• I made Ina Garten’s chocolate cake with mocha frosting. 
• Both the cake and icing feature instant espresso powder to help enhance the chocolate flavor.
• Garten said this cake is a dessert “everyone will remember,” and now I know why!

Neither cooking nor baking has ever been my forte, but I forced myself to start learning a few years ago, realizing I couldn’t live solely on takeout and Trader Joe’s frozen meals.

I had grown up watching “Barefoot Contessa” reruns on the Food Network and thought Ina Garten’s cookbooks would be a great place to start. I figured her easy and foolproof dishes would help me feel a little less intimidated in the kitchen, and I wasn’t wrong. In the years since, I’ve made dozens of Garten’s delicious recipes. I’ve even picked up baking!

Garten’s desserts always shine when chocolate is involved. She once proclaimed that her no-bake mocha chocolate icebox cake is so good “it makes grown men weep,” and has said her recipe for Beatty’s Chocolate Cake is “the most fabulous chocolate cake that I’ve ever made.” Talk about knowing your own worth.

The “Barefoot Contessa” star also has high praise for her chocolate cake with mocha icing, calling it a “dessert everyone will remember,” so, obviously, I had to try it.

Garten’s chocolate cake features cocoa powder, espresso powder, and “good” vanilla.

To make Garten’s chocolate cake, which serves 12, you’ll need: 

• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature  
• 2 cups of sugar 
• 1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) of unsalted butter, at room temperature 
• 1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour 
• ⅔ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder 
• ⅔ cup of half-and-half 
• ⅔ cup of the hottest tap water 
• 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract 
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt 
• 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder 

You’ll also need some ingredients for the mocha frosting.

To make the frosting for a 9-inch-by-13-inch cake, you’ll need: 

• 12 ounces of bittersweet chocolate 
• 1 ¼ cups of heavy cream 
• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature 
• 1 tablespoon of Kahlúa
• 2 teaspoons of instant espresso powder 
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract 

Before the baking began, I needed to prep my pan.

I buttered the bottom of a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan, then lined it with parchment paper. Once that was done, I buttered and floured the entire pan. 

“There’s no point in making a cake if you can’t get it out of the pan,” Garten said in the “Barefoot Contessa” episode where she demonstrated this recipe. 

I also prepped my dry ingredients …

I sifted the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. 

… and my chocolate-and-coffee mixture.

I added the hot tap water, cocoa powder, and espresso powder to a liquid measuring cup and whisked them together.

Then I added the half-and-half and whisked again until the mixture was smooth. 

It was time to start the batter.

First, I placed the sugar and butter into the bowl of my electric mixer, which was fitted with the paddle attachment. 

Garten says to beat the butter and sugar for around four to five minutes on medium speed.

I knew the mixture was ready once it had turned light and fluffy. 

Then I added the vanilla and eggs.

The eggs should be added one at a time, on medium speed, until they’re incorporated and the batter is smooth. 

I turned my mixer to low and started adding my flour and chocolate mixtures.

Garten says the flour and chocolate mixtures should be added alternately in thirds, starting and ending with the flour mixture.

My cake batter was ready!

I used a rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl and make sure the batter was well mixed.

I poured my chocolate batter into the prepared pan and smoothed the top.

Now it was ready to bake.

I placed my cake in the oven, which had been preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Garten says the cake should bake for 25 to 35 minutes.

When your cake tester (or knife) comes out clean from the center, you’ll know it’s ready.

Once my cake was out of the oven, I let it cool completely in the pan.

I let it sit for about 45 minutes. By the time my frosting was ready, the cake had cooled.

While my cake was cooling, I began making the frosting.

First, I chopped my chocolate into ¼-inch pieces, per Garten’s instructions.

Then I placed the chocolate in a bowl with the butter and espresso powder.

Garten explained in the “Barefoot Contessa” episode that she uses the instant espresso powder to help enhance the chocolate flavor.

I also prepped the cream.

Garten says you should heat the cream to a simmer.

Once the cream was ready, I poured it over the chocolate mixture.

I continued to stir the mixture until the chocolate had melted. 

If your chocolate isn’t melting, don’t stress! Garten says you can just pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds.

Then I stirred in the Kahlúa and vanilla.

I stirred everything until the mixture was smooth. 

I covered my frosting and refrigerated it for 30 minutes.

Garten says you shouldn’t leave the frosting in the fridge for longer than 30 minutes. It should be cool, but not cold.

Once it had chilled, I scraped down the bowl and beat the frosting with a handheld mixer.

Garten says to mix your frosting on high speed for about 15 to 20 seconds, until the mixture forms soft peaks. Make sure not to overbeat it or the frosting will curdle.  

I should note I struggled a bit to get the right consistency with this frosting. When I first took it out of the fridge, the frosting just didn’t look thick enough. I let it chill for another 10 minutes before I beat it with the mixer, but it still didn’t look as whipped as it did in the “Barefoot Contessa” episode. 

The flavor was still delicious, and the frosting spread easily on the cake, so don’t worry too much if you’re having similar issues. 

It was time to frost my cake.

I carefully flipped my cake onto a serving board, then removed the parchment paper. 

Garten says you should use a metal spatula to evenly spread the frosting over your cake. 

I cut my cake into squares just as Garten had, and voilà — it was ready to eat!

I loved the old-fashioned charm of the thick squares with frosting on top. While it didn’t have the centerpiece appeal of Garten’s mocha icebox cake, it still looked super inviting.

Garten’s chocolate cake with mocha icing tasted rich and decadent.

I loved the moist texture, which reminded me of Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. I’ve had many chocolate cakes that are too dense and heavy, but Garten’s recipe has a springiness and lightness that really help balance everything. And while it’s not overly sweet, the instant espresso powder brings out that chocolate flavor in both the cake and its mocha frosting. 

I will say that I didn’t love the mocha frosting as much as the buttercream in Beatty’s Chocolate Cake. The consistency of the buttercream paired better with the cake, and the flavor was more memorable. If I make this again, I might try swapping the frostings. 

This is definitely a cake for chocolate lovers.

Garten’s chocolate cake with mocha icing is a bit easier to make than her Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe, although I’d pick the latter if the two had to go up against each other. 

But this chocolate cake is still a delicious dessert that is sure to impress anyone with a sweet tooth, and it’s a great option when you have a little less time — and want to do fewer dishes.  

And if you’re looking for a super easy dessert to whip up on a hot summer’s day, look no further than her tiramisu or mocha icebox cake. 

• After its peak last summer, the Labubu trend has burst.
• Web traffic to the Pop Mart website has cratered.
• But Pop Mart is still optimistic about its business, and other toy makers see it setting trends.

I can’t completely say that the Labubu trend is over, because I bought a Labubu just last month. Ok, technically it was a “Lafufu” — a fake knockoff version that I got for $15 at a sidewalk stall on Canal Street for my daughter’s birthday.

So yes, among kindergarteners, Labubus still hold sway. But among the fashionable young adults who first adopted the fuzzy monster plush? Old news. Rihana and Blackpink’s Lisa kicked off the craze over a year ago when they were spotted with Labrabus as bag charms. The frenzy peaked during the summer of 2025, when surging demand left them constantly out of stock online.

By the holidays that fall, the tides had turned, and Labubus were plentiful and easy to buy. You could even buy them in person, with Pop Mart (the Hong Kong-based maker of Labubu) starting to open more stores and vending machines in the US. [In a cruel twist of fate, my daughter is convinced that the real Labubu that she got for Christmas is a fake, and because it’s from Santa, I cannot demonstrate its legitimate provenance. Real Labubus from Pop Mart feature blind packaging to hide the toy’s color, and it turned out to be a beige disappointment. The fake one, in the blue she wanted, has made her much happier.]

This chart, based on Comscore web traffic data collected by Emarketer, shows web traffic to the Pop Mart website over the last year. Because of the unique demand, rarity, and risk of fakes, Pop Mart’s official website was the key place to buy Labubus — unlike other toy brands, where sales happen more often at other retailers rather than directly through their website. (Hasbro also saw a decline in web traffic during this period, but that’s not as clear an indicator since most Hasbro sales happen in stores or other sites like Amazon).

You can see a sharp decline after September — coincidentally, when they restocked and became easier to obtain. There’s an uptick for the holidays, and then it craters.

There are other factors that might have affected this drop — the opening of several brick-and-mortar stores in the US may have shifted sales away from the website and into physical stores (or other online retailers). The first Pop Mart store opened in 2023 in the American Dream Mall in New Jersey, and there are now over 65 stores across the US. Pop Mart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In August, I wrote that the Labubu bubble — on its way to reaching $1 billion in sales — was ready to burst. Looks like it did.

By the time I went to Toy Fair, the biggest toy maker convention in the US, in February, every vendor I spoke with agreed that the Labubu craze had peaked. But they also said its impact was lasting: toys aimed at adult collectors and sold in blind packaging had become major trends that are still going strong.

In March 2026, Pop Mart reported that 40% of its revenue was coming from Labubu, which my colleague Aditi Bharade reported made investors a little nervous. A hit product like this can be a blessing and a curse once the fad fades.

Pop Mart believes it has more to offer than a one-hit-wonder product. During a March earnings call, Pop Mart CEO Grant Want said: “Looking back, while we acknowledge there are still many issues to address, we have built solid strengths over the past year: a robust IP portfolio, a highly capable management team we take great pride in, and a deep understanding of brand building and market dynamics that we have accumulated.”

• Anthropic released Opus 4.8, its latest general-purpose model, and closed a $65 billion fundraise.
• The company’s new $965 billion valuation brings it above OpenAI’s as the rivals eye IPOs.
• Opus 4.8 is a “modest” improvement, Anthropic says, adding that Mythos is on the way.

Anthropic has arrived with the newest entrant in the AI race — and a new stack of cash.

On Thursday, the AI lab announced a new $65 billion fundraise, valuing it at a staggering $965 billion and making it the most valuable AI startup — surpassing its rival OpenAI.

The same day, Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8, a new version of its general-purpose large language model. Anthropic called it a “modest but tangible improvement on its predecessor” and said it’s better at coding, reasoning, and general knowledge work.

Anthropic is in the midst of a high-stakes fight for technological supremacy and market share with OpenAI, and this new model marks the latest in a series of salvos. Each lab is gearing up to go public, pushing to sell its coding tools to as many developers as possible, and angling to secure enough computing power to sustain growth.

In a post about the fundraise, Anthropic said the new money will help it “expand compute to meet growing demand for Claude,” among other efforts.

Anthropic’s latest valuation is a huge leap from its $380 billion valuation in February. OpenAI’s last fundraise in March valued the company at $852 billion; its last model release, GPT-5.5, came in April.

What’s new about Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 model

Anthropic chose this model release to launch a new “effort control,” which lets users toggle between settings that determine how much computing power a model devotes to an answer. Companies have begun to reckon with their AI spending, and this tool will help engineers use their Claude Code budgets more slowly, for example.

Opus 4.8’s fast mode is three times cheaper than the previous versions on Anthropic’s models, the company wrote, offering another way for customers to cut costs.

Opus 4.8 is not the much-awaited Mythos model that Anthropic held back due to cybersecurity concerns.

Anthropic had kicked off a worried frenzy in the cybersecurity community in April when it said that Mythos was far better than past models at finding vulnerabilities to hack. It says it has been working with trusted companies and organizations, particularly in cybersecurity, as it develops guardrails for Mythos.

“We’re making swift progress on developing these safeguards and expect to be able to bring Mythos-class models to all our customers in the coming weeks,” the Thursday announcement said.

Anthropic called the new Opus 4.8 model “weaker” than Mythos and said it’s “substantially behind” the unreleased model on cyber capabilities. The company also wrote that while Mythos always admits it’s an AI, Opus 4.8 could be tricked into saying it’s human in about 3% of tests.

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• Business Insider asked bartenders to share the drinks people should consider ordering more often.
• For those who enjoy vermouth, a gin 50/50 martini, boulevardier, or Martinez are perfect options.
• In its intended form, the classic daiquiri deserves way more attention than it gets.

With cocktails becoming increasingly more expensive, it’s important that you’re not disappointed after ordering a drink from the bar. But at the same time, ordering the same tried-and-true martini or margarita can get boring.

That’s why Business Insider asked bartenders about which underrated drinks they think customers should order more often. Here’s what they said.

Lemon-drop cocktails have a high level of versatility, but aren’t ordered super often.

For those looking for an elevated drink choice, Madison Weeks, a bartender at 1861 Distillery in Georgia, recommends a lemon-drop cocktail.

“The lemon drop offers more than just its classic vodka base. For seasoned cocktail enthusiasts, a simple addition like a splash of elderflower liqueur or fresh herbs like thyme can turn the lemon drop into a more complex, refined drink,” Weeks told BI. “These small tweaks add depth and balance to the sweet-tart profile.”

The sloe gin fizz has a bright, refreshing taste.

Ben Pozar, the lead bartender at Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection in Texas, told BI more people should opt for a sloe gin fizz because of its bright, delicious flavors.

For this cocktail, the gin is mixed with lemon, simple syrup, and a bit of soda water.

“I don’t know why people don’t go for them at bars,” Pozar said.

He told BI they work great as an aperitif — an alcoholic drink served before a meal to stimulate the appetite.

A gin 50/50 martini gives vermouth a chance to shine.

Evan Hawkins, a bartender who owns Romeo’s in New York City, recommends ordering a gin 50/50 martini, which consists of equal parts gin and dry vermouth.

“I feel like people were taught to dislike vermouth in martini orders because it’s been shamed for so long, but I think it’s the move. A lemon twist and an olive complete this delicious, snack-like drink,” Hawkins told BI.

A classic daiquiri — in its intended form — is well-balanced and delicious.

A classic daiquiri shouldn’t be confused with the kind that comes from a frozen drink machine.

“In its original and intended form, it’s as pure as freshly fallen snow. A nice white rum, or even an Agricole, fresh citrus, and a well-balanced simple syrup make this drink the ultimate classic and the king of cocktails,” Hawkins said.

He said he often sees people in the bar industry ordering a classic daiquiri, but wishes more customers would catch on to it as well.

The New York whiskey sour deserves more attention for its stunning look and complex taste.

Richie Mello III, the head mixologist and tasting-room supervisor at Heritage Distilling Company, told BI the New York whiskey sour is a great twist on the classic cocktail.

“It’s a standard whiskey sour — whiskey, citrus, and simple syrup — finished with a red-wine float on top. The wine adds a beautiful color contrast and layers of flavor, making the cocktail visually stunning and deliciously complex,” he told BI.

He added that the combination of citrus and red wine creates a dynamic sip every time.

Palomas are often overshadowed by margaritas.

Though margaritas are often seen as a go-to drink, Sanwar Mal Khokhar, a mixologist at Sanjh Restaurant and Bar in Texas, said he thinks the hype surrounding them causes other tequila-based drinks to be overlooked.

“The paloma’s refreshing blend of tequila, grapefruit, and lime makes it a great, lesser-known option. Light, tangy, and perfectly balanced, it’s a versatile drink that pairs effortlessly with grilled seafood or spicy tacos,” Khokhar said.

The boulevardier should be on every whiskey enthusiast’s list.

Instead of an old-fashioned, Khokhar recommends trying out a boulevardier.

“The boulevardier’s perfect blend of bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth is a must-try for whiskey enthusiasts looking for something with more depth beyond the familiar old-fashioned,” he said.

Khokhar said the boulevardier is almost always overlooked. But with its bitter-sweet complexity, it stands out from other cocktails.

Try a Martinez instead of a martini.

Clay Sears, the head bartender at Virginia’s in New York City, said he wishes the Martinez wasn’t constantly overshadowed by the martini.

Dating back to the late 1800s, a Martinez is made up of gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and bitters.

“This martini predecessor has such a storied history in the cocktail canon. The interplay between orange bitters and maraschino leads the classic gin and vermouth formula to a much rounder, complex finish,” Sears told BI. “It’s stiff and boozy but still has a subtle smoothness that makes you want to return for another sip.”

This story was originally published in October 2024 and most recently updated on May 28, 2026.

• A plan to tax multimillion-dollar second homes in New York City has officially passed.
• Gov. Hochul and Mayor Mamdani’s new tax on properties worth over $5 million aims to raise $500 million.
• Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, whose property was singled out by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has criticized the move.

The long-awaited tax on billionaires’ second homes in New York City is now official.

A joint proposal from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to tax multimillion-dollar second homes has been incorporated into New York’s state budget, which was passed Wednesday, two months after it was initially due. That pied-à-terre tax targets homes worth over $5 million whose owners don’t live in New York City — focusing on the ultrawealthy who own crash pads or vacation homes in the city, but may not pay city or state income taxes.

It’s one avenue lawmakers are taking to plug budget shortfalls, and a victory for Mamdani’s tax-the-rich agenda; while Hochul has squashed increasing income or corporate taxes on higher earners, the new levy will target those wealthy enough to maintain a multimillion-dollar second residence in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Hochul and Mamdani estimated the tax could raise $500 million, although the total revenue could end up coming in lower.

The tax, currently set to apply through 2031 when it will be up again for legislative renewal, will increase depending on how much a property costs. Single-family homes worth between $5 million and $15 million will be subject to a 0.8% surcharge, and those between $15 million and $25 million will be subject to 1.05%. Properties worth $25 million or more will face a 1.3% levy. In its first two years, the tax will rely on Department of Finance “assessed values” to determine which homes will face a new charge, while the city and state work out a new valuation system.

“The assessed value for a $5 million property is hardly ever five million,” said Jonathan Miller, a renowned real estate appraiser. “You significantly reduce the pool, so you’ve got to lower the threshold to some arbitrary number like a million dollars.”

The tax will fall on co-ops and condos that are currently valued at $1 million or more by the DOF. The state said the lower cutoff is a result of assessed values typically being far below what they would actually sell for. The initial rates for those will be 4%, 5.25%, and 6%, depending on the condo’s market value, during those first two years of implementation. After that initial onramp period, the city will develop a new assessment system, and surcharges will be applied at those 1.3% or lower rates.

To determine who’s subject to the tax and what counts as a second home, the Department of Finance will consider if the home was occupied for the majority of a calendar year by a covered owner. Homeowners will be notified by August 30 that they’ll be expected to pay, and they will have a chance to submit proof that the unit is actually a primary residence.

The tax is estimated to fall on around 10,000 properties, one of which Mamdani targeted when he unveiled the tax last month. In the video announcement, Mamdani stood in front of a limestone tower on Central Park South, where Citadel CEO Ken Griffin bought a penthouse for $238 million in 2019.

The directness of the move ruffled Griffin, who also owns multiple apartments in a Park Avenue coop.

“Mamdani has made it very clear, New York does not welcome success,” the Citadel chief said earlier this month at the Milken conference in Los Angeles. He floated abandoning a planned New York office for Citadel, adding that he would “double down” on Miami.

Prominent business people, including investors Bill Ackman and Jason Calacanis, have derided the tax, which would likely affect dozens of billionaires, from Jeff Bezos to Michael Dell.

• CNN host Fareed Zakaria told Bard grads that humans can still do a lot that AI doesn’t grasp.
• The address comes as other commencement speakers keep receiving loud boos while talking about AI.
• Zakaria joked that AI had become the “two most provocative letters” in English.

Fareed Zakaria says he thinks humans still have a competitive advantage over AI.

During his commencement speech at Bard College in New York, the CNN host and Washington Post columnist said artificial intelligence is advancing with “astonishing speed and power.” Still, he argued that the rise of AI should prompt people to think less about competing with machines and more about what makes human intelligence distinct.

“So people naturally ask: ‘What will be left for human beings to do?'” he said. “But, perhaps that’s the wrong question. The better question is, ‘What does AI tell us about all the things we humans already do — and that are distinctive and irreplacable?'”

Zakaria’s speech came as mentions of AI keep drawing loud protests at college commencement speeches. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed while talking about AI and automation at the University of Arizona, while real-estate executive Gloria Caulfield was loudly jeered for bringing up the technology during her speech at the University of Central Florida.

Those viral responses helped Zakaria pre-empt the audience.

“At this point, I need to give you a trigger warning,” he told graduates early in the speech. “So I should warn you that I am about to utter the two most provocative letters in the English language today: AI.”

The mention of artificial intelligence drew jeers from the crowd.

“Feel free to get the booing out of the way,” he said.

Zakaria framed the rest of his speech around another two-letter initialism: HI, or human intelligence.

He pointed to the human brain, which he said weighs about three pounds and runs on roughly 20 watts of power — less energy than a laptop charger. AI systems, by contrast, can require data centers that consume enough electricity to power entire cities, he said. Human intelligence, Zakaria argued, is more efficient.

It is also better suited to the messy work of being human: reading emotions, understanding context, forming relationships, making art, and finding meaning in lived experience.

“A machine can write a sad poem, but it cannot weep at a funeral,” he said. “The more powerful AI becomes, the more we may rediscover how much we value the distinctly human.”