Guinness, Jameson and Baileys Cake

This cake also goes by a more widely known, but also much more controvercial name. The Irish Car Bomb Cake. The name received so many comments on Smitten Kitchen, that Deb changed the name, as have I. But, whatever you call it, it is delicious!

I will warn you, this cake takes a lot of planning and time, but it is WELL worth it for a special occaision. I first made it for my birthday last year. BUT, the boy was out of town on work for my borthday, so he missed it. Shucks, guess that means I need to make it again! So, this year for his birthday I made it for him and his family.

My friends loved it. Then again, most of my friends are so wrapped up in law books they would love if someone made them a PBJ. The boy's family was the real test. Neither of his parents really drinks (for various reasons), so the novelty alone would not save the cake- it had to earn its praise.

And earn its praise it did. The boy's father raved that it was the moistest cake he had and that he loved it. His birthday was coming up, and he kept saying that he wanted a chocolate cake as moist as this one. No one said it was too alcohol-y, it just added flavor and brought out the chocolate even more. Success!

Guinness, Jameson and Bailey's Cake For the Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes

To make a 2 layer, 8 inch cake

1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling

8 ounces chocolate chips (dark chocolate is best)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting (you will likely have extra)
5 to 7 cups confections sugar
2 sticks (1cup) unsalted butter, at room temperatue
8 tablespoons Baileys (or milk, or heavy cream, or a combination thereof)

Instructions

Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil and flour 2 8" round cake pans. Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter among pans. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. Cool slightly in pans, then remove to rack to cool completely.

Make the filling: Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If this has not sufficiently melted the chocolate, you can return it to a double-boiler to gently melt what remains. 20 seconds in the microwave, watching carefully, will also work.) Add the butter and whiskey (if you’re using it) and stir until combined.

Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped (the fridge will speed this along but you must stir it every 10 minutes). At this point you can either spread the ganach directly onto the top of your bottom layer of cake, or, what I like to do is use a mixer to beat slightly to aerate it and make it more of a frosting consistency. If it doesn't fluff like a frosting, it is not cool enough yet and will slide off the cake. Spread on the cake as the filling between the layers.

Make the frosting: Whip the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, for several minutes. You want to get it very light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time. When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, drizzle in the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined. If this has made the frosting too thin (it shouldn’t, but just in case) beat in another spoonful or two of powdered sugar.

Assemble the cakes into layers and then frost. You can also use any leftover ganache to decorate the top by piping it on with a bag.

Brownie Bottom Cheesecake

I have not posted a dessert in a while, have I? Tsk tsk to me!

I made this absolute delight for a game night with some law school friends back during a magical time before finals. Ahhh I vaguely remember those days...Anyway, finals are done, vacation is done and now on to work for the summer. Because it seems like my summer meals have been scheduled for me by the firm, the only non-sweets you will see on here this summer will likely be ones I have already photographed and just need to post. I do intend to bake for coworkers (once I can remember how to get around the super confusing hallways to offer them said baked goods) so you may see more desserts up here in the coming weeks.

This cheesecake was super rich, but was wonderful. I would say there were about 16 of us at the game night, and we polished it off completely, but none of us could eat any more because it really was rich and a sliver was enough. The combination of brownie and cheesecake/cream cheese is a classic (see, e.g. these beauties and this brownie with a cream cheese frosting). This cake takes that combo to a whole new level- and looks super impressive to boot. The chocolate on top can cover any cracks and the end result looks like you bought it at cheesecake factory. Gotta love that wow factor when you have to correct people "No, actually I made it." "NO WAY!!"

Brownie Bottom Cheesecake (adapted from AllRecipes)

Ingredients

• 1 box of brownie mix for 8x8"pan (I used Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Mix)
• Ingredients for brownie mix
  
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips- if brownie mix does not include chips
  
• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 10-inch springform pan. Prepare brownie mix as package directs for chewy brownies. If chocolate chips are not included in brownie mix, mix in the chocolate chips. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Bake 35 minutes or until set.
2. In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Bake about 60 minutes or until set and beginning to become golden at edges. Cool. Chill thoroughly (very important! do not try to remove from pan while at all warm). Remove side of springform pan. Melt chocolate and drizzle over top (do after cake is removed from pan or else the chocolate will stick to the edges and rip your top if you are not careful). Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Quick Black Forest Cake

I appologize for the photos. I brought this cake to school and it was devoured, so the only pics I got were from a friend's IPhone. Trust me, it was good, and looked a lot better than these pictures show. It was a friend's birthday, but I had about 100 pages of reading for the night, so this quick, easy and delicious cake did not dispoint on any front. Also, it was the best cake batter I have ever tasted. I likely could have eaten the whol cake's worth of cake batter...not that I thought about that or anything...

Quick Black Forest Cake
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
scant 1/2 cup water
scant 1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
1 cup chocolate chips (I used Hershey's Special Dark chips to make it even more chocolatey)
chocolate frosting (I used a storebought one, but homemade is always better if you have time)
marachino cherries
almond extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Mix together: cake mix, beaten eggs, oil, water, almond extract, cherry pie filling and chocolate chips. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 inch pan.
Bake in a 350 degree F (175 degree C) oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool. While cooling, you can drizzle some of the marachino cherry juice over the cake to soak in.
Combine frosting, about a teaspoon of the cherry juice and about 1/2 teaspoon of the almond extract to taste, being careful not to make the frosting watery. Frost the fully cooled cake. Drain the cherries and decorate the top of the cake with them. Eat within a day as the marachino cherries start to release their juice after a while.

We'll call them Franken-Muffins

I found this GREAT post a while ago on tastespotting. It was a basic muffin formula that you adapt for whatever type of muffin you wanted to make, and it gave some suggestions for combinations. But really, give me time to peruse the grocery store and I can come up with my own combination rather easily. And that's just what I did. Introducing, the delicious and rather healthy Franken-muffin. OK, so the name may not work, but my combination of ingredients did!

Here is MY Version:
Dry ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp spice cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Wet ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
scant 1 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cups grated apple

PROCEDURE
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Grease a muffin tin (12 count- I needed about 14 muffin cups if they had all been full size, or 12 regular muffins and 12 minis) with grease spray or butter.
Get two big bowls. In the first bowl combine the dry ingredients except the dry muffinhancers.
In the other bowl combine yogurt, sugar, salt, melted butter, egg and extract. Mix it all up until it’s good and smooth. Now mix in both the wet and dry Muffinhancers and stir to distribute.
Make sure your oven is set and the muffin tin is greased up before you combine the wet and dry. It’ll need to happen pretty quickly.
Pour the dry mix into the wet bowl and fold gently with a spatula while you count slowly to 15-20. The result should be a very lumpy batter, with frequent dry floury spots. It’s better if it’s not a smooth batter.
Now use an ice-cream scoop or just a big spoon to fill the muffin tray evenly. Fill it up almost to the top of the tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes (about 13 minutes for the minis). When they are done, turn it over onto a clean tea towel to let them cool.

And here is the basic formula:
Dry ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp spice (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ground ginger, ground coriander, etc)
1 cup of dry Muffinhancers (can be chopped nuts, dried fruits, toasted coconut, chocolate chips, etc)

Wet ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups of wet Muffinhancers (can inc: mashed banana, grated zucchini, grated carrots, grated apple, frozen berries, mango puree, chopped up orange, etc)

PROCEDURE
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Grease a muffin tin (12 count- I needed about 14 muffin cups if they had all been full size, or 12 regular muffins and 12 minis) with grease spray or butter.
Get two big bowls. In the first bowl combine the dry ingredients except the dry muffinhancers.
In the other bowl combine yogurt, sugar, salt, melted butter, egg and extract. Mix it all up until it’s good and smooth. Now mix in both the wet and dry Muffinhancers and stir to distribute.
Make sure your oven is set and the muffin tin is greased up before you combine the wet and dry. It’ll need to happen pretty quickly.
Pour the dry mix into the wet bowl and fold gently with a spatula while you count slowly to 15-20. The result should be a very lumpy batter, with frequent dry floury spots. It’s better if it’s not a smooth batter.
Now use an ice-cream scoop or just a big spoon to fill the muffin tray evenly. Fill it up almost to the top of the tray.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (about 13 minutes for the minis).
When they are done, turn it over onto a clean tea towel to let them cool.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

You know it is finals time when: I randomly decide to poke my head out of my study hole and post.

This summer some friends and I initiated a dinner club. Each month 1 of us would host a dinner, come up with a theme and assign menu items. This was the dessert for out Mexican themed night (more Cal-Mex, but I certainly did not mind!). I was terrified it wouldn't work out and I would be left with a 9x13 pan of ick and no dessert to bring. Thankfully I was TERRIBLY wrong, and I had a 9x13 pan of deliciousness and a great dessert for my dinner club.Sadly, my dear friend and dinner club peer, Sam, is leaving for the Big Apple, so dinner club will likely fall to the way-side. If anyone in the No.VA area wants in to take her spot, let me know ;)

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
from laughingduckgardens.com

• canola oil to grease the pan
• 12 tablespoons (i.e. 1.5 sticks) of unsalted butter (not margarine), soften to room temperature, and divided into 9 T for the caramel/topping and 3 T for the batter
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 12pineapple rings - about 1-2 15-oz cans pineapple rings in juice (not in syrup)
• 4oz (1/2 of 8 oz jar) jar maraschino cherries, pitted and stemmed
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoons of whole milk
• Skimpy 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoons strong vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups + 3 tablespoon of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• Heaping 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs

Instructions:

1. Turn oven on to a temperature of 350 F

2. Oil the pan with a pastry brush (or your fingers) using up to 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. Make sure to get the corners and sides well. Do not be stingy as you want the cake to unmold easily. Roughly chop 9 tablespoons of butter and scatter at the bottom of pan. Put pan in oven while it’s preheating. Keep an eye on it, and take it out of the oven as soon as butter is melted. It should do so before the oven reaches 350 F. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a very large bowl on the stove where it’s warm to help it soften.

3. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with the brown sugar evenly, again making sure to reach all sides and corner. Lift the pineapple slices from the juice (reserve the juice) and arrange them in a grid pattern. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the pineapple juice over. Sprinkle 1TBSP of maraschino liquid from the jar over the pineapple. You could push one cherry in the center of each ring now, if you want, but they’ll look better if you do this after the cake has been baked.

4. In a bowl, combine milk, the skimpy 1/2 cup canola oil and vanilla. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

5. In the very large bowl where you set it to soften, beat together the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter (which should be very soft by now) and the sugar until light and pale lemon colored. It will look “mealy”. Beat in the eggs, one by one, then add the milk mixture, and the flour mixture (1 cup at a time) beating well after each addition. Pour batter over the pineapple rings, smoothing it out as necessary. It may looks like there is no enough batter: there is!

6. Bake in the preheated oven until cake is golden and a toothpick or skewer comes out clean. I am not sure how long exactly, I believe about 40 min-1 hour ( I did not keep good track of time). It Will be about this color:

Remove from oven, let cool until you feel comfortable handling the pan.

7. Now comes the tricky part: inverting the cake. Position the cake inside a rimmed cookie sheet (rim facing up). Put another rimmed cookie sheet on top of the cake (rim facing down). The cake is now sandwiched between two rimmed cookie sheet. Clamp the two cookie sheets together and invert the cake quickly and decisively but carefully. Remove the pan from the cake carefully. If necessary, use a spatula to remove any stuck ring and put it back on the cake. Scrape any caramel from the pan and put it on the cake.

8. Push one cherry in the center of each ring.

9. Let cool and cut into squares, one for each ring

Hostess Cupcake Cake- The Success

This one is digging back in the archives. The "Sam" in question has a March birthday. Yes, a little late. But, well worth it. This is the (in)famous hostess cupcake cake- but this year it stood!!

This year, I made a 3 layer cake instead of a 4 layer cake. I was also REALLLLLLY careful in how I made sure the cakes exited their pans. I sprayed the pans with a lot of pam and then tried coating them in a LOT of either flour or cocoa powder. You can see the difference between the cakes covered in cocoa and the coke covered in flour. I far prefer the appearance of the chocolate cakes coated in cocoa, the flour would be better for a vanilla cake. I also made sure to cool the cakes a good bit before taking them out of the pan and to keep them on COMPLETELY flat surfaces (meaning no dinner plates, etc).

I only removed the center of the middle cake, and I had already chosen the sturdiest looking cake as the middle one.

And it stood. And it was good. And we rejoiced.

For the recipe, see here. Multiply the cake recipe by 1.5 to make 3 round cakes. Fill with the vanilla filling, but use frosting or filling in between the layers (I did one of each). Go heavy on the frosting in between layers (for flavor and making sure it stays together).

Enjoy

Black Bottom Cupcakes

I've made 2 versions of the black bottom cupcake and these were by far my favorite. The other was not nearly dark enough or chocolatey enough to balance the cream cheese center. These were perfect- as most things by David Lebovitz and Smitten Kitchen are. They were a soft, rich, sweet chocolate cupcake, balanced by a firm, tart cheese cake filling. Phenomenal.

My more recent attempt was while I did not have internet access, but did have a Rachael Ray magazine which featured a similar cupcake. I used her version, but, as I previously mentioned, was not impressed. The people I baked for still loved it, but I did not. What can I say? I'm picky.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes

Yield: approx 12 full-size cupcakes

For the filling:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 ounces chocolate chips

For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the filling: Beat together the cream cheese, granulated sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside.

Make the cupcakes:
1. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line the muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
2. In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir in the wet ingredients, stirring until just smooth.
4. Divide the batter among the muffin cups- about 1/2 way full. Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling into the center of each cupcake, dividing the filling evenly. This will fill the cups almost completely, but still leave some room to puff.
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden brown.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am well aware that I fail as a regular blogger. I won't even dare to comment on how long it has been since my last post except to say that it has been too long. I hope that my next post comes far sooner. However can I make it up to you? How about some chocolate chocolate chip muffins?

I baked these during the school year when I somehow ended up with buttermilk in my fridge, and I needed a way to use some of it up. A google search revealed these little delights that satisfy a sweet tooth. But don't go claiming "they're muffins! They must be healthy and a great breakfast!" because, well, they are in no way healthy. But, when it comes to chocolate, healthy is not something I personally look for. I cared more about the fact that they were moist and soft with a slight crunch at the top and they fulfilled my chocolate craving perfectly.

I ended up bringing these to my classmates, and it seems my positive review was universal. One girl in my section declined a muffin for her diet's sake, then, after hearing the raves from the others sitting next to her, she retracted her refusal and gobbled down one of the scrumptious muffins. These are diet-breaking good.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 bag, chocolate chips, divided
1/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with papers.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 1/2 of the chocolate together with the butter. Let stand until cooled, about 10 minutes.
Lightly beat the egg. In a small bowl, stir together the chocolate-butter mixture with the buttermilk, sugar, egg, and vanilla, until blended well.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, soda, and salt. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the chocolate mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove muffin tin from oven and let stand at least 5 minutes, before removing the muffins and letting them cool on a wire rack.

*Note- recipe says these can be frozen, though I have not yet tried it. They were all gone within a day!

Oozing Chocolate Cake

Can I say how awesome my friends are? Forgive me for bragging for a moment, but I have a friend who works for the local news channel, a friend who works for a sports lobbying group (and plays on the senate softball league, lol), a friend who is currently working at a theater in the woods in Kentucky, and oh, yes, one who gets me free cookbooks. Actually, she works, get this, in the TV section of the Washington Post! Awesome by itself, but add the fact that the people who do book reviews give away books, and it gets even cooler. When she sees cool cookbooks in the give away pile, she sometimes brings some home for me. One time she brought home a cookbook that I have so far only used twice. Once was kind of a dud, but the other. WOW. I made this oozing chocolate cake for a girly night in and it was perfect. So soft and chocolatey. I would not change a thing...well, maybe I would serve with vanilla ice cream, but last time we all dug in and devoured it so fast, there was no time for ice cream scoopers! The recipe is from "Without Reservations"by Joey Altman. I don't know whether or not to reccomend it, having only tried 2 recipes, but I can sure reccomend this one! Brownie Ice Cream Sandwich friend, thank you. I do have the coolest friends!Oozing Chocolate Cake
serves 6
8oz chocolate chips
1 stick butter
3 large eggs, seperated
1/2 cup sugar
cooking spray

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler over simmering water. Set aside to cool
2. In medium bowl, whisk the yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until pale and light, about 5 min
3. Whip the whites in a large, clean, dry bowl until thick and frothy, then add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue whipping until they form soft peaks; they shouldn't be dry or hard
4. Fold yolks into chocolate then fold that into the whites. Cover and refridgerate between 1 and 24 hours (i reccomend a higher number to make the center colder and more lava like when done)
5. Preheat oven to 400. Spray 6 6oz ramekins with cooking spray and divide the batter between them. Bake until set on the outsides but runny when inserting toothpick in center (15min).
6. Cool 1 minute, run a knife around the outside to loosen, put a plate on top of the ramekin and flip to remove.

S'mores Cupcakes

Dhanggit is hosting a party and I'm bringing dessert! Ok, so maybe this dessert wasn't just for Dhanggit. Maybe I made them for the engagement party I hosted, but they were still great party food!

I made s'mores cupcakes with a chocolate cake base, graham cracker and marshmellow frosting and graham cracker topping with a hershey bar piece stuck in. Yum! And so cute, no? The idea was from Sew Darn Cute and the recipes are from her and Martha Stewart.

Cupcakes
Makes about 30

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
2. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about one-third full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Frost with marshmellow topping and top with graham cracker crumbs and chocolate bar pieces.

Here's where it got interesting. If you frost the cupcakes with the fresh frosting, the frosting spreads and droops. See Below.

Lesson learned: Mix graham crackers into the frosting to make it more solid and then refridgerate until it will hold it's shape. Ah, much better!

Marhmellow Frosting and Toppings
2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 lb. (2 cups) confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. tub of marshmallow cream (Fluff)

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

30 hershey bar pieces

Cream the butter on high until it's light and fluffy. Add the confectioner's sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until fluffy each time. Beat in the vanilla until incorporated. Add the Fluff (this takes patience and a little ingenutiy) and mix until creamy. Add 1/2 cup graham cracker. Transfer to Ziploc bag and put in fridge for a little over an hour and up to overnight. When ready to use, cut off tip, pipe onto cupcakes. Top with graham cracker crumbs and a candy bar piece.

The Jane Cake and California Rolls

This is not my average post. Ok, so maybe it is average in that it has an opening picture, a story, another picture, and a recipe, but it is still different. The cake you see above is a symbol of women’s health and wholeness. I have alternately called this cake by a name I have dubbed her and what it symbolizes to me. The cake is either Jane (like in Jane Doe) or the “We are more than the Sum of Our Parts” cake.I’ll back up a bit. I am currently in a women’s health class, and, as my final, creative project for the class, I did what I do best. I baked. I baked a cake to represent what I have learned, and what I feel every woman (and many men!) should know.
First I made the bikini portion. I used a boxed cake mix (yellow or white cake, I forget which), added the zest of one lemon and replaced about 1TBSP of water in the recipe for lemon juice. I made an 8” square and 4 souffle cups of cake. Once cooled, I cut the square into the bikini bottom and used the 2 best soufflé cakes as the bikini top. I whipped up the lemon frosting recipe from this month’s “Everyday with Rachael Ray” (recipe at the bottom) and frosted. I then used pull and peel twizzlers for the detail.Healthy Facts: Did you know that 1 in 8 women experience breast cancer within the course of their lives? 1 in 8. I have about 16 food blogs I try to check at least once a week. Based on that statistic, about 2 of these women will develop breast cancer in their lifetimes. So, keep your little “soufflé cakes” safe and do your monthly self exam. More information is available at the Komen for the Cure.
More Healthy Facts: About 75 percent of sexually active people will get HPV sometime in their life. Ok, now assuming that all my lovely bloggers are sexually active, then 12 of them will get HPV. And, let us not forget that some of those forms of HPV cause genital warts, and others can lead to cervical cancer. Yeah, cancer from an STD. And, the forms of HPV that lead to cervical cancer are not the ones with symptoms like warts, so going in for your yearly gynecological exam is really the only way to be safe. Your Pap Smear and the rest of your exam should not hurt, so don’t be scared, set up your appointment ASAP! (Facts from 4women.gov)
Next I made the chest/stomach section. I made my calimocho cake and frosting, just baking it in a 9x13 and cutting off the ends to it fit in the middle. I used twizzlers and blue writing icing for the heart and gummy fruits and some green icing for the belly button and digestive system.
who smoke “risk having a heart attack 19 years earlier than non-smoking women,” and womenHealthy Facts: Did you know that heart disease is the number 1 killer of women, and, in fact between 40 and 50% women’s deaths are from heart attack or stroke? Let’s go back to those 16 bloggers. According to the facts, about 8 of them will die from a heart attack or stroke. Women with diabetes “are two to three times more likely to have heart attacks.” Yes, heart disease is partially hereditary, but we can do our part to help our chances. Eat right, exercise, don’t smoke, and always be honest with your doctor about your family history. (Information Courtesy of WomenHeart.Org)
More Healthy Facts: We all know the sayings. “Get your daily fruits and veggies.” “Count your calories.” We also all know the consequences, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis and increased risk of cancer. So let’s get right to the easy stuff we just may not think about on a daily basis. Tips from womenshealth.gov recommend making half your grains whole, focusing on fruits, and going lean with protein. We all know that whole grain foods are good for us, but next time your at the store, spend that extra couple of seconds to check the ingredients and make sure you are really getting whole grains. Yes, some sugary cereals say they are made with whole grains, but a sprinkling of whole wheat does not a healthy Count Chocula make! You should “Look to see that grains such as wheat, rice, oats, or corn are referred to as 'whole' in the list of ingredients,” and not just at the bottom of the list. They also recommend you “eat a variety of fruits – whether fresh, frozen, canned or dried – rather than fruit juice for most of your fruit choices.” Not only do you usually lose the fiber, you also feel less filled by the same number of calories when you just drink your fruits. Finally, “choose lean meats and poultry. Bake it, broil it, or grill it. And vary your protein choices – with more fish, beans, peas, nuts and seeds.” Remember, not all protein is in meat. Peanuts, soy nuts, lentils and seeds are great ways to limit your cholesterol intake from sources of protein.
Since I feel like I am cheating any foodies reading this by just giving the basic frosting recipe, I will also follow it up with a recipe that can boost a woman’s health. In support of Mele Cotte’s Cooking to Combat Cancer event, here is my California Roll. California Rolls are doubly powerful at fighting cancer because of their avocados and seaweed (nori). According to the Cancer Cure Foundation, “Avocados are rich in glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that attacks free radicals in the body by blocking intestinal absorption of certain fats. They also supply even more potassium than bananas and are a strong source of beta-carotene. Scientists also believe that avocados may also be useful in treating viral hepatitis (a cause of liver cancer), as well as other sources of liver damage,” and “Seaweed and other sea vegetables contain beta-carotene, protein, vitamin B12, fiber, and chlorophyll, as well as chlorophylones - important fatty acids that may help in the fight against breast cancer. Many sea vegetables also have high concentrations of the minerals potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and iodine.” So eat on sushi lovers and help combat cancer!

This was my first time ever making sushi and it turned out great! I was going to make it for J and O’L’s engagement oarty until I found out that neither of them like sushi. Oh well, more for me!California Rolls
1/3 package of krab leg portions (imitation crab legs)
1 avocado
1 cucumber
About 3 cups sushi rice
Enough water to cook sushi rice according to package
6TBSP rice vinegar
1 PKG nori (squares of seaweed)
Cook rice according to directions for sushi rice on back of package. Once done, put into large bowl and cool most of the way. Stir/cut in rice vinegar. It will taste really strong and vinegar like, but will mellow as it finishes cooling.
Cut krab into long thin strips (you need to be able to roll around them).
Peel cucumber and cut into the same sized pieces. When you are ready to make rolls, create same sized pieces of avocado.

Lay out a piece of nori onto a mat prepared like sushi day describes. Place ½ a cup of rice onto the mat. Wet your hands and press the rice all over, but leaving about an inch strip on the side near you bare (this is where you will place your filling). I had a problem limiting myself to ½ cup. I kept putting on more to fill the whole thing, but I think as I get better I could do it with less.
Place a few strips of krab into a line on the empty space. Then a line of cucumber and a line of avocado. Placing mayo into a Ziploc with a TINY hole cut in a corner, squeeze on a thin line of mayo.Use a combination of your hands and the rolling mat to do 1 roll over, enclosing your filling. Then just use the mat to roll your sushi (but do not roll the mat into the sushi!). Once the roll is done, use the mat to press the roll so it doesn’t open up. Wet a very sharp knife and cut the roll into about 8 pieces. Repeat with remaining ingredients.Rachael Ray’s Lemon Frosting
2 1/2 sticks butter, room temp
4-5 cups powdered sugar
1 TBSP vanilla
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest

In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 min.
Add confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.
Add the vanilla and lemon juice. Beat until fluffy. Add zest and beat.