Christina's Cakes

2009-11-03T14:41:00.001-05:00

2009-10-20T11:37:00.002-04:00

2009-04-14T22:39:00.002-04:00

Here's some of the latest...

Recent Cakes...

2008-11-12T15:32:00.002-05:00

Sandra & Ashish's Wedding Shower

2008-10-13T23:02:00.002-04:00

2008-05-05T10:04:00.000-04:00

2008-04-23T10:18:00.003-04:00

Hopper's Retirement

2007-04-12T15:34:00.000-04:00

Sarah and Jeff's Wedding Cake

2006-10-10T10:15:00.000-04:00

Publish

Castle Cake

2006-08-06T21:10:00.000-04:00

Here is my first Castle Cake!

2006-05-07T14:17:00.000-04:00

more cakes! it's been a while since I've posted, sorry! Here are the two cakes I did this weekend!

My First Wedding Cake

2006-03-12T12:42:00.000-05:00

2006-02-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

Sugar Cookies for Valentine's Day at DHQ

Lego Cake

2006-02-11T17:24:00.000-05:00

Timothy's Birthday Cake. 6 Lego Blocks made from marbled pound cake with creamy chocolate truffle filling. We had the party at Chuck E. Cheese's...it was a blast :-)

Here's an inside look...

Fun Cake!

2006-02-06T14:01:00.000-05:00

Kathy's Baby Shower Cake! 8 Layers of Pound cake with alternating fillings of strawberry jam and chunky chocolate truffle. yum-o.

more petit fours!

2006-01-26T20:33:00.000-05:00

2006-01-26T19:43:00.000-05:00

2006-01-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

finished!

2006-01-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

This is my latest project....the pattern that's iced on the cake...alone, has probably taken an hour to get that much complete. It's tedious, but I enjoy it for some weird reason. you have to go slow and keep a stead hand, and that's hard for me...so it's teaching me patience. yay :-) anyways...have a sneak peak. I'll post the finished product later!

The Best Sweet Potato Casserole EVER

2005-11-22T17:31:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough for a generous woman to share her incredible recipe for sweet potato casserole with me..and now, in honor of Thanksgiving, I would like to pass it to you all as well!

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups boiled, mashed sweet potatoes*
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick of butter/margerine

Topping

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup self rising flour**
1 cup melted butter

1 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

Mix well the casserole ingredients with hand mixer until incorporated. Pour in baking dish (13" x 9")
Mix brown sugar, self-rising flour, and melted butter together with hand mixer until crumbly (this will be a very short amount of time, don't over beat or it will become a solid)
Sprinkle topping over casserole ingredients and top with chopped pecans!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes and serve warm!

*when you boil sweet potatoes: you boil them with the skins on for about 15 minutes or until tender (you can tell they are tender when a fork is easily inserted in them). Bring the water up to a boil with the potatoes.

**if you don't have self-rising flour, you can substitute: 1 cup regular flour with 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 tsp. baking soda

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

2005-07-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats (optional)

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1 bag Ghirardelli Milk (or Semi-Sweet) Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color (about 4 minutes).

Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed until incorporated.

Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture.

Stir in nuts, oats, and chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoon onto greased baking sheets (i prefer to use an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper)

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

**For and extra rich and yummy treat...you could spread ganache (see recipe listed a few days ago) inbetween two cookies and let set in the fridge until cool. yum :-)**

Christina's Hawaiian Chicken

2005-07-27T12:30:00.000-04:00

Pineapple and Chicken are an awesome combination.

Here's what you need:

Chicken (I prefer to use fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts)
Pineapple (Either Fresh or one can of Dole Pineapple Rings-please use Dole...the other brands leave too much core in the pieces and will result in tough bites)
sesame Ginger Sauce (this comes in a bottle as a marinade. Lawrys is a good brand, so is Kens "30 minutes marinade")
Rice

First things first....start your rice since it takes forever and a day to cook. A Serving of rice is supposed to be 1/4 cup dry rice, but we Americans tend to eat more than a serving for our serving...so I would recommend cooking 1/2 dry rice for every person...remember you can use your leftover rice for fried rice the next night :-)

How to cook rice:
1 part rice to 2 parts water
for example I want to cook 1 cup of dried rice:

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup dried rice, 2 cups of water, and a little salt...bring to a rapid boil.
Once it boils, give it a stir and turn the heat down to a little over low, cover and let simmer without lifting the lid for 15 minutes. Set your timer.
When the timer goes off, remove your rice from the heat and stir...it's ready.

How to cook the chicken:
Take the chicken and cut it into bite size pieces. I like cubing it and using kitchen shears to just cut it into these pieces, but you can use a cutting board and a knife too. Be sure to sanitize everything that touch raw chicken...including your hands! Don't spread the germs.

Put your chicken in a frying pan on Med-High and let cook on both sides, this will take probably 7-10 minutes if the pieces are relatively small. When it's cooked through and starting to stick to the pan, add your marinade. You will probably only use 1/2 the bottle total. Keep adding and stirring over high heat until the chicken is evenly coated and is smelling good :-)

Take the pineapple rings and cut them in 4-6 pieces each and add them to the chicken mixture. Stir and lightly coat for about 1-2 minutes.

Serve Chicken and Pineapple over the Rice.

Dinner's Ready :-)

Fried Rice...Dinner in under 10 minutes

2005-07-25T14:10:00.000-04:00

I love Fried Rice...but here's a slightly healthier version than the stuff you pick up at your local takout joint.

Important...you have to cook the rice at least one day before you plan on making this. Whenever we have rice with a meal, I always cook 2x more than what we need and save the leftovers in a freezer bag in the refrigerator for fried rice.

This recipe should probably feed two people, maybe a little more. I never look at recipes...I just kind of make it up as I go...so I'm trying to figure out proportions!

Ingredients:

2 cups Cold Cooked Rice (anykind...but I like regular white long grain)
1 Rotisserie Store Bought Chicken (or you can use canned chicken...or whatever chicken/pork you have available)
1Tbs Soy Sauce (or to taste/color)
1/4 cup Carrots (chop this up in little pieces
1/3 cup Frozen Peas
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onions (or scallions)
2 eggs (I prefer to use 1/2 cup of egg substitute like MorningStar "Better 'n Eggs" or Harris Teeter "EggStarts")
a little oil, spray, or butter for your frying pan

Instructions:

*have everything by the stove ready to go...carrots and onions chopped, peas measured, eggs cracked, and meat cut off bone (or can opened). This way nothing burns while your fidgeting to find or open something.
*Spray or Coat pan with oil and scramble eggs over medium high heat. While you scramble, take your spatula and chop the eggs while they cook.
*Add Rice and stir for a couple seconds and then add all the vegetables (carrots, peas and onions) along with the meat.
*Let this cook, stirring and flipping constantly, for about 5 minutes
*Add Soy Sauce and cook an additional minute

If you want plain egg fried rice, just omit the meat. That's what I usually do. You can also just add the meat after you cook it all. It's up to you :-) Be Creative.

GANACHE...a yummy treat!

2005-07-23T12:03:00.000-04:00

Ganache is the coating on this brownie pictured above. But what exactly is Ganache?...

Ganache is a French term referring to a smooth mixture of chopped chocolate and heavy cream. The origins of ganache are debatable but it is believed to have been invented around 1850. Some say it originated in Switzerland where it was used as a base for truffles. Others say it was invented in Paris at the Patisserie Siravdin.

How do I make Ganache?

A general guideline for making ganache. To make a glaze or coating: 1 part cream to 3 parts chocolate. To make a truffle filling: 1 part cream to 2 parts chocolate. To make a light filling: 1 part cream to 1 part chocolate.

For those of you who like specific recipes...try this:

(This recipe has a little butter added to ensure the ganache has a shiny finish, even when refrigerated.)

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate cut into small pieces (you can also use 2/3 bag of chocolate chips. Ghiradelli semisweet is a good choice...it has less butterfat than other chocolate)
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter

*you can add concentrated extracts to to this to flavor...for example, rasberry extract for a rasberry chocolate flavor. Orange works well also! It just depends what you're making with it :-) Orange truffles sound good...

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Uses for Ganache:

Ganache is widely used in the pastry kitchen. When barely warm and still liquid, you can pour it over a cake or torte for a smooth shiny glaze. (do a very thin layer and refrigerate it for 10-20 minutes until almost set before pouring more in the center and "icing" the cake/torte. This is called the crumb coat and will eliminate crumbs in your finished coating) If cooled to room temperature it becomes a spreadable filling and frosting. You can also Refrigerated ganache and it can be whipped for fillings and frostings or formed into truffles. For truffles, just form in to small balls and roll in crushed nuts or cocoa powder...or anything you like! and place in candy cups (or mini-muffin liners) and refigerate.

That's all there is to it!

Yum.

Lasagna Rolls

2005-07-19T15:57:00.000-04:00

Alright guys.....here's a fairly easy and yummy take on the traditional lasagna...only better! These rolls are great for many reasons...they have a beautiful presentation, they taste amazing!...and if you don't cook for 6 people every night...they freeze very well and can easily be individually frozen.

This recipe is orginally from Giada de Laurentiis, but you will find my modifications in pink next to the original. Enjoy! Ask if you have any questions anytime :-)

Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk (2% milk works fine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg (I leave this out, but only because oddly enough...I have just never remembered to pick it up when at the store)

Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry (This is a lot of work...for not that great of a texture. I'm not a spinach fan, so I use 1 large or 2 med-small zuchinni squashes instead. Just grate them up like you would a block of cheese)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan (you can use the stuff in the shaker, but it tastes a lot better and fresher if you buy a bag or tub of shredded Parm or you can also find prepackaged blocks you can shred yourself in the dairy case with the block cheeses. It comes in a wedge)
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped (I used about a cup to 1.5 cups crumbled ground beef here, you can also use italian sausage or cook some turkey sausage...just make sure you cook the meat first, whatever you choose! Harris Teeter does carry prosciutto now though...it's in the deli, made by Dietz&Watson and it runs about $13/lb. fyi)
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)

Now for the directions:

To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.

Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking. (I like to put foil on my baking sheets to eliminate another dirty dish...but even better, you can just put the foil directly on your counter top. Please though, PLEASE drizzle some Olive Oil on the foil first...spread it around with your fingers or a napkin...this will keep the pasta from sticking to it. There is a lot of starch in the lasagna and they will stick as they dry if you're not careful. If you use oil, you don't have anything to worry about!

Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface (your work surface should be another lightly oiled piece of foil), then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamelsauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.