Birthday Cakes Remembered

I found all of Zoe's birthday cakes from years past! This is probably more exciting for me, so humor me and have fun looking through the pictures!

1st Birthday - Letter Building Block
This was a whole grain carrot cake with all natural sweeteners. It tasted very good and Zoe kept wanting to smash it with her whole arm, but kept second guessing herself like she wasn't' sure if it was the right thing to do.

2nd Birthday - Blue's Clues Cake
I had someone else decorate Zoe's cake this year, and I was so disappointed that I didn't do it. It was this cake that made me decide to always have fun doing Zoe's cake myself. This was a whole grain chocolate cake that was very moist and dense and yummy.

3rd Birthday - Hi-Ho Cherry-o Cake
This was a lot of fun to make. It was a chocolate cherry cake made with a can of cherry pie filling, and it was extremely good. I decorated it the night before and put the red jellybeans on it and took pictures. When I took it out of the fridge the next morning, the red jellybeans bled all over the cake. I'm glad I got the shot the night before.

4th Birthday - Princess Cake
This cake was awful. Zoe said she wanted a princess cake, so I decided to try one of those Barbie cakes (generic Barbie used). She also said that it needed to have fruit on it to make it healthy. Well, the frosting was slightly to runny and I couldn't keep Barbie's top on, and the fruit kept sliding down the side. I quickly squirted and placed everything on before taking this shot. This cake was a chocolate zucchini cake, and I thought I would add a little extra zucchini to make it healthier, and it tasted really bad, like a mouthful of veggies with icing on it.

5th Birthday - Disney Princess Cake
This year Zoe said she wanted Belle and Ariel on a cake, so I took on the grand task of trying to recreate Disney. I think the design turned out fairly well, although they had really creepy eyes. At least you could tell who they were, and I consider that a success. This was a chocolate mint cake, that tasted like a peppermint patty. It had a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of white "peppermint patty" filling, and a layer of chocolate ganache on top. It had a very intense flavor, but everyone who loved mint chocolate loved the cake.

6th Birthday - Webkinz Cake
This was the first year that I tried to use fondant, and thought it turned out really well. The fondant didn't have much flavor, but the cake looked great, kind of reminiscent of a 50's diner. You know, I can't remember what flavor cake this was. I believe it was some variety of chocolate.

7th Birthday - Bugs Cake
When Zoe requested this cake, she said she wanted bugs on it, but not gross bugs, only cute bugs. This was a fantastic lemon cake, and the fondant looked great, and tasted great, too!

7th Birthday

Zoe turned 7 today, and I made her a lemon cake. I made 2 layers in a 9-inch round cake pan, and 2 layers in an 8x8 pyrex. I had Ben trim the square layers to make them more square and to fit on top of the round layers. I kneaded gel coloring into the fondant after I made it, and the cake was surprisingly bright and reminiscent of playdoh. It turned out fantastic! It both looked and tasted great! I doubled the cake recipe to fit 4 pans, but did not double the lemon filling or frosting.

Lemon Cake with Lemon Filling and Lemon Butter Frosting
- from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8 inch round pans. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Then invert onto wire racks to cool completely.
4. To make filling: In medium saucepan, mix together 1 tablespoon lemon zest, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth. Mix in 6 tablespoons butter and 3/4 cup sugar, and bring mixture to boil over medium heat. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. In small bowl, with a wire whisk, beat egg yolks until smooth. Whisk in a small amount of the hot lemon mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan, beating the hot lemon mixture rapidly. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes, or until thick (not to boil).
5. Pour mixture into medium bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface to keep skin from forming as it cools. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate 3 hours.
6. To make frosting: In large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest until smooth. Beat in milk, and increase speed and continue to beat until light and fluffy.
7. To assemble: With long serrated knife, split each cake layer in half horizontally, making 4 layers. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on a serving plate. Spread with half of the lemon filling. Top with another layer, and spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Add third layer, and spread with remaining half of the lemon filling. Press on final cake layer, and frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Refrigerate cake until serving time.

Rolled Buttercream Fondant
- from allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the shortening and corn syrup. Mix in the salt and vanilla flavoring, then gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar until it is a stiff dough. If you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. Otherwise, knead by hand. If the dough is sticky, knead in more confectioners' sugar until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
2. To use, roll out on a clean surface that has been dusted with confectioners' sugar until it is 1/8 inch thick or thinner if you can. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes and smooth the sides down, or cut into strips to make bows and other decorations.

Pear Pizza

We always have warm breakfasts on the weekends, and I ran out of eggs on Saturday so I had to get creative on Sunday. I used canned pears for this, but just about any fruit can be used, as long as it's soft or cooked. I used my default pizza dough recipe since I know it by heart, and just added a little extra sugar and substituted butter for the olive oil. I also added a little vanilla to the dough. I didn't pre-bake my crust, and wished that I had because the moist pears caused the top of the crust to stay dough-ey. I modified the recipe below to bake the crust first.

Pear Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast, or 1 scant Tbs.
  
• 1 Tbs white sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cans pear halves, sliced (other soft fruit can be used)
• 2 Tbs apple, peach, apricot or other light jelly
• cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan. Pre-bake pizza crust for 8 minutes. Remove from oven.
   
4. Lay pear slices all over crust. Heat jelly until soft and spreadable, either in the microwave or on stove top. Brush jelly over pizza. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
5. Bake another 5-8 minutes until fruit is heated through and crust is lightly browned.
   

Chinese Food

A couple of weeks ago I made sweet and sour pork like you get in Chinese restaurants with the breading and the frying and the red sauce (my sauce was more translucent since I didn't want to add food coloring), and I thought there had to be a healthier version that my family would like just as much. I also have been looking for a hot and sour soup recipe that used convenient ingredients to get, that tastes similar to a restaurant's version, since Zoe LOVES hot and sour soup and will eat it all up no matter how spicy it is. I found these two recipes on allrecipes and modified them slightly and it turned out great! For the soup, I only had egg whites on hand, leftover from a previous recipe, so I used that in the soup. Verdict: I thought the sweet and sour chicken was fantastic ad the soup was pretty good, although not up to par with a restaurant's version. Ben didn't much care for the soup, but he doesn't care for it in the restaurant either. I'm pretty sure he liked the sweet and sour chicken since he ate all that was on his plate. Zoe liked both, once we added more vinegar and soy sauce to her soup. She ate all the meat, rice and pineapple, but left the chunks of green pepper, which really is no surprise. :)

Sweet and Sour Chicken
-adapted from allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 sliced or chunked bell pepper (green, red, yellow, or a combination)
  
• 1 cup carrot strips
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 Tbs ketchup (can be omitted, but gives it that red color)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Brown chicken in oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add green bell pepper, carrot and garlic and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and soy sauce and mix together; add vinegar, sugar and ginger and ketchup; pour mixture into the skillet, along with the pineapple and liquid. Stir together and bring to a full boil. Serve with rice.

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup
-from allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup sliced bamboo shoots, drained
• 3 slices fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into thin , bite-sized strips
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, combine the chicken broth, water, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and hot pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
2. Place the chicken slices into a bowl and toss with the sesame oil to coat. In a separate bowl, stir together the cornstarch and vinegar, and set aside.
3. Increase the heat under the broth to medium-high, and return to a rolling boil. Add the chicken slices. Return to a boil, and then drizzle in the egg while stirring slowly to create long strands of egg. Stir in the vinegar and cornstarch. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and the broth has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Serve garnished with green onions. Season to taste with soy sauce and red wine vinegar.
   

Hummus

I love hummus! I have messed with my recipe many times, and think I have come up with my favorite way of putting it together. It's so easy that Zoe can do the whole thing! I found that just about any bean will do in the recipe, so we just throw in whatever is in our pantry (black beans, garbanzos, black-eyed peas, navy beans, etc.). You can also substitute peanut butter for the tahini (sesame seed butter), but I prefer the taste of the tahini. We eat our hummus with corn chips, pita chips, carrots, celery, or spread on tortillas or sandwiches instead of mayonnaise.

Hummus

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 cans garbanzo beans
  
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• olive oil (extra virgin)

Directions

1. Take the two cloves of garlic and smash them with the can to peel them. Cut off the little tough ends and throw them into the food processor. Turn on food processor until garlic is all chopped.
2. Open the cans of beans, and drain, reserving the liquid. Put beans, tahini, juice from half of the lemon, and cumin into the food processor.
3. Turn on food processor. While processor is running, stream about 1/4 cup olive oil into the opening at top, until the dip is starting to come together.
4. Open processor and taste the dip. Add salt or the other half of the lemon if needed. If hummus is still too thick, add some of the reserve liquid from the cans of beans or more olive oil while the processor is running until you get your desired consistency.
   

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

My family loves pancakes and waffles, but I get bored with the same old recipe and love to mix it up a little every once in a while. I thought these turned out fantastic, and my family ate everything on their plates!

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1 cup milk
• 3 Tbs applesauce
• 1 peeled chopped apple

Directions

1. In mixing bowl, stir together flours, baking powder and salt.
2. In another mixing bowl, combine egg, honey, milk and applesauce
3. Add liquid to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.
4. Stir in apples.
5. Pour about 1/2 cup batter on skillet heated to medium heat. Flip pancakes when they start to bubble on top. Cook for 1-2 minutes on other side, until lightly browned.
   

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

What an ugly meal that tasted great! I was able to cook this meal in the crockpot, and it was very simple to make. The original recipe called for condensed tomato soup, but I used a combination of canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes that I had from leftover cans that I combined. I also used leftover rice, which saved time.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- adapted from Allrecipes

INGREDIENTS

• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup uncooked white rice
• Napa Cabbage
  
• 1 pound ground turkey
  
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large can tomato sauce or other canned tomatoes

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, 1 cup cooked rice, onion, egg, salt and pepper, along with 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly.
3. Divide the beef mixture evenly among the cabbage leaves. Roll and place seam side down in crockpot. I had enough to make 2 layers in my slow-cooker.
   
4. Pour remaining tomato sauce over cabbage rolls. Cover and cook on low heat for 5+ hours.