Who doesn’t love a good lemon bar? While I think it impossible not to have a special place in one’s heart for the zesty-shortbread-bottomed-citrus delight, I’m sure there exists those who don’t. This post is not for them. I hadn’t made lemon bars in a while but hearing that my sweet baking-loving niece in LA recently made some and how outrageous they were, first made me sad I couldn’t be there to sample some of her creation, but also really made me want to eat some. Which meant I had to make some. And since the recipe she used was so outstanding, I decided to give that a go instead of my usual lemon bar recipe.

I don’t think there’s much I need to say about this cake, except maybe to be careful if you try to nose-dive right into it. Just look at that frosting. This Celebration Cake is dreamy, silk-chocolatey-heaven on top of light and fluffy vanilla cake. For me personally, that combo right there, just might be the perfect cake or cupcake pair ever. It’s classic and the best of both worlds. Not too plain and not super chocolate overload (perhaps not really such a thing.) But this really offers something for everyone. And there’s no scooping cupcake batter, piping frosting or stacking cake layers to be done here. Just bake the cake in one pan, slather on said chocolatey goodness and shower it with sprinkles if you wish. (The sprinkles besides being beautiful and really adding to the “celebrate” part, give such a fun texture contrast with each bite.

We made this cake to celebrate two important birthdays that happened in the same week. The birth of my newest nephew, the cutest little lovebug ever and the 15th birthday of my only other nephew. I had planned to be in LA for the birth but that got derailed thanks to Covid-19. And I was excited to have been able to be in town at that time so I could make the cake for the big 15. I’ve missed his last few birthdays being here in Istanbul. Well, boo. A tough pill to swallow on both accounts but we still wanted to celebrate these awesome humans we are lucky enough to call family. And this cake seemed the perfect fit.

Is there any particular place or memory that comes up when you think of churros? For me there’s two. The first being that I will always associate churros with my elementary school’s annual carnival. The booth my mom ran every year, the most popular one indeed, sold two of my now favorite treats, warm chocolate chip cookies straight from the school’s oven and churros. (This just might have something to do with my obsession with all things treats, particularly the fact that my all-time fav dessert is none other than the classic chocolate chip cookie.) But back to the churros. They were delicious. And I ate a lot.

The second memory connected to churros for me is from my days in the professional restaurant kitchen. I use to have churros on my dessert menu. They were paired with a mexican chocolate dipping sauce, a spicy dulce de leche and a handmade cinnamon ice cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about that combo. They were a favorite for sure but I’ll never forget how many customers either couldn’t pronouce them (no big deal) or more importantly, had never tried one. And I loved being able to open up their world to a whole new fried goodness obsession and watch the clients dining in fancy suits and dresses enjoying this fun childhood favorite. Some days we couldn’t make them fast enough, as they were fried to order, and we often ran out of the dough and had to “86” them (a term used when there’s no more of an item on a menu.)