After a long day of school or work it is always comforting coming home to the open doors of your refrigerator.

Ask any teenager: the way to their heart is through their stomach.  This doesn’t only apply to teenagers, food affects people of all ages.  However, their taste buds vary, and regardless of whether you like cake or brussel sprouts, food can put you in a good mood.

Students have their comfort foods, one of these being cake or other various sweets.  There is a method behind the madness.  Susan Bowerman, assistant director of UCLA’s Center for Human Nutrition said, “These kinds of cravings come from long-established patterns, like memories from when we were kids and were soothed with cookies or rewarded for doing well with ice cream.”

Bowerman also says that positive memories are summoned by various tastes, textures and aromas that have the ability to make us smile.  Sweet treats—especially chocolate—are top happiness triggers.

There are also foods that put people in a good mood because they are beneficial for their health.  Fish, such as salmon and sardines, that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, are known for being beneficial to mental health.  In a psychology article by Carolyn C. Ross, M.D., M.P.H., wild cold water fish are known to help prevent schizophrenia, depression, and other mental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Ross said that this is likely because “of the effect omega-3s have on the production of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals responsible for our moods), including dopamine and serotonin. By supporting the synapses in the brain, omega-3s also boost learning and memory.”

Some of the classic good mood foods are cake, pizza, or soup.  These foods do more than just make us feel better more times than others, and can help create a not only a happier mindset, but a healthier one on top of that.

What food makes you happy?

Recipe: BIG chocolate birthday cake – From the Food Network

Total Time:: 1 hr 45 min

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 25 min

Yield:12 to 14 servings

Ingredients

Cake:

• 4 sticks butter, plus more for greasing
• 8 heaping tablespoons cocoa, plus more for dusting
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 whole eggs, beaten
• Frosting: 3 cups heavy cream
• 24 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heavily grease and dust with cocoa four 9-inch round cake pans.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa. Stir together. Add the boiling water, allow the mixture to boil for 30 seconds and then turn off the heat. Pour over the flour mixture and stir lightly to cool.
4. Combine the buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla and beaten eggs. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture.
5. Divide the batter among the prepared cake pans and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Cool completely before icing. Refrigerate the layers after cooling for best results.
7. For the frosting: Heat the cream until very hot, and then pour over the chocolate pieces. Stir to completely melt, and then pour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Refrigerate to cool.
8. Once completely cooled, add the vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until light and airy.
9. Frost the cake in between each layer, on the top and around the sides.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/big-chocolate-birthday-cake-recipe.html?oc=linkback