Oh, it's "Synful!" Star Wars Rebels Hera-shey's Italian Chocolate Cake Recipe.

When I get a request to make something, my creative mind shifts into gear and develops a Star Wars and Italian spin on whatever dish I'm kicking up.

Thus, when my best friend requested chocolate cake I immediately knew it would be Hera Syndulla's from the Star Wars Rebels series.

It just so happened I had some imported Italian Buffalo Butter that was sent to me from Cheese Importers in Longmont, Colorado. I had been waiting to use it in something very "Synful," rich, and special. It's this perfect creamy butter. It's nothing like the butter I purchase that is made from cow's milk in America. Butter made from Domesticated Italian Water Buffalo is perfectly lovely in flavor and texture. It's unsalted, but so divine. Where has it been all my life???

Anyhow, my Acquired Italianism is showing. Here is my recipe for chocolate cake. We also have a chocolate frosting recipe from The Star Wars Chef Bretto. You can use whatever type of baking cocoa you desire in the cake. In the US, it's common to find Hershey's Chocolate brand and works for my word play for Hera-shey's Chocolate Cake!

Don't forget the free printable party food label to make eating this cake feel like a Star Wars Holiday!

Talenti Gelato Belgian Milk Chocolate Taste Test

My children and I were asked to "taste-test" Talenti Gelato. We were not about to turn down that offer.

Since my children were involved, I chose a flavor that all of us would potentially enjoy, which is the Belgian Milk Chocolate Gelato.

As I may have shared previously, we now live on acreage in the mountains, so most late afternoons or early evenings we go out on our front deck and enjoy the spectacular views and sounds. We often eat dinner or dessert while enjoying the company of one another.

Enjoying Talenti Gelato Belgian Milk Chocolate on our front deck! :)

Thus, it came as no surprise that I pulled out a dessert, but the children's taste buds were not prepared for the delectable creamy perfection that was about to meet their tongue. Out of four of us taste-testing, every one of us agreed it was a bit of heaven on earth.

Have you ever tried this? Okay, so to be fair, it was not enough to make everybody as happy as they desired, because they could not each have a bowl full up of this goodness. Now I have kids begging me to go to the store and buy them each their own container. Thanks Talenti!!!

Chef Bretto and I both agreed that we normally do not care for the taste of "chocolate" ice cream that one can purchase at the store. Yet, we were both in unison that Talenti Belgian Milk Chocolate Gelato was deliciozo. If all chocolate ice cream tasted like this, we would love it, but alas it does not, so this will definitely be our "go to" chocolate frozen confection. I have every reason to believe you will be as pleased as Punchinello if you give this a try!

Buongiorno miei amata amici! Biscotti's root words mean "twice baked" which is befitting for this treat. In Italian biscotti means cookie or biscuit. Thus biscotti is a twice-baked cookie! For it is first baked into a loaf and then sliced diagonally into cookies and rebaked to toast the outside of this delicacy giving it a crisp outside and a texture similar to shortbread inside. In our family, homemade Biscotti is also consumed twice as fast, as store bought versions.

Biscotti was developed in Tuscany and served with wine, such as Vin Santo. It is a dipping cookie, whether paired with wine, coffee, or tea. Coffee houses have found that customers love biscotti with their cup of cappuccino. They also make an elegant decor on top of gelato.

Because Biscotti are baked so as to dry them out to prevent mold and they keep well in an airtight container for months at a time, sailors loved them, notably Christopher Columbus. The shelf life is approximately 2-6 months without preservatives, dependent upon your additions and how well they are dried out during baking.

Versatility is the chef's friend with biscotti. Your imagination is your limit. Traditionally they were made with butter, eggs, sugar, flour, and almonds. Today, you can find them in many flavors and baking them yourself lends you the key to unique biscotti. Your friends and family will be raving about the best biscotti they have ever enjoyed after savoring your baking.

• 3/4 cup of real butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 T of flavoring (depending on the strength)
• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate for melting (I used 50/50 of Ghirardelli's milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips)

For my amaretto flavored cookies I confess I did not only use a little almond extract flavoring, but I also added my husband's amaretto flavored non-dairy creamer (about a 1/3 cup). I should like to try them with some Italian Amaretto liqueur in the future.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper for the best result, otherwise lightly grease your cookie sheet.

In my Kitchen Aid mixer I creamed together the butter and sugar, then added the flavorings. I then beat in the eggs, baking powder, and salt. I then mixed in the flour until well blended.

I divided the dough in half and shaped it into foot long logs on my cookie sheet, pressing each into about a 1/2" thick. This needs not be exact, as biscotti is forgiving.

Bake the biscotti for about 30 minutes either on the bottom or center racks of your oven. Remove from oven and cool down enough to work with, but not all the way cool. Using a serrated knife, cut them diagonally into 1/2" thick slices. Gently separate the slices from each other just a tad so the heat can get to all sides of each slice. Place back in oven for another 10-15 minutes to finish the baking, turning slices over about midway.

After removing from the oven, let them cool some. I then melted chocolate (can be done either in the microwave or in the top of a double boiler), spooned it into a small Ziploc baggie and snip a very small tip off one corner. Then I squeezed zig-zags across the biscotti in a couple of directions. I did place the cookies in the freezer for a couple of minutes to set the chocolate before storing. In the future, I will share with you a traditional biscotti recipe using olive oil, instead of butter.

Let your imagination guide you. One could add sliced almonds to this or crush almonds to put on top of the chocolate. Or why not try hazelnuts? For kid friendly biscotti, replace the amaretto with vanilla and cinnamon and then glaze them with white chocolate or icing with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on it. Christmas time you could use crush Ghirardelli Peppermint Chocolate to use inside or drizzle on the outside and serve with Ghirardelli's famous Peppermint Hot Cocoa.

I did not add real almonds to mine to keep mine kid friendly and my children love it. They rather enjoy learning about their Italian Culture through their taste buds.