbsp coffee with 8 oz boiling water
• 1 cup buttermilk OR combine 1 Tbsp vinegar with 1 cup milk OR 1 cup equivalent of buttermilk powder & water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pudding Frosting

• 1 cup milk
• 1 3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding
• 8 ounce cream cheese room temperature, leave out for at least an hour or two
• 12 ounce tub of Cool Whip put out on the counter 10-15 minutes before making the frosting

Instructions

Chocolate Cake

• Grease a 13 x 9 inch cake pan (or two 9 inch round pans for round cake or makes about 36 cupcakes) and line the bottom of the pans with wax paper cut to size.
• In a mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients together. Then take a rubber spatula and thoroughly mix the dry ingredients together.
• Mix in all of the wet ingredients and do a quick mix with your rubber spatula and then mix with an electric mixer until well blended but don't overmix.
• Pour evenly between pans and bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes or until after inserting a toothpick into the center of a cake, it reveals just crumbs.

Pudding Frosting

• Mix vanilla pudding mix with milk in one bowl, using an electric mixer, until pudding sets. In another bowl whip up cream cheese using an electric mixer. Add cool whip to the cream cheese and mix together well.
• Add vanilla pudding to the cream cheese-cool whip mixer and mix together well.
• Store in the refrigerator until the cake cools. After frosting the cake, the cake will need to be stored in the refrigerator.
• For best results, after frosting the cake, refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Tips:

• The first thing I do when making this recipe, is to brew the coffee. That way it's mostly cooled by the time I mix it in and it doesn't start cooking the eggs.
• A great time saver tip (that I learned from a CakeCentral.com forum and use ALL of the time) is to mix all of your dry ingredients ahead of time and put in a plastic zip bag or a plastic container, this way when you're ready to bake, you just pour into your mixing bowl and add wet ingredients. It's kind of like making your own cake mix. Be sure it's sealed tight and you date the container so you know when you mixed it.

Notes

Cake recipe from Barefoot Contessa at Home. Frosting recipe from my friends, Joe & Tricia.

One more thing, I wanted to say happy birthday to my friend, Julie. We have the same name and birthday!

And huge thanks to our friends, Joe & Tricia, who introduced me to this recipe. I actually never really liked chocolate cake until I had Tricia's cake!

For more awesome chocolate cake recipes:

Blackberry Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Disclosure: This post does contain affiliate links.

The post The Best Chocolate Cake Ever with Pudding Frosting appeared first on The Little Kitchen.