That's right, it's World Nutella Day.  This indulgent day was created by Sara Rosso, an American blogger living in Italy who writes Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle Fabio, another American blogger living in Italy who writes Bleeding Espresso.   These two women adore Nutella and wanted to create a day when we all indulge! In the spirit of that day, I've made some Nutella Purses which contain banana - one of the two great combinations in all of food history - banana and Nutella.  These are so easy to make and only take a few minutes.   You can certainly add some nuts to this if you like, which I would have done (walnuts, specifically) but I am the only soul in my household that likes nuts.  If you've never bought Nutella before,  you can find it next to the peanut butter in almost any grocery store.  It's a staple in Europe, even at breakfast.  Please visit The World Nutella Day site on February 9th to see the complete 2009 roundup of Nutella recipes from all around the world.

"Seize the moment. Think of all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart." - Erma Bombeck

I had to start you off with that quote so you would feel better about this post.  This is real indulgence.  My husband and kids love these ice cream sandwiches.  You can make these with store bought italian pizzelle cookies, but it's so fun to actually make the cookies yourself.  Pizzelle cookies can be made in any flavor and shaped when still warm, allowing you to make little waffle dishes or cones.  But my guys' favorite way to eat them is to smear them with their beloved Nutella, cut slices of ice cream and make a sandwich out of them.  Of course, you can also just eat them alone, as a cookie, but what fun is that?

I made 225 biscotti yesterday for Christmas.   Yes, it took a long time, but it was so very worth it.   These Mosaic Biscotti are so beautiful and just look like Christmas to me.  They contain hazelnuts, chocolate, pistachios and cranberries (my addition).   These come from the Queen of Desserts,   Gina DePalma, the pastry chef at Babbo.   There is a reason Mario Batali hired Gina.    She's brilliant.    And if you aren't familiar with her, check out her book on desserts, Dolce Italiano.   This book is such a must have if you like baking.

Here is a great little cookie to make for the holidays. It only has 4 ingredients, it contains no flour and it's from one of the best Italian restaurants in the country.   What's not to like?   This delicious cookie is what Marc Vetri serves at Vetri, his famous Philadelphia restaurant.  Vetri was named one of the top 50 restaurants by Gourmet magazine, Mario Batali sings its praises and Frank Bruni says Vetri ranks up there with the best New York Italian restaurants.   On the menu is a quote by da Vinci:  "Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication."   If this is true, then this cookie is ultra sophisticated!

I was scared to make this cake.

When I saw what this month's Daring Baker's Challenge was, I was excited because it was something sweet and the last couple have been savory.    This cake comes from Shuna Fish Lydon, who is a professional pastry chef and writes the great food blog, Eggbeater.  I started reading all the comments by people who have previously attempted this cake and had real problems with it.  I was sure I would, too.   But Shuna had lots of detailed notes posted about how to deal with some of the challenges of this cake and I followed them thoroughly and did not have any problem at all.   The cake was moist and light and absolutely delicious.  The caramel frosting is outstanding.  So if you have the urge to make this cake, don't be afraid. It was pretty straightforward. It just takes a little time to make it properly.

I just finished reading Patricia Wells' wonderful book, "We'll Always Have Paris . . . and Provence". This famous cooking teacher has written a fun and interesting book about her life which includes some of her favorite recipes, too. She raves about this cake in her book saying she could eat the whole thing! She and I are alike when it comes to dessert. She says she can usually pass on dessert and I can, too. I do like a dessert that is not too sweet and involves almond flour. This cake contains no egg yolks, no white flour and no butter. It's light, like an angel food cake, but has that wonderful earthy taste of almonds. And this cake is so easy to make - everything gets whipped up in one bowl and put right in the pan to bake. Easy.

Bomboloni. Little Italian doughnuts. Don't you love the name? It's fun to say. And they are fun to make. The dough is not hard and they take about 30 seconds to cook. It's fun to watch them turn from flat discs into little puffs as they fry. And they are so delicious made fresh (they're great the next day, too).  Sometimes these are made with a stuffing of jam.   Del Posto, Mario Batali's New York restaurant, has served these stuffed with an orange vanilla custard.  These, however, are just plain and really good with some coffee.