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Jan 04 2013
Epiphany Cake
Epiphany is celebrated on January 6, and celebrates the Magi's visit to the Christ Child. Epiphany always held an added significance for my mother, because her third child—a slightly peculiar redhead who would later develop a penchant for breaking out in Ethel Merman songs in inappropriate settings—was born on Epiphany. Growing up in the Episcopal church, our congregation celebrated Epiphany each year with a party that culminated in the slicing up of an Epiphany cake, which held an assortment of trinkets. Each trinket signified something different, and it was always a fun treasure hunt to see if the piece you were handed included one. And if it didn't, you'd freak out and cry and demand another piece!
Just kidding on that last part.
I think.
Epiphany cakes hold different meanings in different cultures, regions, and churches—they're often called King Cakes, and sometimes are associated with Mardi Gras—and they're sometimes made from a yeast-based dough, puffed pastry, or a million ingredients in between. But in my Episcopalian experience, it doesn't really matter what kind of cake it is. What makes an Epiphany cake an Epiphany cake are the trinkets inside. And the significance of the trinkets.
And the meaning of the day you're celebrating.
Now, in a traditional Epiphany cake, there is only one trinket, and guess what it is? A bean. A single bean. Yippee! And the person who finds the bean is officially crowned "The King of the Feast" or "The King of Epiphany." In my church, The King of the Feast (or, in many cases, The King of the Feast's mom) receives the honor (whether or not it's considered an honor depends on the recipient!) of making the Epiphany cake the following year. But there are other trinkets with different meanings/blessing. I had to call my mom to remember what they were!
Dime – Wealth
Ring – Church's blessings
Thimble – Increased industry
Button – Increased spiritual knowledge
Baby – Will know Jesus more
Shoe – Will walk in the ways of the Lord
Fruit – Reap the fruit of Christian Living
Spinning Top – You watch too much Inception
(Forget about that last one.)
Here's how you make an Epiphany cake!
I used this basic yellow cake recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, but if I'd had a box of cake mix in my pantry, I would have used that. A basic cake was all I needed, and yellow cake with chocolate icing makes my family's heart go pitter pat.
Here's what you need for the cake: Cake flour (or you can use all-purpose, which the BHG recipe calls for), sugar, baking powder, butter, milk, vanilla, eggs, and salt.
You also need trinkets! I found these at Hobby Lobby, and you can really use whatever you want.
And of course, one of these would make a perfect baby Jesus.
Oh, dear.
I got rings, as they seemed like something the Magi would bring the Christ King.
And the cross? I threw it in for good measure. Seemed appropriate.
Oh, and there's the bean.
To make the cake, throw the butter into the bowl of a mixer.
Whip it with the whisk attachment for about 30-45 seconds, or until it's nice and fluffy and soft.
Add the sugar in about four batches, letting it incorporate with the butter after each addition.
My butter was a little cold. Sorry.
Scrape the bowl a couple of times to make sure the butter and sugar are totally fluffy.
Then add the eggs one at a time, mixing it until it's all combined.
In a separate bowl, throw the cake flour…
Sorry about the nails, man. But I have to be me.
Stir around the mixture, then alternate adding it…
With the milk. Just keep going back and forth, barely mixing it each time…
Until it's all mixed and smooth and totally lickable.
I'm Pioneer Woman, and I love to eat cake batter by the spoonful.
And throw them into the bowl! Then just fold them in so they're evenly distributed.
Important Note: If you don't want to throw the trinkets right into the batter, wrap them in small pieces of aluminum foil before throwing them in the batter. This creates a little bit of a barrier between the batter and the trinket, and it also gives the kids something to unwrap if they find the trinkets in their slice of cake!
But I didn't want to work that hard.
And guess what? You can also throw in a few more Baby Jesuses just to make sure the cake has plenty of surprises. It's not exactly theologically accurate…but then again, neither are electric ovens.
Thoroughly spray a 9 x 13 glass dish, and pour the batter right in.
Use an offset spatula to even out the surface, then pop it into a 375 degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until it's no longer jiggly.
Zee cake ees done! Now just let it cool completely before you make the icing.
And put these away for next year!
To make the icing, which comes from my friend Alice at Savory Sweet Life, throw two sticks of butter into the mixing bowl.
Whip it around with the paddle attachment until the butter's nice and soft.
Next, sift together powdered sugar…
I like to layer them in the sifter so they'll sift evenly together.
Add the sifted mixture a cup at a time…
Until everything's a big, clumpy mess.
Next measure some heavy cream…
And drizzle it into the mixture.
Whip the heck out of it until it's nice and smooth…
And you'll definitely want to scrape the toward the end, then mix it again. A messy but really decadent icing. Love this stuff.
Cut the cake in 12 to 16 slices…
It's fun to try to find one of the trinkets as you're slicing the cake.
This pieces has one of the jewels…
A Baby Jesus. Score! A direct hit!
Another Important Note: You definitely want to tell everyone you're serving that there are trinkets in the cake. If you use a light colored cake, it's pretty easy to see them.
Happy Epiphany!
Here's the printable, but again, note that you can use absolutely any cake of your choice.
Print Options
Epiphany Cake
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Difficulty:
- Easy
- Servings:
- 16
- Cake
- 1-1/2 stick 3/4 Cup Butter, Softened
- 1-3/4 cup Sugar
- 3 whole Eggs, Room Temperature
- 2-1/2 cups Cake Flour
- 2-1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1-1/4 cup Whole Milk
- Trinkets Or Charms: Baby, Crown, Jewel, Bean, Button, Heart, Dime, Etc. (I Found Mind At Craft Stores.)
- Icing
- 2 sticks Butter, Softened
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 3/4 cups Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream (more To Taste)
Preparation Instructions
*Cake recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
*Icing recipe adapted from SavorySweetLife.com
(Note: You can use absolutely any cake you want, just as long as trinkets are added!)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thoroughly grease/flour a 9 x 13 baking pan (or spray with baking spray.)
In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter until it's soft and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar in batches, about a fourth at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then mix again until totally combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 20 seconds on medium after each addition. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk with the mixer on medium-low until all the ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and turn the mixer on high for ten seconds.
Remove bowl from mixer stand and fold in trinkets so that they're evenly distributed. (Note that you can also tightly wrap trinkets in small pieces of aluminum foil if you prefer.) Use an offset spatula to even out the surface, then bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until cake is just set and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely before icing.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter until totally soft and smooth. Sift together the powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt, then add gradually to the mixer, scraping the sides as you go. (When combined, mixture will be very thick/crumbly.) Drizzle in cream and whip on high until smooth, scraping the sides as you go.
Ice the cooled cake in the pan.
Cut 12 to 16 slices of cake with a serrated knife, being careful not to tear out any trinkets along the way (most of them settle close to the bottom.)
***Be sure to tell everyone that there are trinkets in the cake beforehand so they can watch for them!
Each trinket means different things. Here's the tradition from my church:
Dime: Wealth
Ring: Church's blessings
Thimble: Increased industry
Button: Increased spiritual knowledge
Baby: Will know Jesus better
Shoe: Will walk in the ways of the Lord
Bean: King of Epiphany! (And the baker of next year's cake! Ha.)
399 Comments and 89 Replies
ChristinaS(2) On Saturday, January 5 at 5:58 am
Happy Birthday Ree! And Happy Feast Day! My Bonus Son was born on the Feast of the Epiphany asl well and I've always told him that is because I thought that one day maybe he would be a wise as they are… he has always loved that idea :). Never thought of the the cake for his birthday and now you've given me a great idea – Thanks!
Diane F. On Saturday, January 5 at 6:24 am
Love the cake and the idea behind it. Christ is my King Happy Birthday Ree and many, many more!!
Lynda On Saturday, January 5 at 6:27 am
(singing) Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Ree, Happy Birthday to you and many more………
Barbara in Texas On Saturday, January 5 at 6:59 am
Happy Birthday, Ree.
Wanda On Saturday, January 5 at 7:03 am
Happy Birthday Ree!
Meg On Saturday, January 5 at 7:36 am
In all my Catholic days I have not heard of the epiphany cake before. Thanks for sharing it's bio. Here's hoping your cake has some te-REE-fic surprises in it especially for you! Hope your birthday is HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.
Jeanie H On Saturday, January 5 at 7:46 am
Happy Birthday! This sounds like a nice tradition…can't believe I've never heard of it.
Teresa R. On Saturday, January 5 at 7:54 am
Happy birthday! Enjoy your cake. It looks delicious.
nancy K On Saturday, January 5 at 8:20 am
A friend of mine, who I first met babysitting for her kids, started this tradition years ago when her two children were young.She put just coins in a yasedeast b cake and the dime was what everyone wanted. Her kids didn't like the taste of the cake and would just stab the dayligjts out of pieces to find the coin. Whoever found the dime had to put it in a safe place for the year then return it to my friend so she could bake it into the next years' cake. Funny thing…evey time I found the dime, I had the worst luck for that year. I no longer participate in the celebration but my friend is now baking the cake for her grandkids.
I loved reading about the other trinkets and the meaning thereof. I think I will forward this recipe and post tomy friend.
nancy K On Saturday, January 5 at 8:21 am
Oh, Happy Brithday , Ree!!
Joy On Saturday, January 5 at 8:25 am
I think the cake is a fun, wonderful way to celebrate and to teach kids more about Christ. However, I think baking plastic objects made of who knows what kind of toxic materials from China is a very bad idea. Who knows what kind of vapors and toxins are released (into the cake) after exposing them to heat. A better idea would be to place them in the cake after it is baked. They could be spaced more evenly, even ensuring each piece has a trinket inside. Cover with frosting and know one will see the holes created when placing the trinkets.
Sue On Saturday, January 5 at 8:26 am
In all of the time I have been reading your posts, I never realized that your birthday was the day before mine! Happy birthday to both of us!
Mary On Saturday, January 5 at 8:33 am
My mom did the same kind of thing for one of my birthday parties, but with a twist (my birthday is 2 days after yours- same year). It was a skating party, and the roller rink had an arcade in it. So she wrapped quarters in foil, and accurately placed a quarter into the batter after it was poured into the pan so that when she sliced it, every party go-er was assured a quarter to use in the arcade. It was super fun, unless you bit into the foil. Yikes! My fillings ache just thinking about it.
Faye On Saturday, January 5 at 8:45 am
My father, sister and daughter are all January 6 birthdays. My daughter was born on my father's 60th and sister's 29th. Dad called every year until he passed and now my sister has picked up that tradition with my daughter who will be 36 this year.
Marianne On Saturday, January 5 at 9:14 am
We never took down our decorations before the 6th, these days everyone puts theirs up before Thanksgiving and takes them down Christmas night. There are a few homes scattered about that still have their lights shinning brightly, crosses and angels light the night. I am sad to put everything away till next year, but will make this cake, in celebration, plus will toast Ree (out favorite red head) on her birthday!!!!!!!
Thank you Ree!!
Kelly On Saturday, January 5 at 9:28 am
Happy Birthday Ree!!! This reminds me of the King's cake (made with Puff Pastry) in France which also comes with a trinket. The person who finds the trinket would be crowned the King/Queen of the day!! I can't stop laughing at the little babies, am I sick?
Archana On Saturday, January 5 at 9:41 am
Happy Birthday Ree. I love this cake. Great tradition.
Tameka Downing On Saturday, January 5 at 10:09 am
Happy Birthday Ree! It just so happens that my Mom's birthday is also on the 6th. No wonder I like your blog, show and just you so much. I pray a blessed birthday and new year to you and your family.
jennifer in Texas On Saturday, January 5 at 10:11 am
Sounds like a perfect cake for Epiphany….and Happy Birthday a day early!
Jeanette On Saturday, January 5 at 10:13 am
Happy Birthday Ree, it's my birthday too!
Melissa B On Saturday, January 5 at 10:15 am
This looks like such a wonderful cake!
Denise On Saturday, January 5 at 10:18 am
Happy Birthday to you, Ree!
Sally Dasto On Saturday, January 5 at 10:24 am
Thank you for the Epiphany Cake recipe! So many folks around her forget about that religious holiday. Thanks again!
Sally Dasto On Saturday, January 5 at 10:24 am
here not her. Sorry!
Leigh On Saturday, January 5 at 11:11 am
So cool that you were brought up in Episcopal Church. Me too!… I now attend a lovely Anglican Church here in Dallas. Basically traditional Episcopal. We bill ourselves as 'The Episcopal Church you grew up with!' 1928 Book of Common Prayer, 1940 Hymnal, etc… I'm a firm believer in hanging on to Christmas until the very last drop… at Epiphany!
Dawne Morgan On Saturday, January 5 at 11:26 am
We baked an Epiphany cake too when my kids were younger, though used a silver coin, and the one who got it received a silver crown they wore proudly. I am moved to comment about using trinkets from a craft store, very unwise as most of these items are made with metals, plastics and finishes you do not want to ingest as they are toxic!
Fiona On Saturday, January 5 at 11:29 am
For many years,m my friends and I celebrated Twelfth Night. We'd get all dressed up and have a great time. I miss those days.
Susan Williams On Saturday, January 5 at 11:44 am
Okay girl, I love your guts and have followed you forever, but it makes me wince to see you put cheap-y, plastic-y stuff in food that you then bake. Of course take my comment into the perspective that I'm watching "Gas Land" right now, so I'm feeling a little toxic right now anyhow. Have a great 2013!
Charo On Saturday, January 5 at 11:47 am
In Spain is a tradition to have the Roscón de Reyes on the 6th. The trinkets are two: a bean (the one who pays for the next year's Roscón) and a porcelain/china king (the one who gets crowned with the golden paper crown that comes with the Roscón. The china king is wrapped in film.
Charo On Saturday, January 5 at 12:02 pm
Sorry. Me again. Forgot to put a link to the Roscón de Reyes itself:
Annie On Saturday, January 5 at 12:07 pm
this is a great cake…please tell me more about the bean : )
Susan Linke On Saturday, January 5 at 12:07 pm
Happy Birthday Ree! Thanks for the joy and fun recipes you bring to our lives!
Colleen Marie On Saturday, January 5 at 12:10 pm
Beautiful cake. Love the white Kitchenaid PRO mixer, too! Thank you.
Connie Pruitt On Saturday, January 5 at 12:19 pm
Happy Birthday Ree!!!!!
DonnaD On Saturday, January 5 at 12:23 pm
Happy Birthday Ree. Love this idea. We typically take down the tree on The Epiphany. Making this cake would really make it a festive occasion.
Toby On Saturday, January 5 at 12:26 pm
Happy Birthday Ree !! My Grandmother who lived to be 97 3/4 was born on Jan. 6 1905 Her name was Anna but she ofter said," Call me Annie". She was a great cook and taught my Granddad (they celebrated 64 years together) to cook also. She always made sure everyone had a birthday cake. I am currently making family DVDs from her photo albums and so far have over 100 "cake" photos to work with.
cynthia On Saturday, January 5 at 12:28 pm
Hey… it's my b'day too! All the best
MarciaB On Saturday, January 5 at 12:30 pm
I love it!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe…I'll be making that this weekend…and celebrating YOUR birthday along with MINE!!! Happy Birthday to us!!
Mary P On Saturday, January 5 at 12:33 pm
Happy birthday!!
deej On Saturday, January 5 at 12:33 pm
My grandmother was born on "Little Christmas" in Ireland in 1873. Dec. 25 was for (Catholic) Mass and Jan. 6 was for presents. I do not remember her having an Epiphany cake, wish we had done that.
What a bunch of negative, nervous Nellies today. Lighten up!! As so many have said before, if you do not like the cake idea, don't bake it. If you do not care for Hobby Lobby, don't shop there. This was a lovely, delicious, fun post with wonderful memories from Ree, that was diminished by negativity. Hope you wake up in a better mood tomorrow!
Sara M. On Saturday, January 5 at 12:37 pm
We always waited to take the tree down on the Epiphany or the 7th which was my dad's B-day. my birthday is today so we are close! Happy Birthday Ree!
deej On Saturday, January 5 at 12:37 pm
Question: Ree posted this at 9:39 a.m. on Friday, Jan.4. I received the email this morning, Saturday, Jan. 5 at 11:30 a.m. Has anyone else had this problem? It has happened several times. Thanks!
amandak On Saturday, January 5 at 12:38 pm
Thanks for sharing the recipe, and your faith! Lovely to read. In Him, Amanda
Cindy W On Saturday, January 5 at 12:43 pm
Hope you have a great birthday tomorrow!
meda On Saturday, January 5 at 12:44 pm
My son's birthday is also Jan 6th – this might be a great tradition for us particularly so hard falling post holidays!
Happy Birthday Ree!
Ellen W On Saturday, January 5 at 12:54 pm
Have a wonderful birthday!
Cake looks wonderful with or without trinkets.
Wendy On Saturday, January 5 at 1:11 pm
This is such a sweet and fun idea – I love it! Thanks so much for sharing.
Kerry On Saturday, January 5 at 1:26 pm
Hippo birdie 2 ewe!!! (Sorry, couldn't resist. My mom always said this – thought you'd be perfect for it
Deb Graham On Saturday, January 5 at 1:35 pm
Bella C. On Saturday, January 5 at 2:10 pm
I'm Episcopalian too! Finally someone who doesn't laugh at me when my brother says " May the force be with you" and I absentmindedly say , " And also with you." Happy Birthday tomorrow if you don't post before then!!
Cindy On Saturday, January 5 at 2:16 pm
OMG, those babies are too much! I've never seen them with painted hair and faces and I've eaten my share of King Cakes here in Louisiana.
Barbara Taylor On Saturday, January 5 at 3:07 pm
Wishing you a Wonderful Happy Birthday, We share the same day, quite a few years difference. I will be 74 tomorrow.
GiGi in Georgia On Saturday, January 5 at 3:52 pm
First of all, Happy Birthday Ree!
We always celebrated Epiphany when I was growing up. My mom's German and our family is Lutheran. We didn't do a cake, but we each got a small gift on that day. I like the idea of the cake, which I had heard of, but I'm "baked out" right now. Between cakes and pies over the holidays and my son's birthday yesterday, another cake just ain't happening.
Kathryn On Saturday, January 5 at 4:10 pm
Happy Birthday, P-Dub! My birthday is also on Epiphany.
Peace out, sistah,
Jo-Anne On Saturday, January 5 at 4:14 pm
I have never heard of an Epiphany cake, so thank you for enlightening me………….now I know something new
Bethany On Saturday, January 5 at 4:34 pm
Hi Ree,
we hope you have a very Happy Birthday and are surrounded by all your favorite people.
Jennifer E On Saturday, January 5 at 4:52 pm
First Happy Birthday Ree! Second, thanks for reminding me about the Epiphany being this Sunday. I have gone right into the kitchen and I am going to make my family this cake, awesome way to celebrate something so important! We have to remember the 8 Sundays following Christmas are important and doing things like this will hopefully stick with our kids as the grow and have their own families. Thanks again, great idea!
Pam S. On Saturday, January 5 at 4:57 pm
Happy Birthday Ree! Cake sounds fun!
forever montana On Saturday, January 5 at 5:07 pm
Happy Birthday Ree:) I had this cake when I was little. The person who made the cake would wrap the items in waxpaper. It was great fun!
Kellie On Saturday, January 5 at 5:35 pm
I was reading the list of trinkets…when I got to the last one I had to do a double take LOL. Too funny. This cake reminds me somewhat of the King Cake that is eaten at Mardi Gras in that they both have a trinket inside…the King Cake has a baby inside and whoever finds it is declared king or queen of the day and is suppose to host the next party and supplies the King Cake. I have to admit that I like the King Cake better…it is more of a pastry and has cinnamon inside and a glaze and colored sugar outside.
Brenda Carter On Saturday, January 5 at 5:38 pm
Happy Birthday Ree! I love your blog and your show. I record the show every Saturday. I think I may wait until after Jan. 6th to make this cake. That way I can leave out the trinkets so I won't get choked while glomming it down! It looks like a great but simple recipe and not too decadent after all the holiday treats.
LoriAnn W. On Saturday, January 5 at 5:57 pm
Happy Birthday Ree..I just love your blog. Your cookbooks and recipes online here have provided not just wonderful meals for my family but laughter. Thank you for taking the time out of your days and from family to share with all of us. God bless.
Debbie On Saturday, January 5 at 6:02 pm
Happy Birthday Miss Ree! Excited to hear how you spend your special day.
JustMary On Saturday, January 5 at 6:02 pm
What a fun idea! Thank you for sharing about your family's tradition, and Happy Birthday!!!
Suzie from On Saturday, January 5 at 6:02 pm
Looks Yummy!! Can't wait to make it for my family!!
Happy Birthday Ree!! My bday is Tuesday. Have a Wonderful Blessed Day!!
Suzie from Arizona
Mary ellen On Saturday, January 5 at 6:19 pm
Happy birthday!!!! Hope you have the best one ever!!
Betty On Saturday, January 5 at 6:20 pm
Happy Birthday! I suppose it's a day late, but I didn't find this yesterday. And to think that in just six months, we'll be celebrating July 4!
I received your two cookbooks for Christmas and LOVE THEM! Have read thru both books, and have tried a few of the recipes. Excellent!
( Editorial comments: Your fingernails are the least of my worries, so long as they're clean is all that matters. Can't imagine trying to function with fake acrylic things, in the kitchen or elsewhere. I like shopping at Hobby Lobby because I like to support someone who stands for the same values and principles that I believe in.)
Melanie L On Saturday, January 5 at 6:27 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REE!! I hope you day is filled with many blessings!
gma t On Saturday, January 5 at 7:10 pm
Hope you have a great birthday!
Jeanie Sue On Saturday, January 5 at 7:13 pm
Happy Birthday REE, Hope your day is lovely. How can there be such negativity on a website that offers all of us as readers, nothing but enjoyment?
Robin On Saturday, January 5 at 7:37 pm
Ree, I hope you have a wonderful birthday! The cake you made looks so delicious!
Bethany On Saturday, January 5 at 7:45 pm
Have a GREAT Birthday Ree!!! I just bought both of your cookbooks and I love them! This cake is perfect too. I just started reading your blog and it's the best thing about 2013 so far! I hope your day brings you as much joy as you bring everyone else!
Bridget Mercandetti On Saturday, January 5 at 7:52 pm
Happy Birthday Ree!! I hope all of your birthday wishes come true!
Jennifer Llehman On Saturday, January 5 at 7:57 pm
I'm also an "Epiphany baby"…42 years ago tomorrow!! This is the first time I've heard of the cake! Maybe next year… Getting ready to bake myself a white Texas sheet cake! This Illinois farm wife wishes you yummy cake, and a very happy birthday!!
karen On Saturday, January 5 at 7:58 pm
Happy Birthday, Ree!! It's my birthday also on 1/6. Enjoy your cake and your big day.
Cindy Hennika On Saturday, January 5 at 8:38 pm
Happy Birthday Ree!
Debbie R. On Saturday, January 5 at 8:47 pm
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PW!!! I only learned of King's Cake @ Mardi Gras last year. Loved learning about the Epiphany today.
Clara On Saturday, January 5 at 8:52 pm
I grew up in Sweden and a Lutheran. Epiphany was observed but we didn't celebrate it. I guess Lutherans even high church ones weren't big on that. We celebrated Janunary 13 however in a big way. The day we toss out the tree after all the ornaments have been removed. And of course we had a big party to celebrate. This meant that there were a lot of parties on different days. Not all the trees were tossed out on that date, The tree the city, town etc, would of course always be "tossed" on that date with a big party. I wonder if they still do that. Have to check with my sisters.
Kathleen C On Saturday, January 5 at 8:53 pm
Happy Birthday!
Shannon On Saturday, January 5 at 10:07 pm
Happy, Happy Birthday to youuuu!!!!! Many blessings to you in the New Year!!!
Dana Babin On Saturday, January 5 at 10:27 pm
Living in Brusly, Louisiana (across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge–Geaux Tigers!), King Cake is a tradition. Like Ree's family, yellow cake with chocolate frosting makes my family's hearts go pitter-patter as well! Later this month, I think I will make my youngest son's birthday cake from scratch! Thank you for being you Ree!
Dana On Saturday, January 5 at 10:29 pm
Happy Birthday Ree!
lynnheart On Saturday, January 5 at 10:38 pm
Just came across your site when looking up some fresh ideas for Jan. 6. I love the trinkets in the cake. My family is always looking for a reason to have cake. They will be glad to hear we are having something with chocolate frosting instead of a traditional pastry king cake.
Gidget On Saturday, January 5 at 11:04 pm
Happy Epiphany and Happy Birthday Ree!
I hope your day was as lovely as you are.
Julianna On Saturday, January 5 at 11:12 pm
Hi Ree! Seems we share some commonalities. First, happy birthday to you AND me! Second, we both seem to have been born red-haired (although nature has taken mine from red to Loreal Toasted Coconut), and third, we both share the tradition of Epiphany cakes, which our family has made for generations. And, it wouldn't surprise me to find that we may also share a Capricorn, fiery red-headed, straight-shooting philosophy of life that allows us to keep the negativity of others in perspective. Love this cake! Love this blog! Love you too!! Happy New Year to you and yours!!
Kelley Lynn On Saturday, January 5 at 11:36 pm
Diane On Sunday, January 6 at 12:38 am
Happy Birthday, Ree. Love your website and all of your other creative endeavors. Hope you have a wonderful day!
Jacque in New River On Sunday, January 6 at 1:03 am
Happy Birthday Ree. You add smiles and happiness to my days as I read your blog on a daily basis. I love your Epiphany cake idea, I won't have time to make the cake tomorrow, but the recipe is one I am going to try soon, as I love yellow cake with chocolate frosting, yum.
Brenna On Sunday, January 6 at 1:09 am
Happy Birthday adorable girl!
Dorothy Carter On Sunday, January 6 at 1:29 am
Ree, I pray that you have a very Happy Birthday today and that God blesses you and your family in the year to come. You bring a lot of enjoyment to me and many others and I thank you. God loves you and so do I! Happy Birthday!
Marina On Sunday, January 6 at 4:47 am
Happy Birthday Ree. Thanks for the reminder about this day, I learnt about it when I visited Italy 20 years ago. La Befana brings present to children. When I was there (an Aussie teenager at the time) we saw La Befana in the streets of Rome and she was handing out gifts. I still have the red heart shape soap she gave me.
Gayle On Sunday, January 6 at 5:33 am
Happy Birthday Ree!
Linda Bozyone On Sunday, January 6 at 6:45 am
Connie C On Sunday, January 6 at 6:51 am
Happy Birthday Ree! I share not only your birthday but your love of preparing and sharing awesome food. Love to cook!
R.C. On Sunday, January 6 at 7:06 am
Happy Birthday, Ree!
Miranda On Sunday, January 6 at 8:19 am
Happy Birthday Ree! Hope you have a wonderful one.
Deirdre On Sunday, January 6 at 8:38 am
Happy Birthday, Ree, and I hope this means that you always got to enjoy TWO cakes on your birthday growing up. We're off to church…the church of my childhood never had Epiphany cake, but our current parish does. I admit it, the babies in the cake freak me out…so do a lot of baby dolls! Thanks for sharing the tradition:)
Sheila On Sunday, January 6 at 8:51 am
Happy Birthday from South Dakota!
ken On Sunday, January 6 at 9:05 am
HaP-Py BirThdAY!
Deb Wilks On Sunday, January 6 at 9:07 am
Happy Birthday, Ree! You are awesome!
KathyR On Sunday, January 6 at 9:24 am
I've never heard of Epiphany cake. What a great tradition! It also warms my heart that you support Hobby Lobby!
Danielle B. On Sunday, January 6 at 9:49 am
Happy Birthday, Ree. Mine is tomorrow. I think some Greek Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on that day. Happy Epiphany Day, too!
Judy B On Sunday, January 6 at 10:25 am
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, hope you are having a wonderful birthday weekend


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Gobi Kheema
my kitchen notes
- 500 grams Cauliflower
- 3 tbsp Ghee, divided - see Tips
- 1 large Onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic, or to taste, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp grated Ginger
- 2 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup Green Peas, see Tips
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp Cinnamon ground
- 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
- 1/8 tsp Cloves ground
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder, or as per taste
- 2 tsp Cumin-Coriander powder
- 2 tsp Garam Masala
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Few sprigs of Cilantro
2. Peas : I am using fresh peas hence I boiled it on the side before adding it to the recipe. But you can omit that when using frozen.
Anusha PavitranJanuary 27th, 2014 on 12:12 pm
Thank you so much for this recipe. .. tried it..me n my husband loved it.. your recipes n their pics are so enchanting that anyone would want to try them out… I am a regular follower of your site… keep rocking n waiting for more n more recipes. .. cheers..
Thank you so much –DK
devinaJanuary 23rd, 2014 on 4:04 am
Tying the ghobi kheema recipes for lunch tomorrow
PunitaJanuary 22nd, 2014 on 10:15 pm
I grew up eating gobhi keema as during winters in north India gobhi used to be in plenty. As kids we would get fed up of eating the gobhi cooked in the same punjabi style version so mom devised this dish for us. Infact she would put top home made pizzas with gobhi keema and then grated cheese on top and we would devour those pizzas without any fuss. Now I make the same for my kids as well.
gauravAugust 21st, 2013 on 8:40 am
I tried this one tonight. It turned out to be less spicy (and less hot) I think I needed to add more spices and have less than 500 gms gobi. But this is a minor thing, the most impt thing is that its really a creative dish. Thank you DK.I never thought Gobi would also taste like this!!
Reno622August 6th, 2013 on 1:22 pm
Recipes looks great, i cannot wait to try it.. Is 500 grams of cauliflower about one full head?
Hard to say that given that the size is pretty varied (depending on the area you live in). But mostly an average would be around that. Removing the stalks will make it a bit lighter but that shouldn't really matter for such recipes. –DK
KirtiJuly 23rd, 2013 on 7:06 pm
I tried this recipe today and it came so well. Me and my hubby both loved it. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
ChristyJune 26th, 2013 on 1:25 pm
Your recipes are the best! Sarah , loves them all. I made this , it came out so well. The best thing about your recipes is that they come out very well from the first time we make them. As I wrote earlier, variations are not necessary. Plus the measurements are so forgiving that a lil more or a lil less doesn't hurt the taste. Your recipes have redefined my culinary skills, come to think of it I am not a bad cook at all as I have been made to believe..I have been just a good cook with bad recipes. I love the child in you and the woman in the child..I wish I had discovered your blog long ago, so a lot of damage to my family by way of trying out (or in the pretext of doing so) new recipes from lot others , has already been done to my family. You are a great saviour now in my kitchen..usually when a new recipe is round the corner, my family conspires a take away meal, as a back up.. but it's no longer goes like that. My kitchen is no more a dreadful place for my family, all thanks to your wonderful wonderful recipes..you are the new star in my beautiful kitchen. Thanks and loving you lots..for making my once deserted kitchen populated and aroma filled.
It takes a beautiful person inside out to take this time and effort and make the other person feel special. Appreciate every second that you took, to pen down these extremely bounteous words for me and my work. I am indeed very grateful that you chose to let me into your kitchen and be part of your dinner time.At the end of the day, it was YOU, who made my dishes taste good for your family. So, thank YOU for that –DK
aishwarya gulatiJune 25th, 2013 on 12:17 pm
i made this for my kids and husband today.very tasty and easy to make.
aishwarya gulatiJune 25th, 2013 on 12:15 pm
i made this recipe today for my husband and children.very tasty n easy to make
AarthiApril 17th, 2013 on 2:51 am
I made this today for the dinner at home. Tasted it at lunch…Was delicious !!!! The simplicity of the dish totally won me over. Thanks so much for this recipe
malathi venkateshMarch 19th, 2013 on 4:57 am
usually there are lot of small insects insidethe cauliflower so to remove it we usually put the cauliflower in warm water for a few min. can i do the same withe grated cauliflower too. pl respond because the receipe look yummilicious.
I guess you can. Worth a try –DK
March 14th, 2013 on 4:13 pm
Innovative Recipe.. Nice Clicks..
archana dasMarch 13th, 2013 on 9:50 pm
i made this gobi keema ! it turned out wonderful. initially i was a bit doubtful to make it as we r non-veg people , but it turned out delicious. thank you!!!
NitiFebruary 10th, 2013 on 9:09 am
Loved the recipe- not a big fan of alu in gobi alu, so this let me get my gobi fix with beloved mattar too! Just found your website, and made your mooli parathas with mustard greens last night to rave reviews, also. First time in my life where I made my own dough and the parathas came out perfect! Agree with multiple other reviewers that your pictures look professional, too. Thanks for your fantastic website! Can't wait to make more recipes.
January 28th, 2013 on 6:17 am
Yummy, this dish looks delicious, did you know they have this word keema in Turkey too I think it has the same meaning as you mentioned? Also they use it in Libya it means ground meat!
Shaheen ShaikhJanuary 25th, 2013 on 7:47 pm
i try ur recipes they r really simple and easy to make and tasty.
January 25th, 2013 on 4:31 am
colourfull and nice easy recipe. thank u.
January 24th, 2013 on 4:12 pm
Hey DK,
While this is a great dish that I will give a try (though when I saw lamb I ignored it, no problem with lamb, just a vegetarian for 25 years) I wanted to say something else.
Your images are remarkable. We do this for a living (you may have noticed our logo) great composition, color and you know how to set the scene.
Hat tip, from one pro to another.
"though when I saw lamb I ignored it, no problem with lamb, just a vegetarian for 25 years". I have been a vegetarian all my life and know no other, so no recipe from this site will be non vegetarian, trust me :). As for your comment about my photos, I am pleasantly surprised to put it mildly. I am no pro and posses no real knowledge about photography. Though I have tried to learn in the past, I realized my passion lies more in the food than in the techniques of photography. My aim as a photographer is to make sure that the food I have in front of me translates to the reader exactly the same way. So given that, to hear this, I am so grateful. Thank you for the motivation. –DK
chhaviJanuary 24th, 2013 on 8:10 am
i have just read ur 2-3 recepies and i really liked ur way of explaining things with personal touch .it felt as if a friend is telling !!!great!!!
SwedhanaJanuary 23rd, 2013 on 7:26 am
Believe me or not, I was searching the exact recipe in your site yesterday. and since I could not find it, I made a version of my own , which was more or less similar to yours minus the peas. Only that I used the kheema as a spread to my masala dosa.
January 23rd, 2013 on 3:33 am
Droolworthy gobi kheema curry, an excellent pair for rotis.
January 22nd, 2013 on 10:21 pm
My children also luv Gobi Kheema. Looks nice. And would have been very flavorful with all those masalas, isn't it.
NileshJanuary 22nd, 2013 on 10:18 pm
Hi, my wife happened to look at my laptop over my shoulder at this recipe….she intruded on my privacy…made me show her (and read) the entire recipe.
Now unless I try out this delicious looking recipe ASAP, the vegetable cauliflower will be replaced by yours faithfully. Jokes apart….I not only try out your recipes, but also notice and love the humour in your presentation and write up.
All the best wishes, do keep it up!
Warm regards
Nilesh Ashar
Natasha swainJanuary 22nd, 2013 on 7:41 pm
Thank u for easy recipe I will try it soon.
padminiJanuary 22nd, 2013 on 12:04 pm
totally new recipe i have cauliflower in my fridge cant wait to try this recipe thanks for the easy recipe
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Beauty & Style
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Update time! Two readers with pre-wedding beauty crises check back in.
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It's a boot! It's a sandal! It's a floor wax!


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Letters Urge Ohio Counties to Ensure Valid Provisional Ballots Are Counted
November 15, 2012
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Brennan Center for Justice sent letters to several Ohio counties to prevent the unwarranted disenfranchisement of many eligible Ohio voters who cast provisional ballots on Election Day. Inflexible and unreliable exact-match verification procedures can lead to the rejection of valid provisional ballots because of minor typos by election officials. There is great concern that this inadequate voter registration look-up system, without additional procedures, places large numbers of provisional ballots cast by registered voters at risk of not being counted.
To prevent disenfrachisement, the Lawyers' Committee and Brennan Center urge local Boards to to employ flexible datamatching procedures, including multiple checks of both the county-wide and statewide lists, with different searches including wild cards and different configurations of voter data.
Listed below are the letters sent to county Boards in Ohio:


text:
Now that businessman Herman Cain has announced his plans to "reassess" his candidacy for president of the United States, the other GOP contenders have plenty to say about him, most of it "supportive."
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who lost her front tier status as more social conservatives turned to Cain as a more viable candidate, is hedging on whether or not Cain should just go ahead and drop out of the running, saying it's not her call to make. "'That's for the voters to determine and he'll have to make the determination about where he goes with his campaign,' Bachmann said on CNN. 'His campaign is reassessing where he's at and I'm sure he'll make a decision before too long.'" However, she does position herself as the candidate to turn to if you want to ensure there are no skeletons waiting in the closet.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich also played it close to the vest, despite being the candidate benefiting the most from Cain's fall from grace. "'No one's disqualified,' Gingrich told CBS News. 'I think every candidate has the right to try to recover.' More specifically, he added, 'I like Herman Cain personally … I think it must be very painful to go through what he's going through right now.'" Considering all of the public issues with infidelity Gingrich has gone through, he would know exactly how "painful" Cain's current experience is.
And once more, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman breaks from the rest of the GOP pack, saying Cain should just pack it in. "You've got to be reconsidering just based on how we have lost focus on the issues that really do matter. Every time another accusation comes up, it diminishes our ability to stay focused on the issues that really do matter for the American people. And I think that's a disservice to the voters."
Cain is expected to make a decision about his campaign's future sometime this week. In the meantime, his lawyer said he has not ruled out filing charges against Ginger White, who publicly accused Cain earlier this week of having a long standing extramarital affair with her.
Read more: 2012 presidential election, herman cain, sexual harassment
Photo from Gage Skidmore via flickr creative commons
The lights have pretty much gone out for Cain.
I believe an extramarital affair is really something that needs to be handled by the family and not dragged out into the media. Acknowledge it and move on. However, combine with the prior allegations against Cain, yeah. Not good.
Granted, I don't think Cain was a viable candidate in the first place, but this is kind of like the last straw.
This Slimeball makes me sick. Please get him out of my sight.
And the "esteemed" Mr. Trump de Dump says we should reserve judgement, that Mr.Cain seems like an honest man to him, that he probaly did not have an affair with the woman....yeah Donald, like you had any idea about fidelity!!!!
Cain is not presidential material and neither is Gingrich.
If they can't make a marriage work, how will they make a government work?
GOOD story Robin!!
Cain WILL DROP OUT!!
Cain is a liar. These women would not have come forward and risked public humiliation, unless their was some truth to their allegations. In addition Caian is a puppet of the billionare Koch brothers, and has no credibility.
As was mentioned above Huntsman is about the only contender with enough brain cells for the job. And that's why, in todays GOP, he dosen't have a snowballs chance in hell.
I think Cain's reason for entering the race was pure narcissism and a desire to sell his book - it wasn't because he was in the least bit qualified or even had a clue about what the Presidency is about or what the world is about, for that matter. He got caught up in the wave of GOP contenders who were "flavor of the month", had his turn and now is history - but maybe he sold a book or two. And, yes, we progressives would have loved to have had him run against Obama - it would have been a slam dunk for Obama.
BTW - did any of you read his foreign policy statement that was released the other day? OMG - this guy hasn't even watched Faux Noise lately - he's so far out of the loop.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
So tell me, did the non snapper fish suffer any less than the snapper would have when it was murdered?…
If shelters want to adopt out more pets and prevent a good percentage of pets ending up in shelters to…
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Phone: 919-419-6684
Alex Dixon
Business Reporter
Feb. 16, 2015 @ 02:47 PM
Alex Dixon is a 2014 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with degrees in Reporting and Economics, and a minor in creative writing. During his time at UNC-CH, he worked with Our State Magazine, The Daily Tar Heel, The Army News Service, and QSR Magazine. He also founded Carolina Eats, a student-run food media publication.


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Help your client achieve the music that matches the vision for their brand, by assessing their needs and turning them into a compelling musical score for their commercial.
Covers audio editing techniques for cutting music to picture in Pro Tools.
Introduces the tools in Avid's digital recording, editing, and mixing software used for creating music for films, television, and other visual media.
"I almost feel as if I am in a classroom but with the benefit of sitting at my home computer." —Christine B.
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One or more inductors and one or more capacitors are physically disposed relative to one another in series and are electrically connected to one another in parallel to form a bandstop filter. Chip inductors and chip capacitors having spaced apart conductive terminals are physically arranged in end-to-end abutting relation to minimize electrical potential between adjacent conductive terminals. The bandstop filter may be hermetically sealed within a biocompatible container for use with an implantable lead or electrode of a medical device. The values of the inductors and the capacitors are selected such that the bandstop filter is resonant at one or more selected frequencies, such as an MRI pulsed frequency.
1. A bandstop filter, comprising:
an inductor having first and second conductive terminals in spaced relation; and
a capacitor having first and second conductive terminals in spaced non-conductive relation;
wherein the inductor and the capacitor are physically axially aligned in series relative to one another; and
wherein the inductor and the capacitor are electrically connected to one another in parallel.
2. The bandstop filter of
3. The bandstop filter of
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The present invention relates to passive bandstop filter circuits wherein one or more of both inductor (L) and capacitor (C) elements are physically disposed in series but whose equivalent (lumped) L-C parameters are electrically connected in parallel. These novel L-C bandstop filters may be wired in series or in parallel with the leads or circuit traces of electronic circuits as needed for the particular application, for example, military, space, medical, commercial electronics, aviation or other applications. More specifically, the present invention is particularly suitable for applications where it is important to keep the diameter or cross-sectional area of the bandstop filter relatively small. A particular application of the invention is directed to the bandstop filter being installed in series with medical implanted leads in order reduce the amount of radio frequency (RF) current and associated heating due to energy deposited on the leads during medical diagnostic procedures, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The bandstop filter is designed to be resonant at the MRI RF pulsed frequency and thereby present a high impedance in the lead thus reducing RF current flow. Reduction of MRI induced RF current in an implanted lead prevents dangerous overheating and the associated possibility of damage to adjacent tissues.
This invention generally relates to the problem of energy induced into implanted leads during medical diagnostic procedures such as magnetic resonant imaging (MRI). Specifically, the RF pulsed field of MRI equipment can couple to an implanted lead in such a way that electromagnetic forces (EMFs) are induced in the lead. The amount of energy that is induced is related to a number of complex factors, but in general is dependent upon the local electric field that is tangent to lead and the integral of the electric field strength along the lead. In certain situations, these EMFs can cause currents to flow into distal electrodes or in the electrode interface with body tissue. It has been documented that when this current becomes excessive, overheating of said electrode or overheating of the associated interface with body tissue can occur. There have been cases of damage to such body tissue which has resulted in loss of capture of cardiac pacemaking pulses, tissue damage severe enough to result in brain damage or multiple amputations, and the like.
Implantable lead systems are generally associated with active implantable medical devices (AIMDs) such as cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, neurostimulators and the like. Implantable leads can also be associated with external devices such as external pacemakers, externally worn neurostimulators (such as pain control spinal cord stimulators) and the like.
Compatibility of cardiac pacemakers, implantable defibrillators and other types of active implantable medical devices with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other types of hospital diagnostic equipment has become a major issue. If one goes to the websites of the major cardiac pacemaker manufacturers in the United States, which include St. Jude Medical, Medtronic and Boston Scientific (formerly Guidant), one will see that the use of MRI is generally contra-indicated with pacemakers and implantable defibrillators.
However, an extensive review of the literature indicates that MRI is indeed often used with pacemaker, neurostimulator and other active implantable medical device (AIMD) patients. The safety and feasibility of MRI in patients with cardiac pacemakers is an issue of gaining significance. The effects of MRI on patients' pacemaker systems have only been analyzed retrospectively in some case reports. There are a number of papers that indicate that MRI on new generation pacemakers can be conducted up to 0.5 Tesla (T). MRI is one of medicine's most valuable diagnostic tools. MRI is, of course, extensively used for imaging, but is also used for interventional medicine (surgery). In addition, MRI is used in real time to guide ablation catheters, neurostimulator tips, deep brain probes and the like. An absolute contra-indication for pacemaker patients means that pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) wearers are excluded from MRI. This is particularly true of scans of the thorax and abdominal areas. Because of MRI's incredible value as a diagnostic tool for imaging organs and other body tissues, many physicians simply take the risk and perform MRI on a pacemaker patient. The literature indicates a number of precautions that physicians should take in this case, including limiting the power of the MRI RF pulsed field (Specific Absorption Rate—SAR level), programming the pacemaker to fixed or asynchronous pacing mode, and then careful reprogramming and evaluation of the pacemaker and patient after the procedure is complete. There have been reports of latent problems with cardiac pacemakers or other AIMDs after an MRI procedure sometimes occurring many days later. Moreover, there are a number of recent papers that indicate that the SAR level is not entirely predictive of the heating that would be found in implanted leadwires or devices. For example, for magnetic resonance imaging devices operating at the same magnetic field strength and also at the same SAR level, considerable variations have been found relative to heating of implanted leadwires. It is speculated that SAR level alone is not a good predictor of whether or not an implanted device or its associated leadwire system will overheat.
There are three types of electromagnetic fields produced by MRI equipment. The first type is the main static magnetic field designated B0 which is used to align protons in body tissue. The field strength varies from 0.5 to 3.0 Tesla in most of the currently available MRI units in clinical use. Some of the newer MRI system fields can go as high as 4 to 5 Tesla. Certain research systems are as high as 11.7 Tesla. This is over 100,000 times the magnetic field strength of the earth. A static magnetic field can induce powerful mechanical forces and torque on any magnetic materials implanted within the patient. This would include certain components within the cardiac pacemaker itself and/or lead systems. It is not likely (other than sudden system shut down) that the static MRI magnetic field can induce currents into the pacemaker lead system and hence into the pacemaker itself. It is a basic principle of physics that a magnetic field must either be time-varying as it cuts across the conductor, or the conductor itself must move within the magnetic field for currents to be induced.
The second type of field produced by magnetic resonance imaging is the pulsed RF field, designated B1, which is generated by the body coil or head coil. This is used to change the energy state of the protons and elicit MRI signals from tissue. The RF field is homogeneous in the central region and has two main components: (1) the magnetic field is circularly polarized in the actual plane; and (2) the electric field is related to the magnetic field by Maxwell's equations. In general, the RF field is switched on and off during scanning protocols and usually has a frequency of 21 MHz to 64 MHz to 128 MHz depending upon the static magnetic field strength. The frequency of the RF pulse varies by the Lamor equation with the field strength of the main static field where: RF PULSED FREQUENCY in MHz=(42.56) (STATIC FIELD STRENGTH IN TESLA).
The third type of MRI electromagnetic field is the time-varying magnetic gradient fields designated GX, GY, GZ which are used for spatial localization. These change their strength along different orientations and operating frequencies on the order of 1 to 2 kHz. The vectors of the magnetic field gradients in the x, y and z directions are produced by three sets of orthogonally positioned coils and are switched on only during the scanning protocols.
At very low frequency (VLF), voltages are induced at the input to the cardiac pacemaker as currents circulate throughout the patient's body and create voltage drops. Because of the vector displacement between the pacemaker housing and, for example, the Tip electrode, voltage drop across the resistance of body tissues may be sensed due to Ohm's Law and the circulating current of the RF signal. At higher frequencies, the implanted lead systems actually act as antennas where voltages (EMFs) are induced along their length. These antennas are not very efficient due to the damping effects of body tissue; however, this can often be offset by extremely high power fields (such as MRI pulsed fields) and/or body resonances. At very high frequencies (such as cellular telephone frequencies), EMI signals are induced only into the first area of the lead system (for example, at the header block of a cardiac pacemaker). This has to do with the wavelength of the signals involved and where they couple efficiently into the system.
MRI gradient field coupling into an implanted lead system is based on loop areas and orientation. For example, in a cardiac pacemaker unipolar lead, there is a loop formed by the lead as it comes from the cardiac pacemaker housing to its distal tip, for example, located in the right ventricle. The return path is through body fluid and tissue generally from the Tip electrode in the right ventricle back up to the pacemaker case or housing. This forms an enclosed area which can be measured from patient X-rays in square centimeters. The average loop area is 200 to 225 square centimeters. This is an average and is subject to great statistical variation. For example, in a large adult patient with an abdominal implant, the implanted loop area is much larger (approximately 377 square centimeters). Relating now to the specific case of MRI, the magnetic gradient fields would be induced through enclosed loop areas. However, the pulsed RF fields, which are generated by the body coil, would be primarily induced into the lead system by antenna action.
At the frequencies of interest in MRI, RF energy can be absorbed and converted to heat. The cause of heating in an MRI environment is twofold: (a) RF field coupling to the lead can occur which induces significant local heating; and (b) currents induced between the distal tip and tissue during MRI RF pulse transmission sequences can cause local ohmic heating in tissue next to the distal Tip electrode of the implanted lead. The power deposited by RF pulses during MRI is complex and is dependent upon the power (Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)) level and duration of the RF pulse, the transmitted frequency, the number of RF pulses applied per unit time, and the type of configuration of the RF transmitter coil used. The amount of heating also depends upon the volume of tissue imaged, the electrical resistivity of tissue and the configuration of the anatomical region imaged. There are also a number of other variables that depend on the placement in the human body of the AIMD and its associated lead(s). For example, it will make a difference how much EMF is induced into a pacemaker lead system as to whether it is a left or right pectoral implant. In addition, the routing of the lead and the lead length are also very critical as to the amount of induced current and heating that would occur. Also, distal Tip electrode design is very important as the distal Tip electrode itself can act as its own antenna wherein eddy currents can create heating. The RF field of an MRI scanner can produce enough energy to induce lead RF voltages and resulting currents sufficient to destroy some of the adjacent myocardial tissue. Tissue ablation has also been observed. The effects of this heating are not readily detectable by monitoring during the MRI scan. Indications that heating has occurred would include an increase in pacing threshold, venous ablation, Larynx or esophageal ablation, myocardial perforation and lead penetration, or even arrhythmias caused by scar tissue. However, these effects are typically determined some time after the scan is completed. Such long term heating effects of MRI have not been well studied yet for all types of AIMD lead geometries. There can also be localized heating problems associated with various types of electrodes in addition to Tip electrodes. This includes Ring electrodes or Pad electrodes. Ring electrodes are commonly used with a wide variety of implanted devices including cardiac pacemakers, neurostimulators and the like. Pad electrodes are very common in neurostimulator applications. For example, spinal cord stimulators or deep brain stimulators can include a plurality of Pad electrodes to make contact with nerve tissue. A good example of this also occurs in a cochlear implant. In a typical cochlear implant there would be sixteen Ring electrodes placed up into the cochlea. Several of these Ring electrodes make contact with auditory nerves.
Although there are a number of studies that have shown that MRI patients with active implantable medical devices, such as cardiac pacemakers, can be at risk for potential hazardous effects, there are a number of reports in the literature that MRI can be safe for imaging of pacemaker patients when a number of precautions are taken (only when an MRI is thought to be an absolute diagnostic necessity). While these anecdotal reports are of interest, they are certainly not scientifically convincing that all MRI can be safe. For example, just variations in the pacemaker lead length can significantly affect how much heat is generated. A paper entitled, HEATING AROUND INTRAVASCULAR GUIDEWIRES BY RESONATING RF WAVES by Konings, et al., journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Issue 12:79-85 (2000), does an excellent job of explaining how the RF fields from MRI scanners can couple into implanted leads. The paper includes both a theoretical approach and actual temperature measurements. In a worst-case, they measured temperature rises of up to 74 degrees C. after 30 seconds of scanning exposure. The contents of this paper are incorporated herein by reference.
The effect of an MRI system on the function of pacemakers, ICDs, neurostimulators and the like, depends on various factors, including the strength of the static magnetic field, the pulse sequence, the strength of RF field, the anatomic region being imaged, and many other factors. Further complicating this is the fact that each patient's condition and physiology is different and each manufacturer's pacemaker and ICD designs also are designed and behave differently. Most experts still conclude that MRI for the pacemaker patient should not be considered safe.
It is well known that many of the undesirable effects in an implanted lead system from MRI and other medical diagnostic procedures are related to undesirable induced EMFs in the lead system and/or RF currents in its distal Tip (or Ring) electrodes. This can lead to overheating of body tissue at or adjacent to the distal Tip electrode.
Distal Tip electrodes can be unipolar, bipolar and the like. It is very important that excessive current not flow at the interface between the distal Tip electrode and body tissue. In a typical cardiac pacemaker, for example, the distal Tip electrode can be passive or of a screw-in helix type. In any event, it is very important that excessive RF current not flow at this junction between the distal Tip electrode and for example, myocardial or nerve tissue. This is because tissue damage in this area can raise the capture threshold or completely cause loss of capture. For pacemaker dependent patients, this would mean that the pacemaker would no longer be able to pace the heart. This would, of course, be life threatening for a pacemaker dependent patient. For neurostimulator patients, such as deep brain stimulator patients, the ability to have an MRI is equally important.
The most important and most life-threatening item is to be able to control overheating of implanted leads during an MRI procedure. A novel and very effective approach to this is to install parallel resonant inductor and capacitor bandstop filters at or near the distal electrode of implanted leads, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,090, and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. US 2007/0112398 A1; US 2008/0071313 A1; US 2008/0049376 A1; US 2008/0161886 A1; US 2008/0132987 A1; US 2008/0116997 A1; and US 2009/0163980 A1 the contents all of which are incorporated herein. US 2007/0112398 A1 relates generally to L-C bandstop filter assemblies, particularly of the type used in active implantable medical devices (AIMDs) such as cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, neurostimulators and the like, which raise the impedance of internal electronic or related wiring components of the medical device at selected frequencies in order to reduce or eliminate currents induced from undesirable electromagnetic interference (EMI) signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,090 and US 2007/0112398 A1 disclose resonant L-C bandstop filters to be placed at the distal tip and/or at various locations along the medical device leadwires or circuits. These bandstop filters inhibit or prevent current from circulating at selected frequencies of the medical therapeutic device. For example, for an MRI system operating at 1.5 Tesla, the pulsed RF frequency is 63.8 MHz, as shown by the Lamour Equation. The bandstop filter can be designed to resonate at or near 64 MHz and thus create a high impedance (ideally an open circuit) in the lead system at that selected frequency. For example, the bandstop filter, when placed at the distal tip of a pacemaker leadwire, will significantly reduce RF currents from flowing through the distal tip and into body tissue. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that all of the embodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,363,090 are equally applicable to a wide range of other implantable and external medical devices, including deep brain stimulators, spinal cord stimulators, drug pumps, probes, catheters and the like.
Electrically engineering a capacitor in parallel with an inductor is known as a tank circuit or bandstop filter. It is well known that when a near-ideal bandstop filter is at its resonant frequency, it will present a very high impedance. Since MRI equipment produces very large RF pulsed fields operating at discrete frequencies, this is an ideal situation for a specific resonant bandstop filter. Bandstop filters are more efficient for eliminating one single frequency than broadband filters. Because the bandstop filter is targeted at this one frequency, it can be much smaller and volumetrically efficient.
However, a major challenge when designing a bandstop filter for human implant is that it must be very small in size, biocompatible, and highly reliable. Coaxial geometry is preferred. The reason that a coaxial geometry is preferred is that leads are placed at locations in the human body primarily by one of two main methods. The first is guide wire endocardial lead insertion. For example, in a cardiac pacemaker application, a pectoral pocket is created and then the physician makes a small incision and accesses the cephalic or subclavian vein. The endocardial pacemaker leads are stylus guided/routed down through this venous system through the right atrium, through the tricuspid valve and into, for example, the right ventricle. A second primary method of installing leads (particularly for neurostimulators) in the human body is by tunneling. In tunneling, a surgeon uses special tools to tunnel under the skin and through the muscle, for example, up through the neck to access the Vagus nerve or the deep brain. In both techniques, it is very important that the leads and their associated electrodes at the distal tips be very small.
Accordingly, there is a need for a bandstop filter for medical devices, and particularly human implanted devices and components thereof, which is very small in size, biocompatible, and highly reliable. There is also a need for such a bandstop filter which can be placed coaxially relative to a leadwire or electrode of a lead system. The present invention fulfills these needs, and provides other related advantages.
The present invention relates to passive bandstop filter circuits wherein one or more of both inductor (L) and capacitor (C) elements are physically disposed in series but whose equivalent (lumped) LC parameters are electrically connected in parallel. More particularly, the bandstop filter comprises an inductor having first and second conductive terminals in spaced non-conductive relation, and a capacitor having first and second conductive terminals in spaced non-conductive relation, wherein the inductor and the capacitor are physically disposed in series relative to one another, and wherein the inductor and the capacitor are electrically connected to one another in parallel.
In the illustrated embodiments, one of the first or second conductive terminals of the inductor is disposed generally adjacent to one of the first or second conductive terminals of the capacitor. Such an arrangement results in the capacitor and the inductor being aligned along a common axis. In preferred embodiments, the adjacent conductive terminals of the inductor and the capacitor abut one another. However, if the electrical potential of the adjacent surfaces has not been minimized or zeroed, an electrical insulator may be disposed between the adjacent conductive terminals of the inductor and the capacitor.
As illustrated herein, the inductor comprises a chip inductor, and the capacitor comprises a chip capacitor. The second conductive terminal of the inductor is preferably conductively coupled to the first conductive terminal of the capacitor, and the first conductive terminal of the inductor is conductively coupled to the second conductive terminal of the capacitor, all the while the inductor and the capacitor being physically disposed in series relative to one another.
The parallel capacitor and inductor may be disposed in series in an electrical lead or circuit trace. The capacitor and the inductor may be tuned to impede induced current flow through the electrical lead at a selected frequency. Typically, the electrical lead comprises a portion of an implanted lead for a medical device. The electrical lead may include an active fixation tip, wherein the bandstop filter is disposed within the active fixation tip.
The bandstop filter may further comprise a plurality of paired inductors and capacitors, wherein in each paired inductor and capacitor, the inductor and the capacitor are physically disposed in series relative to one another and yet electrically connected to one another in parallel. Each paired inductor and capacitor may further be electrically connected in series to another paired inductor and capacitor.
In another embodiment, the parallel capacitor and inductor are disposed in parallel between two electrical leads or circuit traces. The capacitor and the inductor are tuned to divert induced current flow through the electrical leads except at a selected frequency.
The capacitor and the inductor may be comprised of biocompatible and non-migratable materials. In particular, the inductor, the capacitor, and all associated electrical connections, and support substrates, if any, may comprise biocompatible materials to form a biocompatible package suitable for mammalian implantation. However, when elements of the capacitor and/or the inductor comprise non-biocompatible materials, they may be disposed within a hermetically sealed container. In this case, the hermetically sealed container comprises a biocompatible housing in which the bandstop filter is disposed, and biocompatible first and second conductive contacts extending through the housing which are conductively coupled in series to the bandstop filter. In medical implant applications, the hermetically sealed container may be disposed in series in the electrical lead, and the first and second contacts may be connected to, respectively, first and second portions of the lead. In a related assembly process, a substrate is provided onto which the inductor and the capacitor are fixed in a pre-assembly prior to insertion into the biocompatible housing. The pre-assembly is tested prior to insertion into the biocompatible housing, and after the pre-assembly is inserted into the biocompatible housing, hermetical terminals comprising at least a portion of the first and second conductive contacts are hermetically sealed to the housing.
In several of the illustrated embodiments, the inductor comprises a plurality of inductors which may be conductively coupled to one another either in series or in parallel. However, in accordance with the present invention, the plurality of inductors are physically disposed in series relative to one another. In a similar manner, the capacitor may comprise a plurality of capacitors conductively coupled to one another either in series or in parallel. Again, in accordance with the present invention, the plurality of capacitors is physically disposed in series relative to one another.
The values of the inductor and the capacitor are selected such that the bandstop filter is resonant at a selected frequency. The overall Q of the bandstop filter is selected to balance impedance at the selected frequency versus frequency bandwidth characteristics. This may be accomplished when the Q of the inductor is relatively high and the Q of the capacitor is relatively low, such as when the inductor has a relatively low resistive loss and when the capacitor has a relatively high equivalent series resistance. Alternatively, this may also be accomplished when the Q of the inductor is relatively low and the Q of the capacitor is relatively high, which is accomplished when the inductor has a relatively high resistive loss and the capacitor has a relatively low equivalent series resistance. The selected frequency may comprise an MRI pulsed frequency, and the overall Q of the bandstop filter may be selected to attenuate current flow along a lead or circuit trace through a range of selected frequencies.
The inductor and the capacitor may be mounted on a flexible substrate, which itself may include portions that are wrapped around the capacitor and the inductor during the assembly process. Typically, such a wrapped assembly is disposed within a protective container such as a hermetically sealed biocompatible housing.
In an illustrated embodiment, the inductor is disposed on a first surface of an intermediate substrate, and the capacitor is disposed on a second generally opposite surface of the intermediate substrate. Circuit traces extend through the intermediate substrate and conductively couple the inductor and the capacitor in parallel. Of course, all of the aforementioned assemblies may be formed utilizing robotic manufacturing techniques wherein the inductor and the capacitor are robotically deposited on the substrate. The substrate itself may comprise a multi-layered flex cable
Finally, in yet another illustrated embodiment, the capacitor comprises a feedthrough capacitor and the inductor comprises a chip inductor. In accordance with the present invention, the chip inductor and the feedthrough capacitor are physically disposed in series but the equivalent (lumped) LC parameters are electrically connected in parallel to form a bandstop filter. The chip inductor and the feedthrough capacitor may be disposed within a biocompatible housing; however, in comparison with other embodiments, only a single hermetic seal assembly is required thus reducing costs.
All of the illustrated embodiments are suitable for use with ultra-miniature inductor and capacitor chip components that are mechanically installed in hermetic packages in series, but have electrical circuit traces that put the components electrically in parallel, to form the desired bandstop filter having tank circuit characteristics.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.
The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:
As shown in the accompanying drawings for purposes of illustration, the present invention is directed to miniature inductor and chip components which are physically arranged in series, but electrically connected to one another in parallel to form tank circuits and bandstop filters for impeding or diverting currents induced by electromagnetic interference, for example, in a lead or an electrode of a medical device. Such bandstop filters may be placed electrically in series with an implanted lead or electrode of an active implantable medical device (AIMD), and in a variety of other electronics circuits used in commercial electronics, military, aerospace or other applications, where it may serve as an impeder at certain resonant frequencies. The bandstop filter of the present invention may also be placed electrically in parallel between leads or circuit traces where it may serve as a RF current diverter at the resonant frequency.
Referring to
An RF telemetry pin antenna 122 is also shown which is not electrically connected to the leadwires 106 or the receptacles 116. The RF telemetry pin antenna 122 acts as a short stub antenna for picking up telemetry (programming) signals that are transmitted from the outside of the device 100C.
Although the present invention will be described herein in the context and environment of a cardiac pacemaker 100C and its associated leads 114, the present invention may also be advantageously utilized in many other types of AIMDs as briefly outlined above, as well as in other commercial electronic, military, aerospace and other applications. In the following discussion, to the extent practicable, functionally equivalent components will retain the same or a similar (in increments of 100) reference number, irrespective of the particular embodiment being described.
The Tip electrode 124 is designed to be inserted into intimate contact with myocardial tissue. Over time it becomes encapsulated and fully embedded or buried within such tissue. However, the Ring electrode 126 is designed to float within the blood pool, for example, in the ventricle 118′ or atrium 118. With the constant blood perfusion, the Ring electrode 126 is somewhat cooled during medical diagnostic procedures, such as MRI. However, the Tip electrode 124, which is embedded in the myocardial tissue, is thermally insulated in comparison. Moreover, it can't always be assumed that a Ring electrode 126 that is floating in the blood pool will be adequately cooled by the flow of blood. There are certain types of patients that have cardiovascular diseases that lead to very low blood flow rates and perfusion issues. The Ring electrode 126 can also become encapsulated by body tissues. Accordingly, both the distal Tip electrode 124 and the Ring electrode 126 are preferably both associated with bandstop filters 128 and 128′. However, since the operation of the bandstop filter 128 is more important with the Tip electrode 124 than it is with the Ring electrode 126 in order to prevent distal tip heating and associated tissue damage, in many cardiac applications only a Tip bandstop filter 128 may be required for MRI compatibility.
Attenuation curves 154 or 156 shown in
As mentioned above, for medical implant applications it is very important that the implanted leads and their associated electrodes at the distal tips be very small. It is particularly important that the cross-sections or diameters of the bandstop filters be very small for easy endocardial insertion into the venous system of the human body. The present invention meets these criteria by using a novel combination of components that are mechanically mounted in series, but whose lumped elements are electrically in parallel. The components generally consist of commercial off-the-shelf miniature chip capacitor and inductor components. These are generally manufactured in high volume throughout the world. Accordingly, they are very inexpensive, but more importantly, they are very small in size. By way of example, a few years ago a small sized monolithic chip capacitor (MLCC) would be 0603, meaning that it would be 0.060 inch long by 0.030 inch in width. In comparison, today inductor and capacitor chip components can be purchased as small as 0201 or 01005. This means that they are so small that they literally can fit through a pepper shaker. Human hands cannot possibly handle components this small. Accordingly, micro-robotic manufacturing is the preferred method of manufacturing the novel components assemblies of the present invention, wherein the components typically are delivered on tape and reel and fed into the robots which pick and place the components and then go through a series of steps including additional component placement, wave soldering, cleaning, automatic optical inspection and automated electrical testing. All of this is done in a linear robotic manufacturing operation that is completely or nearly free of human hands. In cardiac rhythm applications (pacemakers and ICDs), a desirable lead size is 6 French (0.079 inches in diameter). For deep brain stimulator applications, an even smaller size is desirable, such as 3 French, which is 1 millimeter in diameter or 0.039 inches. US 2007/0112398 A1 discloses a number of methods of manufacturing novel bandstop filters for placement in the lead systems of active implantable medical devices. The present invention extends these concepts further.
In mammalian implant applications, the bandstop filters of the present invention should be small and placed in series with the implanted lead or electrode of the medical device. In such applications, it is necessary that the bandstop filter itself or a container therefor be biocompatible and highly reliable. Although commercial off-the-shelf capacitor and inductor components are very small in size, arranging them such that they are electrically coupled and likewise physically placed in parallel can increase the size of the bandstop filter where complications can arise in the placement and use of the implanted lead or electrode.
Commercial off-the-shelf capacitor and inductor components are typically not comprised of biocompatible materials.
However, in accordance with the present invention, the inductor and capacitor elements can be constructed to be completely biocompatible. In this case it would be not necessary to place them in a biocompatible hermetic container. This would have great advantages in further reducing both size and cost. In this regard, US 2009/0116167, published May 7, 2009, and US 2009-0259265, published Oct. 15, 2009, are herein incorporated by reference.
With reference to
In the preferred embodiment, the insulator 178 would be a polished sapphire. It would then go through a plasma-etch process, such as a 500 watt plasma-etch, to increase its surface roughness. Titanium lignum metallization would be a preferred sputter material for adhesion and wetting of the associated gold braze pre-forms.
A complete conformal coating 190 over the entire housing 160 may be desirable to provide electrical isolation between the conductive terminal pins 168 and 170. This provides critical performance capability in the event of complete saturation of the housing 160 in saline or biological fluid. See, for example,
It will be appreciated that all of the assemblies illustrated in
As seen best in
This arrangement is diagrammatically illustrated the physical/electrical schematic of
There are particular challenges to designing and assembling components this small. Placing them in a hermetic package is even more challenging. In the present invention, a pre-assembly or subassembly may comprise the circuit traces, the inductor 146 and the capacitor 148 components, and the electrical connections. Then the hermetic seal assemblies 172 and 174 are attached to both ends of this rigid or flexible pre-assembly. This entire assembly is slid into a metallic tube or housing 160 (typically platinum or titanium), and then relatively low energy laser welds are used to make the final hermetic seal. The laser welds generally involve a spot size of 0.005 inches, which limits the amount of heating that's involved. This guarantees that the sensitive internal electrical connections and components will not be damaged.
In a preferred embodiment, the bandstop filters 128 and 128′ will be resonant at two different selective frequencies. For example, the first bandstop filter 128 could have a self resonant frequency at 64 MHz which corresponds with a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine. The second bandstop filter 128′ could be resonant at 128 MHz which is the RF pulsed frequency of a 3 Tesla MRI system. Accordingly, by putting the two bandstop filters in series, the bandstop filter network of
However, the bandstop filters 128 and 128′ can have the same resonant frequency or approximately the same resonant frequencies. The advantage of having two bandstop filters in series with approximately the same resonant frequency is that this increases the attenuation of the overall bandstop filter. By having the resonant frequencies of the bandstop filters 128 and 128′ at slightly different frequencies, the resultant filter has the advantage of broadening the 3 dB bandwidth (see
With reference now to
Accordingly, from all of the foregoing it will be appreciated that the present invention relates to passive bandstop filter circuits wherein one or more of both inductor 146 and capacitor 148 elements are physically disposed in series but whose equivalent (lumped) L-C parameters are electrically connected in parallel. The disclosed embodiments are particularly suitable for applications where it is important to keep the diameter or cross-sectional area of the bandstop filter 128 relatively small as, for example, in medical implanted leads. Providing bandstop filters in such medical implanted leads serves to reduce the amount of radio frequency (RF) current associated heating due to energy deposited on the leads during medical diagnostic procedures, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The bandstop filter 128 may be designed to be resonant at the MRI RF pulsed frequency and thereby present a high impedance in the lead thus reducing RF current flow.
Although several embodiments have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited, except as by the appended claims.
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Dr. Nelson's methods include using advanced chemical techniques and computer-aided analysis to quickly identify the four primary building blocks of DNA, labeled with the letters A, G, C, and T. Every strand of DNA is composed of thousands to millions of these proteins, arranged in a specific order that determines the genetic makeup of each life form.
After sequencing Thermatoga's genome, Nelson and her team began a close analysis, and they were amazed by what they found. Even though Thermatoga has been classified among the bacteria, it also shares many genes with another branch of life, the archae. This was convincing evidence that Thermatoga was very close to the beginning of life on Earth, close to the base of the tree, before the bacteria and archae branches split apart.
The theory that Thermatoga is one of the closest living descendants of the first life on Earth is also supported by the fact that every other species studied so far, including human beings, has some of the exact same DNA found inside Thermatoga. Sections of microbial DNA have survived the evolutionary changes that resulted in human DNA.


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This 1936 Auburn 876 BoatTail Speedster Replica has a 400 C.I. V8 w/ 2BBL Carburetor, C6 Automatic Transmission, Ford 9'' Rear w/ 2.75:1 Ratio,... More
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James D. Rose Arrested, Charged with Two Felony Counts, One Misdemeanor
MADISON — On Friday, February 3, 2012, Special Agents from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), along with law enforcement officers from Berlin Police Department, executed an arrest warrant at the home of James D. Rose in the City of Berlin, in Green Lake County, WI.
James D. Rose, who's formerly of Anchorage, AK, has been charged with one count of Causing Child 13-18 to View Sexual Activity, a felony, and one count of Exposing a Child to Harmful Material, a felony. Rose also has been charged with one count of Sex with a Child Age 16 or Older, a misdemeanor.
The charges are the culmination of two months of investigation surrounding Rose's travel to Berlin, WI, from Anchorage, AK. According to the Criminal Complaint, DCI began investigating after a tip was received from the CyberTipline in November 2011 that Rose was engaged in an online relationship with the victim and that Rose had traveled to Berlin, WI, from Anchorage, AK.
The Berlin Police Department and the Green Lake County Sheriff's Office are affiliates of Wisconsin's ICAC Task Force.
Questions concerning this case should be directed to the Green Lake County District Attorney's Office. A defendant enjoys the presumption of innocence. The prosecution must prove its allegations at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.


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