Bakery Cake

So I am not one to use a cake mix much to make an actual cake, in fact I use them more for when I am making a Neiman Marcus Cake which has a cake mix for the crust and then I use a cake mix for Dump Cakes (kinda like a cobbler).  Oh and the Old Fashion Strawberry Cake I make also uses a cake mix but other than that I might make a cake out of a cake mix once every two years and that is usually for kid's to decorate.

 On Pinterest there was a pin that said "Recipe for making a Box Cake taste like it's from a Bakery! It made me curious so I pinned it!!

 I found out that a little girl,  Ja'Niyah who my group Creating Heartstrings has come to love was going to get to go home!!  Ja'Niyah was in the hospital for 4 months and then the Ronald McDonald House another month!  Our group happen to be making dinner for the Ronald McDonald House in Dallas two days before she was leaving so I thought we should make her a going home cake!  My friend Madeline was coming to help cook so I thought I could have her make it and decorate it there at the Ronald McDonald House.  Madeline always does a great job decorating cakes.

Basically you use a cake mix and add on additional egg or it says you could add 2 additional eggs to make it richer.  Then instead of using veg oil you use butter but you double the amount and melt it after that you milk instead of water.  That is it!

Wow, this cake was delicious and was sooo moist!  I love a good bakery cake and I love icing, it's pretty much my favorite!  If the cake has whipping cream icing I am not even tempted and won't even eat a piece but if it has butter cream or even the kind we call lard icing, watch out! 

Ja'Niyah's cake

Ja'Niyah eating her cake...she had another piece later that evening!

Ja'Niyah and I, this girl is a fighter!  I saw her go through chemo, a bone marrow transplant and radiation!  It's amazing the strength and courage so many have with cancer especially children!

Step 1: Look at the directions on the cake mix
 Step 2: Add one more egg (or add 2 if you want it to be very rich)
 Step 3: Use melted butter instead of oil and double the amount
Step 4: Instead of water, use milk.
Step 5: Mix well and bake for the time recommended on the box.

Cherry Coffee Cake Bars

Oh my, these are delicious and addicting! This recipe comes from the The Amish Cook's Baking Book which I do not own but plan to buy.  I kept trying to figure out what they reminded me of and then it hit me, a Krispi Kreme jelly do-nut!  You could use any pie filling flavor like blueberry, cherry or???

Now I will admit the first time I made this I had read a blog and they had used a 9X13 inch pan instead of a cookie sheet.  We made this in my class and opted to use the 9X13 which would have worked but it took way too much time to bake and we basically ran out of time.  It was in the oven for about 45 minutes and it was still doughy in the middle :(.  I ended up staying until they were done which was another 10 to 15 minutes.

So I remade it yesterday in a cookie sheet and it was PERFECT!  It also serves alot! I didn't count how many slices I got out of it but at least 18 to 22.  I cut it like I would a brownie.

Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar until mixture is creamy then add the beaten eggs in four additions (1 at a time), add vanilla

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt

 

Gradually add the flour to the mixture

Spread batter (reserving 2/3 cup ) into a cookie sheet (you don't have to grease or flour it)

Add cherry pie filling (or any flavor) and drop the reserve batter on top in spoonfuls

Icing- Melt butter then add powder sugar, milk  along with vanilla and stir until smooth.

I make this glaze a lot so I don't even measure it..I might have made more than it calls for...I liked the extra because it covered the whole cake.

  

Amazing!

So moist and delicious!

Amish Cherry Coffee Cake

1 cup of butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

21 oz cherry pie filling

Glaze

3 tablespoons butter

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350

In a medium bowl, cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar and continue stirring until the mixture is creamy. Add the beaten eggs into the sugar mixture in four additions, stirring vigorously for about 1 minute after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg-sugar mixture. 

Spoon the batter into a 10 by 15 jelly roll pan (I used a cookie sheet), reserving 2/3 cup of the batter. Spread the batter evenly in the pan with a spatula. Then pour the cherry pie filling over the batter, spooning it smoothly all the way to the edges. Then drop teaspoonsfuls of the reserved batter over the cherry layer in 4 even dollops  each. Bake until the edges are slightly brown and begin to pull away from the pan, about 30 minutes. Remove and let cool.

To make the glaze: Melt the butter over low heat in saucepan, and then pour into a bowl. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides frequently. Add the vanilla. Then add the milk, 1 tbsp at a time until the glaze is smooth. Drizzle over warm coffeecake.

Let the cake cool completely and then store in a sealed container.

Copy Cat- Honey Baked Ham

I don't know too many people who like ham who don't like Honey Baked Ham from the Honey Baked Ham Store!!!  It just stands out from all the rest!!!  I found this recipe on the copy cat website (www.copycat.com)  where you can find a lot of recipes from your favorite restaurants.  I have used this site for years.  Just make sure you read the reviews!!  People are quite honest and will either say "this taste nothing like it" or "oh my word, it tastes just like it"!

With Easter coming up I was trying to find some recipes for my cooking class and Ham was on the list.  We made this last Monday in class and it came out really good!!  It's honestly super easy too!

I found 3 different versions when googling Copy Cat- Honey Baked Ham recipes.  I will list 3 different ways you can make this delicious ham using the same ingredients just different methods. 

1. Bake ham according to the directions the ham comes with then once it's done pour the syrup you make (recipe below) and put under the broiler watching it carefully for 2 to 5 minutes.  You want to see it start to kinda bubble on top.  Don't let it burn but let it kinda get a semi crust on top.  Take it out and it's ready!

2.  Place Ham in a crock pot and turn on high for 3 hours with about 1/2 a cup of water to a cup of water.
Then take it out and put in a oven proof pan and pour syrup you make (recipe below) and put under the broiler watching it carefully for 2 to 5 minutes.  You want to see it start to kinda bubble on top.  Don't let it burn but let it kinda get a semi crust on top.  Take and out and it's ready!

3. This method you do not boil or make a syrup, you simply sprinkle it on the ham.  In a small mixing bowl combine sugar, ginger, clove, paprika, onion powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix the seasoned sugar mixture well. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, cover the pan with the foil, if you fail to do this, you may have burnt sugar on your pan, and it will take awhile to clean off. Place ham, open meat side down onto the pan. Sprinkle with the seasoned sugar mixture press sugar onto the outside of the ham. You may not use all of the seasoned sugar mixture.

Gently heat the seasoned sugar mixture on the ham. Wave the flame quickly over the sugar, you want the sugar to brown, not burn. Staying in one area, and moving out from there slowly will make this easier, as you will be heating the sugar in a continual direction. This whole process will take about 15 minutes, so be patient. You can sprinkle more sugar on top of the already browned parts of the ham and make the crust thicker

4. Instead of using the oven broiler  you can use a blow torch (listed above)!!!  You can find these at any Kitchen Gadget stores or I have seen them at Ross occasionally.  I happened to buy mine at Home Depot!  I read online that a lot of Chefs actually prefer these because they hold up better and the fuel can is larger.  Several of the reviews said the ones from the kitchen stores usually break often and your $$ goes down the drain.  At Home Depot I found mine for $12.97 and I looked at a kitchen gadget store and they ranged from $25 to $55.

We used a blow torch in my class and we had Blake start the torch and honestly it worked but it kept going out.  Not sure what we were doing wrong.  We got it to start back but the flame for some reason would just go out.  We did get it done though and we just let Blake finish it..

I bought my spiral ham at Wal Mart for I think $16.50, had I of gotten this at the Honey Baked Ham store it would have been easily $55 to $65!

Also I had to use my cell phone to take pictures because my batteries went out in my camera!  So the pictures are not great :(.

* if you don't have clove or nutmeg and you don't want to spend $6.99-$9.99 a bottle you can go to Sprouts and buy it by the ounce!  I bought about 1 1/2 tablespoons for about .40 cents!  If you can find ground cloves or nutmeg on sale grab it!  I try to keep it on hand but for some reason left it at home the day we made this in class.

Just simply add about a 1 cup of water then cover with foil and bake according to the directions on the ham. We only baked ours for 1 hour because of the about of time we have in class and it was delicious!

Add the sugar, spices and water and once it boils let it boil for 1 minute. * You do not want to leave out any of the spices because that is what gives the the Ham the Honey Baked Ham Store taste!

This is what the blow torch looks like from Home Depot.. $12.97

This is Blake!!  We LOVE Blake!  It's usually Blake and 5 or 6 women in class!  He is shy and covered his face when I was taking his picture.  He let me take another one but it was blurry.  He has been coming to class for almost 4 years now and he wants to become a Chef.  I believe he will!!

I added 1/2 a cup of syrup at a time and Blake would torch that area

We did have a flare pop up so be careful...it went out super quick once he lifted the torch away

 

It does the trick but I bet the broiler from the oven would too!  The kitchen where I do my classes is gas so there is no broiler and that is why I bought the blow torch.

\

Not a great picture but it was beautiful and delicious!!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground if possible)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bone-in spiral sliced pre-cooked ham 

Bake spiral ham according to the directions on the ham or put in a crock pot for 3 hrs.

Method-Syrup

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a sauce pan. Add enough water until you get a thick syrup (about 3 to 5 Tablespoons). Bring the syrup to a boil on the stove top. Boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat.


Remove ham from crock-pot and place in a foil lined baking pan. Baste ham with syrup. Place ham in oven and broil at 500° for 2 to 5 minutes until syrup starts to bubble. Keep an eye on the ham while it is in the oven...Do NOT leave Ham unattended!  Remove Ham and serve.

Method sprinkling dry mixture on ham:
In a small mixing bowl combine sugar, ginger, clove, paprika, onion powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix the seasoned sugar mixture well. Place aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, cover the pan with the foil, if you fail to do this, you may have burnt sugar on your pan, and it will take awhile to clean off. Place ham, open meat side down onto the pan. Sprinkle with the seasoned sugar mixture press sugar onto the outside of the ham. You may not use all of the seasoned sugar mixture.

Gently heat the seasoned sugar mixture on the ham. Wave the flame (blow torch) quickly over the sugar, you want the sugar to brown, not burn. Staying in one area, and moving out from there slowly will make this easier, as you will be heating the sugar in a continual direction. This whole process will take about 15 minutes, so be patient. You can sprinkle more sugar on top of the already browned parts of the ham and make the crust thicker.  

*You can also do the dry rub using the broiler in the oven.

I like the syrup because it goes down into some of the slices when you pour it on top but both works!

Monte Cristo Sandwich

The first time I ever had a Monte Cristo sandwich was either at Bennigan's or Cheddar's.   This is a  very unique sandwich for sure.  It seems quite odd to think about a sandwich being dipped in pancake batter but it's actually really good.  It's not  a sandwich you would want to eat everyday but for a splurge once in a while it's definitely worth it.

You start by building a sandwich using 3 slices of bread.  You use Ham, Turkey and two kinds of cheese.  I am not a huge fan of Swiss Cheese but the original Monte Cristo does have swiss cheese.  I used provolone instead of swiss and then monterrey jack cheese.  This sandwich calls for 4 slices but I would just use 2 slices per sandwich next time..... save some calories.

When serving this sandwich raspberry jam goes nicely with and a dust of powder sugar.

Start with 3 slices of bread per sandwich, I used wheat bread but you can use whatever kind you would like.... sorry for all the bread crumbs in all the pics!

add a piece of cheese, turkey and then another slice of the same kind of cheese (like I said next time I might just add one slice per layer instead of two).

Then add the second slice of bread, cheese, ham then more cheese and top it off with the last slice of bread.

After you make your sandwiches wrap them in plastic wrap

then smash them with the palm of your your hand or a rolling pin

here is what it should look like...wrap the sandwiches back in the plastic wrap until you are ready for them

Make the pancake mix according to the instructions but make sure it's thin enough add more milk if need be 

Cut the sandwich in half corner to corner and coat with batter on both sides

place into hot oil and cook 3 to 4 minutes on both sides until golden brown.  This looks pretty messy but the second and third sandwich was a lot easier!!  It took a minute to get the technique down!

dust with powder sugar and serve with raspberry jam ;)

Monte Cristo

3 pieces of bread (whatever you would like) I used wheat
3 slices of ham
3 slices of turkey
1 or 2 slices of Cheddar cheese
1 or 2 slices of Swiss cheese or provolone
Saran wrap

Dusting of Powdered Sugar
Raspberry Jam

To Deep Fry:

Pancake mix –make according to box
about 2 inches of oil in the bottom of a large pot

Your layers will be: bread, swiss, turkey, swiss, bread, cheddar, ham, cheddar and bread

Take a piece of Saran Wrap and place a sandwich in the middle.  You want to squish the sandwich and then wrap it tight.  The sandwich should be half of what you started with.

Place sealed and wrapped sandwiches in the fridge until you are ready to fry them up.

Make Pancake batter according to box.  It should be thinner than cake mix batter.  Add some milk/water to make it thinner. The mixes are all different.  Thick will work, but it adds a lot of breading to the sandwich.

Heat oil in pot.

Remove sandwiches from refrigerator and unwrap.  Cut them in half, from corner to corner.  You should have a triangle.

Dip each triangle into the batter and VERY CAREFULLY add the triangle to the hot oil.  It will bubble up over the sandwich.  Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.  They should be golden brown.

With long tongs, remove sandwiches and set on a bakers rack to cool.  Sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar and serve with jam.  

Dagley- Henson Wedding

The weddings theme was rustic/shabby chic.  The bride I have known for years, I am not even sure if I want to think of how old she was when I first met her because then I would feel even older than I am!  The wedding reception was in the rotunda of  Sara's (bride) church that she has been to all of her life.  It also happens to be at a church I went to for 23 years.  It's all glass as far as the eye can see when looking up when you are standing in the middle of the rotunda.  A beautiful church for a beautiful wedding and a beautiful bride for a handsome groom who happens to be in the Army.

 The appetizer tables were on old doors with two old barrels holding each door.  There were two different tables with fruit, veggies, cube cheese, crackers and dip.

We had two food tables but only got one picture of one of the tables.  The dinner was Grilled Chicken, Green Bean Bundles wrapped in bacon, Baked Potatoes, Strawberry spinach salad, tossed fresh salad and rolls.

We had two tables for Potatoes so that there wasn't a long line of people waiting while others fixed their potatoes!

The Bride wanted a dessert bar so we had 3 different kind of cake balls, Lemon bars, Mini Lemon Cakes, Neiman Marcus bars, Cream Puffs and Chocolate Chip Cookies in a favor bag with a stamp of the Bride and Grooms initials and a scripture.

              Fresh warm Chocolate Chip Cookies to eat now or take home for alter!

                                                      Cream Puffs!          
           

Crispy Chocolate Bars

These are delicious and easy to make!!  I found this recipe on the Southern Living website a couple of weeks ago.  On their website they cut them into hearts with a cookie cutter and I did that the first time I made these but you do not get as many portions that way.  It worked for that day but in the pictures below I cut them into bars and I made a double batch both times I made these.  I believe we got about 20+ bars out of the one we cut and I may have gotten 10 hearts using a heart cookie cutter.

Just think about a rice krispie treat covered in chocolate with a hint of peanut butter!!  You can also add peanuts but I decided not to.

Melt chocolate for 2 minutes in microwave stirring after  1 minute, once melted stir in a 1/2 cup peanut butter  then add 2 cups of rice krispie cereal then 1 1/2 cups of marshmallows.  Stir until incorporated then pour into a 9X9 foil or parchment line pan (or lightly oil pan).  Let it set for about an hour or place in the fridge or freezer for about 15 minutes to speed up the process.

This was a double batch recipe using a 9X13 pan but if are just doing a single batch use a 9X9 pan so you have a thicker bar! 

This is the 2nd platter so maybe it made more like 30+ bars.

Crispy Chocolate Bars

1 (12 ounce) pkg semisweet chocolate morsels

½ cup peanut butter

2 cups rice krispie cereal 

1 ½ cups peanut (optional)

1 ½ cups miniature marshmallows

Microwave chocolate morsels in a large glass bowl at HIGH for 2 minutes or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds.  Stir in peanut butter, stirring until well blended.

Stir in cereal, peanuts (optional), and marshmallows.  Line a 9X9 inch pan with foil.  Lightly grease foil.  Press mixture into foil-lined pan.  Let stand 1 hour until firm, cut with a 3 inch heart shaped cookie cutter to make hearts.  Store hearts in an airtight container or place in a candy box, if desired.

Hot Ham Sandwiches

I had these not long ago and oh are they delicious!!!  It seems weird to pour liquid on top of these but because you baked them they do not get soggy.  Each sandwich has a buttery taste with each sweet savory bite!

These would be great for the Superbowl game or any gathering.  They are also great for lunch with Lay's Potato Chips!  They are kinda look small in size but really 2 are enough for most women and 3 for most men, they are pretty filling.

Make sure and check them after 15 minutes so the tops don't get to brown.  The recipe says 20 to 30 minutes but I found after about 15 to 20 minutes they were done!

I buy these at Sam's Club or Costco, you get 24 for like $3.50 and at the grocery store you get 12 for anywhere from $2.99 to $3.50.

I also buy this at Sam's, I really like Castle Wood products! I also buy their 

              Hickory Smoked Turkey and it's hard for me to buy any other brand!

I used colby jack cheese but you can use any kind of cheese, provolone cheese is also good on these.

                    Line a 9X13 baking pan, the recipe calls for 12 sandwiches but I
have 15 in here.  I added a little more of everything to cover all 15.
               

   In a small sauce pan combine butter, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire and poppy seeds.

Bring to a boil and pour over sandwiches.  Note I forgot to put poppy seeds in the sauce so i sprinkled them on.  Next time I will put them in the sauce ;)   

Like I said I should have added the poppy seeds in the sauce.

Have you ever been to Penzey's?  It's a great store all about spices!  They are popping up everywhere!

I added more poppy seeds than I should have but they were still delicious!!!

Hot Party Ham Sandwiches

1 dozen Hawaiian Rolls

½ lb sliced deli ham- I use honey ham

½ cup butter

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp yellow mustard

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350

Split each diner roll in half.  Make a sandwich of the ham and cheese and the Hawaiian rolls.  Arrange the sandwiches in a 9X13 pan.

In a small sauce pan combine butter, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire and poppy seeds and pour over sandwiches.

Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and crispy and the cheese is melted.