Tangled Cake

My daughter turned 5 last week. For a year she asked for Dora cake, which she got on her brother's birthday. Their birthdays are so close together we sort of combined celebrations on his birthday since Dad was home from work.

They were both excited about the Dora cake. On Charis' actual birthday, she recieved a Tangled cake. It's by far her favorite movie.

She asked for pink, purple, and flowers. We used a Repunzel ornament for the topper.

Perfect Cheesecake

Cheesecake... something I love to eat but have been less than successful at making in the past.

This time I was determined to make it great. I read several recipes online, read reviews by people who tried the recipe, and then picked one and did it with my own variations.

I chose one from Allrecipes called Italian Ricotta Cheesecake. I did not follow the original instructions. I did follow instructions by other users who made the cake and said it turned out perfectly.

First, I browned the crust by putting it in at 350 for 10 min. Then poured in the filling. I set the pan on two layers of foil and wrapped the foil an inch or more up the sides. Then I put the springform on a jellyroll sheet and put it in the oven at 450. before I closed the door I poured 4 c of water into the jelly roll pan to keep the cake moist.

I left it at 450 for 10-15 min and then turned it down to 250 for an hour and a half. After that, i turned the oven off and left the cake to cool with the door closed for 3 hours. Once I took it out and left it on the counter for a while, I covered it and put it in the fridge overnight.
The next day I added homemade preserves to the top and served!

It was moist, there were absolutely NO cracks in the top. It was moist but not undercooked all the way through.

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!

Not the best photos. This is as good as it gets when hubby is not home to take pictures.

What I learned doing these cookies. Use a dowel rod down the middle(suggestion from a relative and a good one). Also apply royal icing the day before assembly. It takes a while for Royal to dry and I was in a time crunch that day to finish so once the buttercream 'glue' went on, it caused the royal to run more than usual.

But they were very very pretty and super tasty.

I used a set of star cookie cutters from Avon, but you could make your own templates.

Dora Cake