Showing posts with label Holiday Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday Recipes. Show all posts

Pumpkin Cake


En Español

Last week I made more Christmas tree cupcakes and had some leftover pumpkin puree, enough to make a pumpkin cake in a tree mold I had not used for years. I inadvertently posted a photo of winter wonderland to my Facebook page, so for the decoration I allowed myself to decorate the Christmas tree cake all white inspired by the wonderland snow. I used simple techniques and hope it inspires you in some way. The recipe is delicious and like always can easily be done following my step by step instructions. I truly recommend this recipe for the approaching birthdays and holidays.



The recipe for this cake: 
• Double the pumpkin cupcakes recipe.
Note: duplicate everything except the baking soda.

To frosting use one of the following: 
Cream Cheese Frosting
Vanilla Buttercream
Italian Meringue (Dominican Frosting)
Whip Cream

 All these recipes are found here at Mari's Cakes blog.


Fill the mold with the batter a little more than half, and place it on a tray to avoid it tipping in the oven while it bakes.


Frost all the edges first and smooth out, then fill the top.



With a spatula spread the frosting evenly on the cake, then with the same spatula gently pat to get textured peaks. That simple, that easy!




Decorate with white fondant flowers with gold dragees, and voila! The fondant flowers and can be made several days in advance.


This cake is delicious!



I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves. So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves. - Matthew 10:16 

Top 10 recipes for 2011 and Roast Pork in Dominican Republic


"Puerco asado" is the typical meat eaten on holidays in the Dominican Republic. The pigs are roasted on a spit, called "puya" that spins over burning firewood. Not much seasoning is used because  their flavor comes mainly from the smoked wood. I ask a friend that always roasts for us how they season it and he told me they just use a garlic- oregano rub and kosher salt. Pork roasted on a spit has a superb taste!

An amazing amount of pigs are roasted in many street stands in the rural areas the day before Christmas and New Years Eve. My hubby and I drived by a few stands and enjoyed watching hundreds of pigs being roasted.  I manage to get a few pictures, but since it was late night I couldn't get a picture that showed all of them roasting at once.

En español: AQUÍ


If you do not have access to a local stand that roasts pig like these or if you prefer to roast your own pork ham at home I recommend this post:

Here is my "pernil" pork ham in brine:


I made some deep cuts with a knife and filled each of them with a little of the following mixture: 5 Tablespoons of oregano, 2 heads of crushed garlic, 2 sachets of Goya seasoning with annatto (achiote), 3 tablespoons onion powder or ADOBO and 2 teaspoons of salt. I then left it in brine with all other ingredients as indicated in the brine recipe. This ham is 15 pounds (6.5 kg) so it will bake for some 4-6 hours.  Let me know how GREAT you pork ham tasted when you do this :)



Mari's Cakes 2011
Some recipes of  2011 en Mari's Cakes
They were many favorites this year, these are the Top 10 I selected:


MORO de GUANDULES (Rice and Pigeon Peas)



CINNAMON Cookies



Chocolate EGGNOG



Bizcocho de TRES LECHES de CHOCOLATE



CHALLAH



CHOW FAN



Lemon Chicken with Thyme and Garlic



YANIQUEQUES



OATMEAL COOKIES



CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES with CHOCOLATE CHIPS



I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy New Year full of blessings for all. Thank you all for your support, the wonderful comments and emails that I receive constantly. THANK YOU for making me feel like family and for being part of this blog.

En español: AQUÍ

Strengthen the hands of those who are weak. Help those whose knees give way. Say to those whose hearts are afraid,"Be strong. Do not fear. Your God will come.
He will pay your enemies back. He will come to save you." - Isaiah 35:3-4

Happy and Blessed 2012!


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Recetas Navideñas, Christmas Recipes

Click the photo of the language you prefer. Haz clic a la foto del idioma que deseas.


Gingerbread House How To


What fun it is to make a gingerbread house! Due to lack of time and fear I had not dared to make one before, but now I have finally made my first gingerbread house! I started to make it by stages when I had free time and it was a very joyful experience, but I have to admit there are many steps to follow. I will share what I learned throughout the process and hopefully it is of great use to you.

Although I have experience in pasting cakes and cookies decorations with royal icing, I decided to try something new, and used a caramel syrup to glue the house instead. It was a total failure.  The gingerbread house parts stuck together well and fast, but the next day the caramel began to melt. Maybe it happened because the climate where I live is very humid or because I had to use a little more sugar and let it cook for less time. Experienced learned, next time I'll stick with the ideal glue for these projects ... ROYAL ICING!


The recipes I used were the Gingerbread Cookies and Royal Icing. I do recommend both of them.

In case you're interested in the caramel syrup recipe that I used, (but I do not recommend it): 1 ⅓ cup sugar and ½ cup water. Boil until it thickens and begins to take a light caramel color (about 15 minutes). Note: After the fire is turned of, the caramel continues to get darker in color so do not let it turn too dark before removing from the fire. I did not know this and my caramel came out to dark. It also cools quickly, so you must build the house as quickly as possible.


Tips to make your gingerbread house either this year or next year. Do not doubt...it is super fun to make one!

1. Follow the procedure of the gingerbread cookies, but in step number six to leave the extended dough in the refrigerator for an hour or more before cutting.
2. Cut all piece that form the house. You can find the templates I used, HERE. For the roof cut out a 7" x 7.5" (17.5 x 19 cm)rectangle. After having the pieces cut, place gingerbread cookies on a cookie sheet (I very lightly grease it with bakers grease) and return to the refrigerator to chill,  ideally for at least 15 minutes until you are ready to bake them. This will help the cookies retain their shapes a bit better.
3. Preheat oven to 375 º F (190 º C) and bake for an appropriate time depending on the size of the pieces.
4. Right after removing the cookies from the oven, while they are still warm, lay the cookie cutter molds or paper templates on top and with a sharp knife cut away any changes in size that could have taken place while baking.
5. Cool completely before assembling. To glue the pieces I recommend using royal icing.




Place enough icing to stick together. In these picture you see the pieces put together with the caramel syrup, but I decided to reinforced with icing when I saw the mess the caramel made. You could tint the icing you'll use as glue a lite brown color if you prefer.


The windows of course had to be hearts I am in love all year round with hubby : ) You may cut the windows and door with cookie cutters or knife before you bake.


I kept the design pretty simple, but I loved it. After everything is in placed and all decorations are piped with a decorating sleeve, sprinkle powdered sugar on roof top and all around to make it look like snow.


En español: AQUI




Then Jesus said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”- Luke 12:15

Próxima entrada como hacer estas snowman cookies.

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