So I realized I haven't posted in a while in general or really post a recipe at all. So let's remedy that.
June is the month of birthdays. One of my best friends, Kristina, was turning 23 (okay, so its come and gone by now). Anyhow, she is not an avid cake eater by any means unless it is Funfetti.
We both have fond memories of late night all nighters where I would bake us a pan of funfetti cake and we would eat that all night drinking cokes to stay awake to study. So in celebration of her 23rd birthday, I thought to make her the ultimate Funfetti Cupcake.
Here I used 2 boxes of Pilsbury Funfetti cupcake mix, 1 can of funfetti frosting, and topped it off with a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting.
You'll also want to make this delightful Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting first, so that you can let it set in the fridge
Giant Birthday Cupcake
Materials:
3 8 inch, round pans prepped with parchment paper
1 10-11 inch glass bowl (that can be used in the oven), coated with Pam or other non stick spray
Stand or Hand mixer
Aluminum Foil
Parchment paper
Ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix (flavor of your choice)
ingredients to make the mix (eggs, water, oil)
1 can frosting (flavor of your choice)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
-1 pint (or 2 cups) of heavy whipping cream
-1/3 cup light agave nectar (if you do not have agave nectar, you can use 1/2 cup regular white sugar)
-1 tbl spoon vanilla extract
-1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1. Into a stainless steel or copper bowl, cream together the agave nectar, vanilla extract and cream cheese until well mixed.
2. Turn your mixer on medium and slowly add the heavy cream. As the cream and sugar cheese mixture whippes together, it should start looking like whipped cream. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
3. refrigerate for 1-2 hrs until stiff. This is especially important if you are using the agave nectar because the whipped cream is a little looser.
The cake:
1. Prepare the cake mix according to box directions. I make one box at a time to ensure that I do not over mix. It IS possible to over mix with box cake.
2. Fill each of the 8 inch round pan 1/2 of the way with batter. Pour remaining batter into the glass bowl.
3. Bake at 350F until tooth pick comes out clean for the 3 8inche pans. The glass bowl will take a bit longer. Once I take the rounds out, I turn down the temperature to 325F to prevent burning and bake until the toothpick comes out clean (almost 1 hr).
4. Cool on wire rack
5. While the cake is cooling, prepare the "foil wrapper". Roll out strips of parchment ~ 2.5 - 3 inches wide. Fold accordion style about 1/2 inch. Do the same with the aluminum foil
6. Layer the cakes and frost with can frosting. You can skip frosting the top because that is going to be topped with the whipped cream cheese frosting
7. Put a thick layer of canned frosting around the sides of the cake. This will help the parchment wrapper stick to the cake. Slowly wrap the folded parchment around the cake. Repeat with the foil.
8. Take your whipped cream cheese frosting out of the fridge and divide. Using food coloring (I used gel), lightly mix in the color of choice.
9. frost the top with color A, followed by color B. repeat until you have a "stacked" look.
10. Garnish with sprinkles or colored sugar if desired.
Serves 15
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Eggrolls
Most people on Memorial Day have foods that include hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and watermelon. In my family, not so much. Our picnics usually consist of my mom making amazing steaks marinated in this sauce that I can't even explain, wings (some of you have had the pleasure of having) also marinated in amazingess, vietnamese style coleslaw, some kind of noodle soup spring rolls, and lettuce wraps.
Today, my mom's feature was Eggrolls. My mom made a filling of pork and shrimp, carrots, glass noodles, rehydrated mushrooms, onion, garlic, and of course fish sauce. I would post the recipe, but once again, she likes to be all top secret about it... or just not tell me the proportion for each ingredient.
Deep fried goodness, my mom's eggrolls are extremely satisfying. They can be eaten plain or wrapped in a roman lettuce leaf and dipped in a sweet fish sauce for a touch of tang and sweetness.
I swear, one day I will post one of my mom's amazing foods.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Mango Coconut Mint Panna Cotta
Shannon and I were headed to Boston for a weekend with Andrea. Of course there was going to be a dinner party! Andrea made amazing white potato pizza with scallions and caramelized red onion and rosemary and a great feta veggie pizza.
Since I was going to be a nice weekend, I thought I would try my hand at panna cotta, which translates to "cooked cream". Boy oh boy is it ever. I added a splash of peppermint extract to mine. I've gotten mixed reviews about the mint flavor, so it can be something that is up to your digression.
I also opted to leave mine in the ramekins, although they pop out rather easily. Ramekins are not a requirement. In the photo, I poured the panna cotta mixture into a small bowl we use for eating rice (about 1 cup bowl)! Martini glasses also make a great looking panna cotta.
Mango Coconut Mint Panna Cotta
2 medium sized mangos
4 tbl spn OJ
1 1/4 c coconut milk*
1 c. half and half
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 c sugar
1 1/2 packet gelatin
1/4 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
*I left the can of coconut milk unshaken and scooped off the white coconut milk floating in the can
1. peel and chop the mango. Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish (optional) With an emulsifier or blender to make a mango purree. strain through a sieve to get all the stringy bits out
2. In a small bowl, mix the OJ and gelatin
3. in a stainless steel 1 quart pot, whisk together coconut milk, half and half and sugar on medium heat until very hot but not boiling.
4. in a separate bowl, mix together yogurt and mango puree
5. When the milk mixture is very hot, turn off heat and whisk in gelatin until the gelatin is dissolved followed by the mango puree and yogurt mixture.
6. whisk well together. If you have an emulsifier wand, you can even use that to make sure everything is well blended together
7. pour into ramekins.
8. chill for about 1 hour and sprinkle remaining mango. cover and chill over night!
makes about 12 1-cup ramekins 2/3 of the way full.
Since I was going to be a nice weekend, I thought I would try my hand at panna cotta, which translates to "cooked cream". Boy oh boy is it ever. I added a splash of peppermint extract to mine. I've gotten mixed reviews about the mint flavor, so it can be something that is up to your digression.
I also opted to leave mine in the ramekins, although they pop out rather easily. Ramekins are not a requirement. In the photo, I poured the panna cotta mixture into a small bowl we use for eating rice (about 1 cup bowl)! Martini glasses also make a great looking panna cotta.
Mango Coconut Mint Panna Cotta
2 medium sized mangos
4 tbl spn OJ
1 1/4 c coconut milk*
1 c. half and half
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 c sugar
1 1/2 packet gelatin
1/4 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
*I left the can of coconut milk unshaken and scooped off the white coconut milk floating in the can
1. peel and chop the mango. Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish (optional) With an emulsifier or blender to make a mango purree. strain through a sieve to get all the stringy bits out
2. In a small bowl, mix the OJ and gelatin
3. in a stainless steel 1 quart pot, whisk together coconut milk, half and half and sugar on medium heat until very hot but not boiling.
4. in a separate bowl, mix together yogurt and mango puree
5. When the milk mixture is very hot, turn off heat and whisk in gelatin until the gelatin is dissolved followed by the mango puree and yogurt mixture.
6. whisk well together. If you have an emulsifier wand, you can even use that to make sure everything is well blended together
7. pour into ramekins.
8. chill for about 1 hour and sprinkle remaining mango. cover and chill over night!
makes about 12 1-cup ramekins 2/3 of the way full.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Mayoless Tuna Sandwich with Avocado
It felt nearly like summer this past weekend. Andrea, Andy and I hit up the beaches armed iwth wetsuits and surfboards. Of course all that beach activity is going to make us hungry!! So I packed tuna sandwiches which I pazazzed up quite a bit. I hate hate hate mayonnaise, so I made it mayo less with the magic of avocado.
Andrea suggested next time to add Parmesan cheese and one minced up egg.
Mayoless Tuna Sandwich
your choice of bread ( I bought whole wheat rolls)
1 can tuna, drained
1 shallot
1 celery stalk
1 avocado
~1 tsp red chili flakes
Romaine Lettuce
Tomato Slices
cheese (optional)
S&P to taste
1. Mix up the tuna so that all the chunks are broken up.
2. Finely dice shallot and celery stalk, mix in with tuna
3. Cube up the avocado and mash, mix in with tuna, celery and shallot.
4. Mix in red chili flakes, S&P.
5. Compile sandwich [ bread, lettuce, tuna mixture, cheese, tomato, lettuce, bread ]
Makes enough for 3 sandwiches.
Andrea suggested next time to add Parmesan cheese and one minced up egg.
Mayoless Tuna Sandwich
your choice of bread ( I bought whole wheat rolls)
1 can tuna, drained
1 shallot
1 celery stalk
1 avocado
~1 tsp red chili flakes
Romaine Lettuce
Tomato Slices
cheese (optional)
S&P to taste
1. Mix up the tuna so that all the chunks are broken up.
2. Finely dice shallot and celery stalk, mix in with tuna
3. Cube up the avocado and mash, mix in with tuna, celery and shallot.
4. Mix in red chili flakes, S&P.
5. Compile sandwich [ bread, lettuce, tuna mixture, cheese, tomato, lettuce, bread ]
Makes enough for 3 sandwiches.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Alligator Cake
My friend Lisa Daigle is having her 25th birthday. For the past few years, I have always managed to make her a cake (except for when I went off to California). It all started with a chocolate cake, plastic dinosaurs and a chocolate cupcake volcano... the rest is Lisa/Lisa history.
Anyhow, this year for Lisa's big quarter century she decided the best way to celebrate growing up was of course to go to Midevil times in New Jersey!! What a better way than to go to a prepaid dinner where you get to eat with your hands, watch sword fights and live jousting???
So this year's cake is a Dragon, you know to go with the theme. This is my first cake (I thought I should practice). It ended up looking like an alligator that was poorly frosted. Yes, I ran out of frosting. I was about a cup short of how I would have preferred to frost but with all else considered, I think it came out pretty good.
I'll be posting more dragon/alligator cakes as they come up. When this series is done, I'll post the final recipe and pattern :]
Anyhow, this year for Lisa's big quarter century she decided the best way to celebrate growing up was of course to go to Midevil times in New Jersey!! What a better way than to go to a prepaid dinner where you get to eat with your hands, watch sword fights and live jousting???
So this year's cake is a Dragon, you know to go with the theme. This is my first cake (I thought I should practice). It ended up looking like an alligator that was poorly frosted. Yes, I ran out of frosting. I was about a cup short of how I would have preferred to frost but with all else considered, I think it came out pretty good.
I'll be posting more dragon/alligator cakes as they come up. When this series is done, I'll post the final recipe and pattern :]
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Homemade Wontons
My mom is an amazing woman. If any of you have ever had the luxury of eating some of her food, you know that I am not lying when I say it is BOMB. This past weekend was awesome where my mom spent some time cooking up a storm. Here are some shots of the Wontons that we made together.
Sadly though, I can't post the recipe. My mom is very secretive of her food and how she prepares it so she already vetoed the idea of telling me all the magic that she uses to prepare. Too bad! So sad! You can take a peek with pictures and drool instead. You'll just have to just come over one day for lunch instead.
I forgot to take a final picture of what the soup looks like all together but in a big bowl, you have your broth, egg noodles, wontons, scallions/cilantro mixture to top it off with and some fried red onions and happiness ensues.
Sadly though, I can't post the recipe. My mom is very secretive of her food and how she prepares it so she already vetoed the idea of telling me all the magic that she uses to prepare. Too bad! So sad! You can take a peek with pictures and drool instead. You'll just have to just come over one day for lunch instead.
I forgot to take a final picture of what the soup looks like all together but in a big bowl, you have your broth, egg noodles, wontons, scallions/cilantro mixture to top it off with and some fried red onions and happiness ensues.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Peanut Butter Brownie Drop Cookies
Shannon and I decided to have a girl's night, watch a movie and bake cookies. When Shan and I bake, usually she makes up the batter and I end up actually shaping the cookies, putting them in the oven and... most importantly remembering to take them out in a timely fashion.
If you are a fan of brownies, especially the edges, this is the recipe for you. Each cookie tastes like a brownie edge. These are super rich cookies, so you don't want to make them too big!
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Drop Cookies
1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniratures
3/4 c. (or 1.5 sticks) of butter
1.5 c. granulated white sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder (dutched procces or not, doesn't matter)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. ap flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
walnut halves for garnish (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with either parchment paper or lightly grease and dust with flour. Remove wrappers from Reese's cups and cut each cup into 4 peices.
2. Melt butter in a large sauce pan on low heat. In a bowl, mix together sugar and cocoa powder. Add a third at a time to the melted butter incorperating well each time. Make sure you sit in well or else your cookies will end up with a grainy texture from the sugar.
3. Remove from the heat and add eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, salt and baking soda, followed by the peanut butter cups and optional walnuts.
4. Drop onto cookie sheet in heaping teaspoons, and top with a piece of walnut (optional). bake 10-12 minutes or until it is set and the edges are firm. You really have to watch these cookies because they can over bake in a second. Cool slightly on the sheet then transfer to wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
If you are a fan of brownies, especially the edges, this is the recipe for you. Each cookie tastes like a brownie edge. These are super rich cookies, so you don't want to make them too big!
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Drop Cookies
1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniratures
3/4 c. (or 1.5 sticks) of butter
1.5 c. granulated white sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder (dutched procces or not, doesn't matter)
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c. ap flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
walnut halves for garnish (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with either parchment paper or lightly grease and dust with flour. Remove wrappers from Reese's cups and cut each cup into 4 peices.
2. Melt butter in a large sauce pan on low heat. In a bowl, mix together sugar and cocoa powder. Add a third at a time to the melted butter incorperating well each time. Make sure you sit in well or else your cookies will end up with a grainy texture from the sugar.
3. Remove from the heat and add eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, salt and baking soda, followed by the peanut butter cups and optional walnuts.
4. Drop onto cookie sheet in heaping teaspoons, and top with a piece of walnut (optional). bake 10-12 minutes or until it is set and the edges are firm. You really have to watch these cookies because they can over bake in a second. Cool slightly on the sheet then transfer to wire rack.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
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