text:
Brush of the February Blues – Poppyseed and Vanilla Buttercream Cake
Hello fellow bakers – its been a while!
My radio silence is the result of an attempt in our household for some new year healthy eating, and the impending end to my PhD, which has required all my time and energy. However, last weekend I needed a break, I needed a cake, so I decided to bake!
When I was a kid, we lived in Germany. I think this was probably where my love of baked goods started. The cakes in Germany are to die for – all decadence and richness – and poppyseed cake is a classic. this is an extra decedent version – from the lovely Bake by Rachel Allen – with a more complicated that usual butter icing that is essentially a custard mixed with butter, but its worth the extra effort. This cake goes a long way because the icing is super rich, but the poppyseeds give the cake itself a lovely almost savoury, nutty taste, which works beautifully with the sweet icing. Just make sure you use a fresh pack of poppyseeds as stale ones would really spoil it.
CAKE INGREDIENTS: 150g butter (salted if possible, or add a pinch of salt to the mix), 100g caster sugar, 3 beaten eggs, 100g plain flour, 1tsp baking powder, 75g poppyseeds.
- Heat the oven to 170 degrees and grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
- Firstly, you need to make sure your butter is really soft (I give it a very short blast in the microwave), then cream it with the sugar. Keep going until its light and fluffy – it'll change colour and go really pale.
- Keep mixing, and gradually add the eggs – do this really slowly and beat between each addition or it will curdle (although this isn't the end of the world).
- Sift the flour and baking powder together, add the poppyseeds and chuck the whole lot in with the butter mixture. Then use a spoon to stir gently all together.
- Spoon into the tin and flatten out, making a dent in the middle so that the cake rises flat, and bake for 25-30 mins. My cake took 26mins but it depends on your oven.
- Once out of the oven, leave in the tin for 5 minutes to cool and then remove to a cooling rack.
ICING INGREDIENTS: 150ml milk, 100g caster sugar, 2 egg yolks, 175g butter (softened and unsalted), 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.
- Put the milk and sugar in a pan and heat over a medium heat until the sugar is disolved and the milk starts to boil. It should start to thicken a bit and go a bit like syrup. When its reached this stage (5-10 mins) take off the heat and let it cool a bit.
- In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks and once the milk is cooled a little – so the eggs don't scramble – pour the milk over the eggs and keep whisking! Return the mixture to the pan and put it on a low heat and keep stirring. Don't let it boil and keep mixing so it doesn't stick. Within about 10 minutes you'll have a thickening custard. Once you've reached this stage, pour it into a cold bowl/jug and leave to cool.
- In a separate bowl beat the butter until smooth and lightened and add in the vanilla. When the custard is at room temperature, add that to the butter and whisk together.
When the cake and icing are cooled, spread the icing all over the cake, including down the sides. By covering the whole cake, you'll find it keeps quite well and stays moist. You should end up with something that looks like this!
Keep the cake in the fridge and it'll last for about 5 days, although I found it was nice to pop a slice in the microwave for 10 seconds just to warm and soften it up before eating.
Give it a try but remember to check your teeth for poppyseeds before going on any dates!
BB x
Celebrating the Start of Something New: Mini Banoffee Cheesecakes
Happy 2013! It might already be a little late for wishing people a happy new year, but I think its better late than never!
This year will be very exciting for the bandit household – the end of student life, the start of married life and no doubt a whole load of baking adventures in between. However, the next few months are going to be a bit hectic, as I finish my PhD, start work and try and plan our wedding, so there might not be too many posts between now and Easter. To keep you all going, I thought a retrospective post about a little experimental cheesecaking (a new word for a new year) was in order.
Now the first time I made this cake (on New Years Eve) it didn't work entirely to my liking; the bananas weren't quite right. So a week later I tried it again, changing up the banana part and making it in cupcake form. This method would easily work in a normal cheesecake shape as well, and I've included a photo of version 1 to show you what it would look like. The great thing about the mini versions is that they are easily transportable and far less messy – always a good thing with cake!
This recipe is for 12-14 mini cakes. If you would like to make one large cheesecake (in a deep 20cm round tin) you will need to DOUBLE all the quantities.
INGREDIENTS: 8-10 digestive biscuits (you might find you have leftovers), 30g butter, 1 tbsp golden syrup, 300g cream cheese, 50g caster sugar, 1 tbsp plain flour, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 75ml sour cream, 150g white chocolate, 2 very ripe bananas, can of carnation caramel (or equivalent).
- Heat the oven to 160 (fan, centigrade) and get a muffin tray ready with paper liner inserts.
- Put the butter and the golden syrup in a small pan and melt together over a low heat. Meanwhile, either put the biscuits in a freezer bag and beat the living daylights out of them with a rolling pin, or put them in the food processor. If doing the latter, when the butter mixture is melted, add to the food processor and give the whole lot a whizz. Otherwise put it all in a bowl and mix well.
- Line the base of each muffin case with some of the biscuit mixture and press down well. You want a reasonable layer in each case, but not too thick, certainly less than a centimetre. Then pop the tray in the oven for ten minutes. After ten minutes, take the tray out and use the back of a teaspoon to flatten the mixture again (while still warm). Leave to cool and turn the oven down to 140.
- Melt the white chocolate. I do this in 20 second intervals in the microwave but you can use a bowl over a pan of water if you prefer.
- With a mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla until as smooth as possible. Add one and a half of the eggs (but keep the other half – and don't worry about not being too exact), the melted chocolate and sour cream and beat again until really smooth.
- In the food processor whizz up the two bananas, adding in two tbsp of the cream cheese mixture, and the other half of the egg. It will be sloppy but don't worry – it all works out great! NB: If you are making this as one large cake, just mash the bananas with the back of a fork until really mushy and mix in the egg – don't whizz until completely liquid as the cake is too large and it may not set properly. It will still taste exactly the same!
- Take the cooled biscuit bases, and pour a layer of the banana mixture into the base of each case. Don't do this until you're ready to put them in the oven as if you leave it to sit, you'll have a soggy bottom!
- On top of the banana mix, put a full tablespoon of the thick cream cheese mixture. You want the case to be about 3/4 full at this stage, so add a bit more or less depending on the size of your spoon. Don't worry if the banana mixture comes up around the sides, it sorts itself out in the oven. Smooth other the mixture as best you can, but there's no need to be too neat about it.
- Next comes the caramel. I find it best to put the caramel into a bowl and heat in the microwave for about 20 seconds, before beating quite hard with a fork. This gets out all the lumps that form when you use it from cold. Put a generous teaspoon of caramel in the middle of each cake.
- Finally, pop them in the oven for about 25 minutes. You want the tops to be slightly wobbly in the centre (although this can be a bit hard to see through the caramel!), as they finish cooking at they cool, so keep an eye on them and take them out early if they are looking a bit hard. They shouldn't go golden/brown.
- If you are making this as one large cake, I recommend baking without the caramel, and covering the cake onces it has cooled. Alternatively, you could swirl the caramel through the cheesecake mixture before baking. When making a large cake, leave in the tin for about 10 minutes to cool slightly before removing to a plate. Don't leave it to cool completely in the tin, as it will keep on cooking!
The mini cheesecakes can be eaten whenever but if you peel them out of the cases, they look really lovely with the different layers, and would make a great dessert with some ice-cream and hot caramel sauce!
For the full cake version, I didn't take my own advice, and failed to warm the caramel, which is consequently a little on the lumpy side, but nevertheless delicious!
Well my baking friends, back wearing my non-baking, academic 'hat' for the foreseeable future.
See you on the other side…..
BB x
It's Beginning to Taste a lot like Christmas….
Good afternoon folks and welcome to the last post of the year!
This year I've tried to be good about Christmas baking. In other words, I've tried not to go overboard! As Mr Bandit is working away from home at the moment, its just me and the dog at home, and we don't need an excess of biscuits! However, I couldn't go completely without. I love the smells and tastes of Christmas baking. Whilst I like chocolate and caramel as much as the next person, my favourite flavours are those warm, spicey tastes that come with baking at this time of year. I really wanted to try and make pfeffernusse, which have been a firm favourite since I was about 5 (known in my family as knee biscuits – I'll leave you to work out why!), but I haven't found a recipe I like enough to share. Instead, I thought I'd offer up two contrasting tastes of winter. The first I don't find very Christmassy at all, but I'm told they are all the rage across the pond. The second I consider proper Christmas fare, full of spice and all things nice….
PECAN TASSIES – A Taste of America
The other day I wanted to make something quick and simple that gave a flavour of the holiday season but without the time and faff that most of my staple Christmas recipes take. These are wonderfully light, sweet and delicious. Don't have too many though or you'll feel a bit sick! Also do not fear at the sight of making 'pastry' – it isn't really pastry at all and is very simple. (adapted from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com)
Pastry Ingredients: 50g pecans, 50g soft cheese, 50g soft butter, 50g plain flour and a bit extra for dusting.
Filling Ingredients: 90g pecans, 1 egg yolk, 50g light brown sugar, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp butter (melted).
- For the pastry, put the pecans in the food processor and whizz as small as they'll go. Then throw in the other ingredients and mix until combined. The 'pastry' will be quite sticky and thick – not pastry like at all!
- Scrape the mixture out onto a work surface (make sure it and your hands are flour dusted) and divide the mix into 12 equal sized balls.
- Get a fairy cake tin, or another small bun tin. Then drop a ball of pastry into each hole. Use your fingers to push the mix up the sides of the tin to form little bowl shapes. Its easy to manoeuvre but don't spread it too thin or there will be holes. Mine didn't come all the way up the sides of the tin and that's okay.
- Put this in the fridge while you get the filling ready and preheat the oven to 160 (fan).
- For the filling, dry fry the pecans on a low heat until they warm and crisp a little. You'll know they're done when they start to release some oil and smell good!
- Pick out 12 good looking pecans, and chop the rest up roughly.
- combine the chopped pecans and the rest of the ingredients until well mixed.
- Put the pastry cases in the oven for 5 minutes. When you take them out some might have gone a bit puffy, but just use the back of a spoon to press them down. Don't use your fingers – these are fragile at this stage and you'll go through it.
- Spoon the filling mix evenly between the cases and top each one with a whole pecan and a sprinkling of sea salt (optional).
- Bake for 15-20 mins.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes before taking them out the tin but I do recommend you take them out whilst still warm, and leave them to cool completely on a rack. When cold the sugary filling will go hard where it has spilled onto the tray and they will be difficult to extract in one piece.
I do like these, and I'll certainly make them again, but they just aren't at all festive to me. There's too much sweet and not enough spice, not enough of the smells of the season. So, my baking needs left unsatisfied, I moved on to a classic….
SUGAR AND SPICE GINGER BISCUITS: A taste of Winter
I make these every year. They are so unbelievably simple, can be adapted to your tastes and are the essence of festive cooking. They double up as tree decorations if you fancy (although not in our house as dog + tree biscuits would equal disaster!). Also a brilliant way to pass the time with kids, who will particularly love the decorating part! (adapted from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com)
Ingredients: 140g butter, 100 dark muscovado sugar (although a lighter brown sugar would work), 350g plain flour, 3 tbsp golden syrup (or you can use 2 of golden syrup and one of treacle for some extra punch), 1 tsp of bicarb, 1 ball of stem ginger, 2 tsp of ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp of ground all spice.
- Heat the oven to 180 (fan) and get two baking trays ready with baking paper on them.
- Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan over a low heat and melt together.
- In a large bowl sieve the flour, bicarb and spices. The spices quantities are a guide – go with what you like!
- Stir the chopped stem ginger into the melted mixture, allow it to cool a little and then pour into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Mix thoroughly until it forms a stiff dough.
Strangely, the trickiest bit is cutting out the shapes! This dough is fragile at this stage. A top tip is to break off a section of dough and roll it out directly onto the baking tray. Using cutters of your choice, cut out biscuits to any shape you fancy and remove the excess from around them. If you are making smaller shapes this mix can make as many as 40 biscuits. I bake 4 trays worth in total.
- Bake for 10 minutes. When you remove them from the oven they'll still be soft, so wait a minute for them to cool and harden before you remove them to a cooling rack.
There's no need to decorate these – they are lovely as they are! However, I decided to decorate these simply with a little fondant icing. Just follow the packet instructions to get a thick but liquid consistency. Pop it in a pipping bag and away you go! I kept it very simple but you can use different colours, glitter, whatever!
The smell around the house while these are baking is divine, and they just look properly festive. So apologies to our American cousins but these win every time!
I hope everyone has a wonderfully festive time over the next few weeks. Bake and be merry my friends!
BB x
The Multi-Tasking Cake: Amaretti and Apricot Cake
Sometimes you want a cake to celebrate a special occasion and sometimes you need a dessert at the end of a celebratory meal – so why not make something that covers all bases? This Amaretti and Apricot cake fulfilled both tasks at a recent family celebration, and the leftovers made an excellent accompaniment to brunch the following morning!
This cake is moist and sweet, and with the addition of some stewed fruit, maybe some cream or even a dollop of vanilla ice cream, is transformed into something heavenly to end a meal with. It also feeds about ten people, so is perfect for a large gathering. Best of all, it is a really easy cake to make!
This recipe is adapted from http://www.bbcgoodfood.co.uk
INGREDIENTS: 200g butter or Stork (I used the latter as this cake needed to be dairy-free), 200g caster sugar, 200g self raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 4 large eggs, 1tsp almond essence, 410g can of apricot halves, 120g amaretti biscuits (for anyone else wanting to make this dairy free, check the ingredients of the amaretti biscuits – some include milk powder but good ones shouldn't).
- Heat the oven to 160 (fan) and butter and line a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
- Cream the butter and sugar and then mix in the flour and baking powder. It will be quite thick at this stage.
- Add in the eggs one at a time. I suggest breaking them into a smaller bowl first, just to make sure you don't get a dud one!
- Add the almond essence and mix it all quite hard – it should be smooth and creamy and a bit fluffy.
- Take a quarter of the mixture and set it aside.
- Drain the apricots and chop them up roughly, then add them to the larger portion of cake batter.
- Bash the amaretti biscuits into chunky pieces. Add 1/4 of the pieces to the apricot batter.
- Put the apricot batter into the tin and smooth over. Pop it in the oven for 25 minutes.
- While the cake is in the oven, add half of the remaining crushed amaretti biscuits to the remaining portion of batter.
- When the cake has had 25 minutes in the oven, take it out and quickly spread the remainder of the batter over the top. It is easiest to dollop on blobs of the mixture and then work them together. Do this quickly though so that the cake doesn't sink.
- Sprinkle the remaining amaretti crumbs on top of the cake and pop back in the oven for another 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Your finished cake should be two-tone, with a lighter crust from the late addition of the second batch of batter. The top layer had an almond-y crunch and the bottom layer is full of moist fruit.
This was such a winner I think it is going to become a dinner party staple!
Some alternative ideas could include:
- For more of a pudding feel, save half the apricots and pop the whole halves on the top with the second batch of batter so that they form little igloos on the top of the cake.
- Toast some almonds and sprinkle them over the top
- Sprinkle the top with a mixture of icing sugar and gold glitter for a real wow-factor effect.
I hope you enjoy this little gem of a recipe!
Its nearly Christmas folks, so I'll try and get in a recipe for the holiday season before the end of the year – if anyone has any requests let me know!
Bake well my friends,
BB x
Celebration Cake Part Three: The Icing on the Cake!
Phew – the posts are coming thick and fast, but I knew I'd be leaving you all on a cliffhanger if I didn't blog about the final result!
In the last two posts I talked about making my gran's 80th birthday cake, and making the passion fruit curd to fill it with. In this post, I'll show you how to (really easily) make the buttercream icing and put it all together. The only ingredients at this stage are for the icing and decoration, and there are only three of them!
INGREDIENTS: 750g icing sugar, 375g soft unsalted butter, 100g white chocolate. ('Happy Birthday' candles are optional)
- Make sure the butter is soft and use a hand mixer to blend it a bit in a big bowl. You might find it easier to do this icing half at a time, as moving this much butter around is tough on the old arms!
- Once the softened butter is mushed a bit, add the icing sugar a little at a time, using the beaters to mix it into the butter after each addition. Don't be tempted to put it all in at once, you'll create an icing sugar cloud, sneeze a lot and make a very big mess.
- When all the icing sugar is mixed in, beat until completely smooth and soft.
- That's it! You can add a splash of vanilla essence, a hit of lemon zest or anything else that takes your fancy, but this is the basic ratio of butter/sugar for buttercream icing.
- Cut each cake horizontally through the middle (its easiest with a serrated knife) and spread a thick layer of the passion fruit curd over the bottom layer of each cake.
- Then spread a layer of buttercream over the curd. It doesn't matter if they mix a little bit, it's going to be covered.
- Put the top of the cakes back on their bases.
- The larger cake will be your bottom layer. Its easier to pop it on your serving plate/stand before you start icing the exterior, so do that now. I also placed the bottom cake upside down, so that I had a very flat surface to place the next cake onto. It doesn't matter if the base is a little wonky as you can hide that with icing, although it shouldn't be too bad if you flattened the top as suggested in part one.
- Buttercream the top of the bigger cake and then place the sandwiched smaller cake on top. Try and get it central.
- Now buttercream the top of the smaller cake, then go round the sides of both cakes, making sure they are completely covered.
- TIP: If the butter wasn't quite soft enough and you're still finding the buttercream a bit hard (this can make it tricky when doing the sides) add a tiny splash of boiling water and beat into the mixture. That will soften it nicely but will allow it to harden again when it cools.
- Make sure you fill in any gaps between the two cakes, and any gaps at the bottom. A good idea is to use palette knife once the whole cake is covered. Dip it in hot water and then run it along the sides to create smooth edged and a smooth top.
- To finish it off, melt the white chocolate in the microwave, or over a pan of simmering water if you prefer. While this is melting, get a sheet of baking paper, and place on a tray.
- Once the chocolate is melted, pour into a piping bag with a pinpoint round nozzle – the sort you'd use for writing letters.
- Decide on a shape and then pipe outlines onto the baking paper, followed by some patterns inside the shape to connect all the edges (for stability). I went for tall triangles and filled the insides with zigzags.
- Pop the tray into the fridge until the chocolate has set. The pieces will then come away from the paper really easily.
- How you use them is up to you. I used my tall shapes to stand on the lip between the two cake layers, but they'd also look great forming a sort of teepee on top if you didn't have candles.
So there you have it. Quite simple really, but very effective. Other ideas could include using milk chocolate for the decorations as a contrast, different colours of icing for each layer or even ombre icing if you were feeling really adventurous!
If you are looking to feed a crowd this is a great cake. By the time we served it everyone (40 plus people) had eaten a lot of food, so we cut it into small squares, like you'd get at a wedding. It probably would have fed twice as many people and several people went home with a chunk! This can also be iced the day before, covered in clingfilm and left somewhere cool. So if you have a big party to plan, you can get this done ahead.
There will now be a short break for the baking bandit. Quite a lot to do in the next few weeks. But its my dad's birthday at the end of the month and we're having another party, so I'm sure there will be another cake.
Most importantly – a good wedding cake? I am just looking for something small and white to cut, and some of our friends will hopefully provide a few extra cakes so that we can feed everyone.
Sweetness and that fuzzy 'too much sugar on my teeth' feeling to you all,
BB x
Celebration Cake Part 2: The (Passion Fruit) Filling
Hello all and happy Monday!
Well the party was a great success, the birthday cake applauded and everyone had a wonderful time. I have to pay special homage to my cousin's wonderful chocolate cheesecake, which was my personal favourite of the dessert table! Now that I'm back home, back to work (boo!) I thought I'd update the blog with two posts to complete this celebration cake bonanza.
Once the cakes from part 1 are ready to go, you need a filling. Now previous posts about the joys of lemon curd hint at my favoured cake filling, but I wanted something that was a little more exotic for a special occasion. Passion fruit always make me think of my grandparents. My granddad is South African, my grandparents lived there for a bit in the 1950s and the flavours of the southern hemisphere were always present in their house – or at least in their fruitbowl! So what better way to fill my grandma's birthday cake.
Passion fruit curd adds an exotic zing of sweet and sharp and works well with the lemons in the cake and the sweetness of the icing. This recipe is adapted from the ever trusty and reliable bbc goodfood.
INGREDIENTS: 9 ripe passion fruit, 3 large eggs, 140g butter, 200-250g caster sugar, 2 1/2 tablespoons cornflour, a few squirts of lemon juice to taste.
TIP: The passion fruits must be ripe to get the right sweet/sour balance, so you might want to buy them about a week before you plan to use them. The wrinklier the better – a smooth skin is an under-done fruit!
- Cut the passion fruits in half and scrape all the seeds and pulp into a food processor. Pulse it a few times, which will separate the pulp from the pips. Then pour the mixture through a sieve into a saucepan set over a low heat. Use the back of a spoon to push as much of the pulp through the sieve as possible.
- PIPS OR NO PIPS? Now, at this point, most recipes I came across suggested reserving a few spoons of pips to put back in at the end. I'm not a fan of this personally, but you can do if you fancy. Pip look nice in a jar of homemade curd given as a present, but they are a tasteless and crunchy annoyance that is most likely going to get stuck in your teeth. As this curd was going into a cake (where you most certainly don't want a crunch annoyance) I didn't bother.
- Add the butter, cornflour, eggs and sugar to the pan and continue to stir over a low heat until everything is fully dissolved/melted.
- TIP: The reason I've given a range on the quantity of sugar is because it's all about taste. If your fruits are still a bit too sharp you'll need more sugar, if they are very sweet, you'll need less. If you are unsure use about 225g and then use the lemon juice to adjust the taste.
- When everything is dissolved and you have a smooth mixture you need to keep on mixing. Don't be tempted to turn up the heat to get it all thickening quicker. All you will make that way is scrambled egg. Keep mixing, remembering to scrape along the edges of the pan, and after up to 10 minutes (maybe more!) your mixture will thicken nicely.
- TIP: If you are making this curd to spread on toast, or stir into porridge, you might want a runnier consistency than I needed for filling a cake, so use 1/2 tablespoon less of cornflour.
- While it is thickening taste it. If you think it's too sweet, use some lemon juice (a dribble at a time) to balance it out. If it's too sharp use a little more sugar but make sure it dissolves. Don't be tempted to squeeze in a whole lemon straight away – it's a strong flavour which will take away the passion fruit taste.
- When its a good thick curdy consistency, take it off the heat. Unless you are going to use it immediately, when it has cooled decant into jars (remember to sterilise them!) and it will keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks.
And there you have it! An exotic but homely passion fruit curd all ready to be spread in a cake, or eat on toast, in yoghurt… the possibilities are endless!
Happy stirring!
BB x
Celebration Cake Part One: The Cake
My lovely old gran (oooh she'd hate that description) is turning 80 this weekend. We're having a big old shin-dig in her honour, which wouldn't be a proper party without a whole heap of food. My cousins and I have been tasked with providing dessert, and I'll be making the birthday cake. This is a bit of an epic cake build (yes, I used the word build) so I'll be posting it in three parts, all of which are useful separately for different things. This first part is about the actual cake.
After much debate, I decided on a Madeira cake. I wanted something with a spongey texture and a certain lightness, but I also needed something that could be made ahead, and sponge cakes don't last well. So whilst Madeira cake isn't quite as light, its ability to last a week or so in the fridge made the decision. Madeira cake is denser than sponge, so it also cuts better, which is especially good when you want a cake to slice into lots of small pieces without crumbling.
I decided to make both cakes needed at the same time, but I don't recommend this unless you have very strong arms or a stand alone mixer! Its a lot of mix for one bowl.
20cm Cake Ingredients: 250g butter, 250g caster sugar, 5 eggs, 185g plain flour, 60g self raising flour, 1 tbsp milk, zest of a lemon
23cm Cake Ingredients: 310g butter, 310g caster sugar, 6 eggs, 230g plain flour, 75g self raising flour, 2 tbsp milk, zest of 2 lemons.
- Heat the oven to 150 degrees
- Make sure the butter is a room temperature and beat together with the sugar.
- Beat the eggs into the mix one at a time. I find it better to break them into a bowl first (as in the picture above) so that you don't end up putting a bad egg in your mix.
- Once all the eggs are in, sift in the flour and stir, but don't beat out all the air that you've just put in.
- Stir in the milk and lemon zest.
- Prepare the tin: You need to line the sides and the base as its a relatively long bake and you don't want it to burn or get too dark.
- When the oven is at the right temperature, pop the bigger one in for 1 hour and 30, and then check but it will probably need about another ten minutes. The smaller cake will take about 10-15 minutes less, but again just keep an eye on them. Make sure they are cooked through, but don't let them get too dark.
- Once they are cooked, pop on a cooling rack, but leave in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out.
When the cakes are completely cool, you might need to give them a bit of a haircut. Mine came out having risen rather violently, and if you want to stack them, they will need flat tops.
Don't worry if it looks a bit dramatic once you've trimmed it, because you'll cover it with icing. If you don't intend to ice it, there's no need to chop its head off!
The final stage of cake preparation is to pour a lemon syrup over the cakes. For this, mix lemon juice and sugar to taste (I like it very lemony but some prefer it sweet) and put over a low heat until the sugar is disolved.
Use a skewer and poke holes all over the cakes but don't do too many or your cake will fall apart! sprinkle the mixture over the cakes but don't overdo it, as you don't want to oversaturate the cake. You want to try and do this while the cake is still warm, as the mixture will soak in better.
When the cake has cooled, wrap in cling film and then in foil. The cakes will last about ten days in the fridge.
In the next post, I'll blog about the passion fruit curd filling…. yummy!
Bake well my friends
BB x
Sweet and Spice: Ginger Flapjacks with Salted Fudgey Icing
A few weeks ago a friend of mine called me up and asked if I fancied going to the Gallery of Modern Art here in Edinburgh. Now, anyone who knows me knows that this is code for 'let's go eat some cake!'. The National Galleries of Scotland do a mean scone, but on this occasion I had a ginger flapjack. It was immense (both in size and taste) and I decided that this was something worth recreating. However, the original was a bit hard, so I was after a slightly less chewy, possibly a bit more nutty, flapjack base, and a topping with a bit more of a kick to combat the sweetness of the golden syrup. Then last week a found a recipe for something that looked vaguely similar, and decided to recreate that amazing gingery-sticky-gooey moment of goodness. This is adapted from a GoodFood recipe.
INGREDIENTS: 350g butter (sadly that is not a typo – quite literally not for the faint hearted), 200g light muscavado sugar, 5tbsp golden syrup, 250g rolled oats (porridge oats are fine), 140g plain flour, 50g pecans chopped into small pieces, 50g desiccated coconut, 1tsp of ground ginger.
- Turn on the oven, set it to 180 (fan) and grease and line a tin. I used one that is about 25cm squared and the flapjacks are quite deep, so you could easily use a bigger tin and make smaller pieces.
- The great thing about flapjacks is that they are the baking equivalent of one pot cooking! So start by putting the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan over a gentle heat. Don't be tempted to turn up the heat to speed the process – you'll just get a burnt mess.
- Once the butter is melted give it another minute so that the sugar is totally dissolved, then add in the flour. At this point I make sure hob is on the lowest setting – you want the flour to mix in and cook a bit but you don't want anything to burn or stick. Give it a couple of really big stirs.
- Mix in all the other ingredients. Turn off the heat and stir until everything is really thoroughly combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Its quite runny for a flapjack mix but don't worry – it'll all sort itself out!
- Pop into the oven for 35 mins. It'll still be really wobbly when you take it out, but as it cools will set hard. Leave it in the tin.
You don't need to wait for it to cool to ice it, so once you've removed the tin from the oven get going on the icing.
INGREDIENTS FOR ICING: 175g butter (basically two packs of butter for the whole recipe), 200g icing sugar, 4tbsp golden syrup, ginger to taste (I used 4 heaped teaspoons but I like it quite strong), maldon salt flakes and whole pecans to decorate.
- Put the icing sugar, butter, golden syrup and ginger in a pan and slowly melt over a low heat. If you aren't sure how gingery you want it to be, put 3tsp of ginger in, stir it through and then taste before deciding whether or not to add more. 4tsp makes for quite a gingery kick.
- Pour the icing over the flapjack (still in the tin) and let it all cool down together.
- While it is still warm sprinkle over the salt flakes. Don't overdo it but you want enough to balance out the sweetness of the icing.
- Work out how many squares you are able to cut it into, and pop a pecan in the middle of each one. This is really sweet, so I suggest small portions. The pecans look pretty and make it easier to cut as they offer up a guide! I made 16 squares.
Once you have cut up your portions you can pop them in the fridge to harden up the icing, but make sure you take them out at least 15 mins before you want to eat them so that they aren't as hard as rocks! You can also keep them in an airtight container out of the fridge and they will last quite happily for about 3-4 days.
In the end, I think these were actually better than the ones in the gallery cafe as they were slightly less chewy and had a better depth of flavour. Anyone else like a bit of spice or salt with their sweet?
Happy baking my fellow bandits,
BB x
That Autumnal Feeling: Pear, Chocolate and Nut Cake
Good evening lovely readers!
Today has made me feel really ready for autumn – a long wet dog walk followed by some steaming tomato soup to warm up! This was followed by an afternoon of clearing out the baking cupboard, which turned up an abundance of nuts that needing using up. So using a recipe from the BBC GoodFood magazine, and adapting it to what was in the kitchen cupboards, here's a nice seasonal cake that packs a punch of autumn-y flavours.
I have two things to apologise for. Firstly, although this cake is lovely and moist and will keep for a few days because of all the nuts, it does have rather a lot of ingredients though so you will need to be prepared! Secondly, I discovered Instagram this week (behind the times I know!) so the blog is getting even more retro!
Here's what you need…..
INGREDIENTS: 250g melted butter, 250g caster sugar, 100g self raising flour, 50g plain flour, 100g ground almonds, 1tsp baking powder, 2tsp mixed spice, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 200g mixed chop nuts (I used 50g each of walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios all whizzed up in the food processor), 100g chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips, 3 large eggs, 1tsp almond extract, a tin of pears, butterscotch chips (optional).
- Heat the oven to 160 (fan oven) and butter and line a 23cm loose based cake tin (this is really important because this is a slow bake and will burn at the edges without lining the tin).
- Mix the sugar, flours, ground almonds, baking powder and spices in a bowl, then add in most of the nuts (leave a few tablespoons aside for topping the cake later) and the chopped chocolate.
- In another bowl, whisk the eggs, almond extract and melted butter until it thickens and foams.
- Tip the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together. At this point I got a bit excited about all the things that could go into this cake and threw in a handful of butterscotch chips, but these are an added extra only and not vital.
- Chop the pears into chunks and fold through the cake mixture. You can use fresh pears if you want, but the ones in the tin are very soft and add a good moist texture to the cake. So if you are going to use fresh pears, make sure they are really ripe.
- Pop the mixture into a tin and bake for 45 minutes. Then cover the tin with tinfoil and bake for another 30 minutes.
- Take out the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn out onto a rack.
It should look golden but not too coloured….
Once its cooled, you're ready for icing.
INGREDIENTS: You'll need 200g chocolate (I used 150g milk and 50g dark), a 300ml pot of sour cream and the leftover nuts.
- Melt the chocolate slowly – I did it in bursts in the microwave but you can do it in a bowl over a pan of water if you prefer.
- Mix the sour cream into the chocolate and beat until smooth.
- Then pop the bowl of icing into the fridge until it thickens up enough to spread without flying everywhere. I was too impatient so my icing was a little runny. You could even leave it in the fridge overnight and spread it the next day.
- Once iced, just sprinkle with the remaining nuts, et voila!
As well as being a great teatime treat, this would make a great dessert. In fact, that's what we had for pudding this evening – still warm with runny icing and a blob of natural yoghurt….
So rather than being sad at the passing of summer (did it even make an appearance?!), let us celebrate the start of autumn!
Happy baking my friends,
BB x
Pedal Power!!: Flapjacks on the Move
Good evening my fellow bakers! Autumn has more definitely arrived here in Edinburgh, although we've been lucky enough to have some glorious autumn sun the last few days – long may it last! At least autumn heralds the return of comfort food – and baking!
While I've pottered about the house the last two days, Mr. Bandit has been pedalling around the north of England. Before he went on his merry way, I made some flapjacks for all the boys taking part, to keep them going as they cycled along. These are utterly delicious sweet treats for any time, but have the added bonus of the slow-release energy of the oats, dried fruit and nuts, and are quite robust – a good thing in a cycling jacket pocket! This recipe has been modified from the BBC Goodfood website:
You will need: 140g unsalted butter, 120g soft brown sugar, 3tbsp of golden syrup (or honey if you prefer), 175g porridge oats, 75g pistachios (shelled and unsalted), 140g dried apricots chopped into little pieces, packet of white chocolate drops (from the baking section of the supermarket – you can use buttons or half a bar of white chocolate if that's easier).
- Start by melting the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a pan. Keep the heat low and make sure that the sugar is totally disolved. Don't let it start bubbling or you'll end up with a very sticky pan!
- While that's going on, chop up the nuts and mix with all the other ingredients in a heatproof bowl. It looks lovely even like this!
- Once the mixture in the pan is completely melted, let is cool a little, then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. It'll be very stiff, but make sure it's all mixed in properly.
- Then spoon into a lined 20x20cm tin, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Pop in the oven at 140/160 degrees for 35 minutes.
- When you take it out the oven it will be runny, so don't try and take it out the tin. Leave it to cool completely, then remove from the tin and cut into pieces. I went for nine good-sized portions.
These are quite sweet, and would be just as nice without the white chocolate if you prefer something less tooth-decay inducing! If you leave out the chocolate, up the sugar a little bit to 140g.
I also made some bourbon biscuits (so much better than shop bought!) which would be equally good for an energy boosting snack on the move. Don't they look scrummy?
My next baking experiment will be a biggy – its my grandma's 80th birthday and I'm making the birthday cake! I feel I better do a test run, so I'm going to use it as an excuse to make a scaled-down version of the lemon wedding cake I want to use. Two birds…one stone… you get the idea! So cross your spoons and wish me luck!
BB x


text:
DeCotiis attorneys provide counsel and representation to banks, credit unions and other financial services entities in legal, transactional and business matters. Based on their extensive experience in the banking and finance industries, our attorneys provide expert advice and craft innovative solutions to virtually any situation clients encounter in this rapidly changing industry.
Our services range from providing focused, situation-specific counsel with respect to discrete issues to providing comprehensive legal support across the full range of a client's activities. Further, our attorneys are recognized experts in the regulatory and administrative fields, which have a profound impact on the operation of any financial services entity. This insight enables our attorneys to help our clients achieve their business goals efficiently and effectively.
The financial services industry is undergoing a profound, even wrenching transformation. In this environment, there is no substitute for experienced, pragmatic legal counsel. The attorneys of DeCotiis provide the knowledge, judgment and perspective to help our clients manage the legal challenges they face today, and will face tomorrow.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Posted on 07 December 2015 by WNST Audio
Comments Off on Jim Brandstatter talks the improvements of the 2015 Michigan football team
Posted on 02 December 2015 by WNST Staff
Comments Off on Maryland hires Michigan's D.J. Durkin as head coach
Posted on 17 November 2014 by Luke Jones
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Returning from their latest bye since the 2001 season, the Ravens hope a week of rest is the perfect tonic to propel them to the postseason for the sixth time in seven years under head coach John Harbaugh.
At 6-4, Baltimore finds itself in the thick of the AFC playoff race, but next Monday's trip to New Orleans will be a challenge for a team that's just 2-3 on the road in 2014. Harbaugh hopes the late-season bye will allow the Ravens to finish strong as four of their final six games come against teams with records of .500 or better and that's not including the 4-6 Saints who possess the NFL's second-ranked offense.
"We're going to have our hands full, and we better be ready to go," Harbaugh said. "I like to believe that our guys understand that, but we'll find out Monday night. I believe they do understand that."
Players were off Tuesday through Sunday while Harbaugh gave his assistant coaches Thursday through Sunday to recharge for the final six games of the regular season. The Ravens are 5-1 in games returning from their bye week in the Harbaugh era and have won 10 of their last 12 post-bye games since the 2002 season.
Harbaugh hopes history is on their side as well as the benefit of a later bye as the Ravens are currently chasing first-place Cincinnati, who improved to 6-3-1 with an impressive win over the Saints on Sunday. Baltimore ranked ninth in the AFC playoff chase as a result of Pittsburgh's Monday night win to conclude Week 11.
"You don't realize how exhausted you are until you get a chance to take a deep breath and relax," Harbaugh said. "The next thing you know, you're like, 'Wow, this has really been helpful.' Everybody gets a bye week. We had ours this week, and we hope to make the most of it going forward for the rest of the season."
Harbaugh doesn't question penalty for Coffman
Asked about the NFL's decision to fine Chase Coffman $30,000 for his malicious sideline hit on assistant coach Tony Coaxum in Week 10, Harbaugh chose to take the high road about the league not suspending the Tennessee Titans tight end.
The Ravens coach said he was told the collision wasn't intentional, but it's no secret that the organization was very unhappy about what happened late in the fourth quarter of the 21-7 win over Tennessee. Coaxum was not injured, but the FOX Sports video below leaves little debate about Coffman's conduct.
"It's really difficult to have a response to the level of punishment," Harbaugh said. "I know the league has protocols, and they have standards and histories and things like that that they look really hard at. We don't ever really question that part of it. That's in their purview."
Ravens wanted to keep Sunday night star Gray
Former practice squad running back Jonas Gray became the toast of the NFL Sunday night with his 199-yard, four-touchdown performance in the New England Patriots' 42-20 win over Indianapolis.
Gray spent the 2013 regular season on the Ravens' practice squad before electing to sign a reserve-futures contract with New England last offseason. Asked about the Michigan native rushing for a single-game high in the NFL this season, Harbaugh mentioned their respective in-state ties as a springboard to a good relationship, even mentioning that Gray's mom brought food to the team during their Week 15 game in Detroit last December.
"We were disappointed to lose Jonas last year when we lost him. We really thought he had a lot of upside," Harbaugh said. "He felt like that was an opportunity that he wanted to pursue, and obviously, it's paid off for him. I wish him nothing but the best, but I was happy for him [Sunday] night to see him do that. That was great to see."
Of course, no one could have predicted Gray's breakout performance as even New England stashed him on the practice squad for a large portion of this season, but you do wonder if the Ravens regret not giving him a look last season while they were experiencing such drastic woes with the running game.
Conflicted coach
Harbaugh's strong ties to the University of Michigan are no secret, making for a fun moment Monday when he was asked to predict the winner of this Saturday's Maryland-Michigan game in Ann Arbor.
Neither team is exactly fighting for a Big Ten title this year as there has been plenty of debate about the future of Wolverines head coach Brady Hoke. Harbaugh paused and smiled before providing his answer to the question about who would prevail.
"May the best team win," he said while laughing. "How's that?"
Practice squad changes (again)
The Ravens made their latest change to their practice squad Monday, signing tight end Allen Reisner and cutting tight end Emmanuel Ogbuehi.
Reisner is in his fourth NFL season and has spent time with Jacksonville, Minnesota, and New England. He has registered seven catches for 58 yards in 15 career games split between the Jaguars and Vikings.
Comments Off on Harbaugh, Ravens feeling refreshed returning from bye
Posted on 29 September 2014 by Luke Jones
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — As Baltimore fans watched the Ravens improve to 3-1 with a 38-10 thumping of the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, a report stated the University of Michigan could be targeting the services of head coach John Harbaugh.
With the Wolverines off to a disappointing 2-3 start and current head coach Brady Hoke's status in severe doubt, the NFL Network reported that the program prefers the Ravens coach over younger brother and 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, whose future in San Francisco remains uncertain beyond this season. This isn't the first time the Harbaugh brothers have been linked to the Michigan football program as John graduated from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor and Jim played quarterback for the Wolverines before going on to play in the NFL.
Their father, Jack Harbaugh, served as an assistant under legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler in the 1970s.
According to The Sun, John Harbaugh is not interested in the job, but the head coach did not go out of his way to confirm or deny potential interest when asked Monday about once again being linked to Michigan. In addition to being under contract as one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL through the 2017 season, Harbaugh has remained close with Hoke after they coached together at Western Michigan in the mid-1980s.
"It seems like it's kind of there. I don't really know why," said Harbaugh about being linked to Michigan. "Brady Hoke's a guy that we believe in. The Harbaughs believe in Brady Hoke. He's a great coach; he's done it anywhere he's ever been. He believes in Michigan. I believe in what they're doing there. I think they're going to get it turned around."
Former Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison has served in the same capacity under Hoke since 2011, another link between the two. Rumors have also persisted that Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon could be on his way out, which would certainly complicate any potential search for a new head football coach in Ann Arbor.
On Saturday, the Wolverines fell to Minnesota for just the third time since 1967. This season marks the first time in its 135-year football history that Michigan has sustained three losses before the start of October.
"The team should be galvanized right now," said Harbaugh, who has a 65-35 regular-season record in seven NFL seasons and guided the Ravens to a win in Super Bowl XLVII. "I would expect them to come out like a bunch of wounded lions and go to work, because they love Brady and they love those coaches. They've just got to [play]. I'm interested in Brady Hoke being the coach at Michigan for a long time to come."
Webb's status still mystery
Even though he didn't appear on the injury report last week for the first time all season, cornerback Lardarius Webb was ruled inactive prior to the 38-10 win over the Carolina Panthers, creating even more uncertainty regarding his status.
Harbaugh acknowledged Webb's struggles against Cleveland played a major role in deciding he still wasn't ready to rejoin the Ravens' starting defense. The head coach is hopeful that changes this Sunday as Baltimore travels to Indianapolis to take on the 2-2 Colts.
"I'll probably have a pretty good idea after watching practice," Harbaugh said about Webb's status for Week 5. "I probably won't let anybody know until Sunday. But it will be based on how he practices and how he looks in terms of getting his acceleration and his burst back — the things that everybody saw that weren't quite there."
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees continues to use strong safety Matt Elam in the nickel position, but rookie Terrence Brooks saw extensive action with 32 defensive snaps playing free safety in the nickel package against the Panthers. The 2014 third-round pick was inactive in Week 3 but fared well against Carolina, according to the head coach.
Harbaugh said the health of Webb's back is no longer a concern after the cornerback didn't practice from July 25 through the end of training camp.
"They tell me that he's healthy now, and he says he feels healthy," Harbaugh said. "But it's just a matter of that strength and quickness and burst, which should come back fast. Anybody that has ever trained [knows] if you've been in great shape, you get back in shape pretty quickly, in terms of strength and burst and things like that. You just have to do it. He's working really hard at it, and it very well could be this week.
"I'm sure hoping it's this week. I want to see it this week, and we'll be shooting for that."
Two receivers going in different directions
After what was unofficially his fifth dropped pass of the season against the Panthers, struggling wide receiver Jacoby Jones finished the game having taken only seven offensive snaps, his lowest total of 2014.
Jones also made an ill-advised decision to field a punt at his own 2-yard line before returning it to the Baltimore 20. Harbaugh reiterated that the 30-year-old continues to work extremely hard in practice and is simply trying too hard to make a play.
"He catches the ball in practice. Sometimes I think he's pressing," Harbaugh said. "I really do. Jacoby has a lot of pride, and he's made big, big plays in this league before, and he wants to pick up where he left off. [That] hasn't happened for him, but the thing he has to know — just like Torrey [Smith], just like anybody – is that the key is persistence. You just keep hammering and you don't get down on yourself, and focus on the fundamentals and the details, and it'll work out."
With Jones playing poorly, second-year wide receiver Marlon Brown has suddenly reemerged in the Baltimore offense after making three receptions for 31 yards and playing 31 offensive snaps, his highest total since Week 1.
The 6-foot-5 Brown gives the Ravens another appealing option in the red zone and on third down after tight end Dennis Pitta was lost for the season last week in Cleveland.
"He was in there on the first three-wide group," Harbaugh said. "He did a good job, made a couple plays — third-down conversions that were very important. [He is a] big target, gets off press really well and blocks, and he did a good job in special teams. He played well. It kind of goes back to what we were saying as far as guys stepping up at different positions."
Colts' Landry suspended
The NFL announced Monday afternoon that Indianapolis safety LaRon Landry has been suspended four games without pay for violating the performance-enhancing drug policy.
His suspension begins this week as the Colts' 21st-ranked pass defense will now be without its hard-hitting safety.
He is the younger brother of former Ravens safety Dawan Landry.
Comments Off on Harbaugh expects Hoke to be Michigan coach for "long time to come"
Posted on 18 March 2014 by WNST Staff
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Junior Jay Carlson netted a hat trick in the first half and had four goals in total to lead the No. 1 University of Maryland men's lacrosse team to a 13-5 win over Michigan on Tuesday afternoon at Michigan Stadium.
The Terrapins improve to 7-0 overall on the season with the win, while the Wolverines fall below .500 at 4-5.
Michigan took the early lead on a goal by Thomas Paras at the 12:42 mark, but Maryland tied the game four minutes later when junior Brian Cole found sophomore Henry West in the right slot and West was able to step into a big shot from the outside.
The Terrapins took the lead with 1:52 left in the first when junior Jay Carlson added another highlight reel goal to his resume as he took a feed from Cole and one-timed a back-handed shovel shot past Michigan goalie Robbie Zonino.
Maryland opened the second quarter scoring with an unassisted goal by freshman Connor Cannizzaro as he got a step on his defender and buried a runner down the left alley with 12:39 left on the clock.
Senior Mike Chanenchuk made it a three-goal lead with his 20th goal of the season on a runner down the right alley at the 4:56 mark of the second. Carlson then scored his second of the day, finishing a pass from senior Rustin Bryantwith 2:38 to go to make it a 5-1 game.
The Terrapins' five-goal run came to an end with 46 seconds left in the second quarter when David McCormack found Ian King open on the crease and King finished to trim the Wolverines' deficit back to three at 5-2.
Carlson finished his hat trick with just three seconds left in the first half to give Maryland a 6-2 lead heading into the break. The play started with a shot from freshman Matt Rambo that was saved by Zonino. The ball bounced away from the Michigan goalie and West came up with a tough groundball amidst some Wolverine defenders. West then quickly found Carlson across the crease with a nifty pass and Carlson finished into a wide open net.
Cannizzaro opened the scoring in the third with his second unassisted tally of the game at the 12:14 mark, but Michigan answered back with an unassisted goal by Mikie Schlosser with 11:39 left in the third.
Chanenchuk scored his second of the game to up Maryland's lead back to five, connecting on a low shot from the left wing after receiving a cross-field pass from freshman Colin Heacock at the 10:26 mark.
Schlosser scored his second for the Wolverines to make it an 8-4 game with 9:23 left in the third, but Maryland answered with goals by Carlson, his fourth of the game coming off an inside feed by Chanenchuk, and Rambo to increase the Terrapin lead to 10-4 at the 6:47 mark.
Rambo then opened the fourth quarter by finishing his natural hat trick at the 11:07 mark of the fourth. He took a feed from sophomore Bradlee Lord and came around the goal and scored on Zonino to up the Terrapin lead to 12-4.
Rambo then tacked on his fourth of the day, splitting a Michigan double-team on the right side and ripping a shot into the upper left corner with 8:20 to play in the game.
Michigan ended Maryland's second 5-0 run of the game with an unassisted goal by King at the 6:28 mark.
Senior goalie Niko Amato made seven saves for the Terps, who were led defensively by senior Michael Ehrhardt, who caused three turnovers and picked up two groundballs.
Sophomore faceoff man Jon Garino won 11-of-19 draws on the day and finished with a team-high five groundballs.
Maryland returns to conference play on Saturday, March 22 when it heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on No. 6 North Carolina. Faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Kenan Stadium and the game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
Game Notes:
• With today's 13-5 win Maryland is now 1-0 all-time vs. Michigan.
• With four points on two goals and two assists, senior Mike Chanenchuk now has 34 multi-point, 26 multi-goal and nine multi-assist games for his career.
• With four points on four goals, junior Jay Carlson now has seven hat tricks, 17 multi-point and 13 multi-goal games for his career.
• With two points on two assists, junior Bryan Cole registered the third multi-point and first multi-assist game of his career.
• With two points on a goal and an assist, sophomore Henry West now has two multi-point games for his career.
• With four points on four goals, freshman Matt Rambo now has three hat tricks, six multi-point and five multi-goal games for his career.
• With two points on two goals, freshman Connor Cannizzaro now has (two hat tricks), five multi-point and four multi-goal games for his career.
Comments Off on Maryland rolls past Michigan to remain undefeated
Posted on 17 March 2014 by WNST Staff
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 1 Maryland (6-0) men's lacrosse team makes its first-ever appearance in The Big House when the Terps travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to take on Michigan on Tuesday, March 18 at 4 p.m.
• The game is scheduled to be streamed live on the Big Ten Digital Network as part of Big Ten Student U Productions. Premium content on the Big Ten Digital Network is available for a monthly subscription of $14.95. Click here for more information.
• Maryland is coming off of a 12-10 home win over Villanova on Friday night at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. Freshmen Connor Cannizzaro (3), Matt Rambo (2) and Colin Heacock (1) combined to score six of Maryland's 12 goals, while senior Mike Chanenchuk led the Terps with four points on three goals and an assist vs. the Wildcats. Chanenchuk leads the team this season with 25 points on 19 goals and six assists. He is followed closely by Rambo, who has 17 points on 12 goals and four assists. Junior Charlie Raffa has won 67-of-112 (.598) faceoffs this season with a team-best 47 groundballs and four goals. Senior Michael Ehrhardt has made a seamless transition to the long-stick midfield spot and has 25 groundballs, which leads all non-faceoff men, and a team-best 14 caused turnovers. Senior Niko Amato has started every game of his college career (56 straight) and boasts a 6.71 goals-against average this season with a .608 save percentage.
• Michigan evened its record at 4-4 with an 11-10 overtime victory at Bellarmine in its ECAC opener this past Saturday in Louisville. It was the Wolverines' third overtime game this season. Freshman attackman Ian King leads the Michigan offense with 18 points on 17 goals and one assist. Sophomore midfielder Kyle Jackson also has double-digit goals with 12 to go along the three assists for 15 points. Senior midfielder Thomas Paras is the team's leader in assists with eight and also has 15 points. Freshman Robbie Zoninio has started all eight games in net for the Wolverines and has an 11.98 goals-against average and is saving 44.6 percent of the shots opponents have put on goal. Sophomore faceoff specialist Brad Lott has taken 138 of Michigan's 215 faceoffs this year, winning 85 draws (61.6) with 52 groundballs to his credit.
10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 107 of the 116 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .922 winning percentage.
9 … Maryland is 124-26 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .827 winning percentage.
8 … This season is just the eighth time since 1982 that the Terps have scored at least 10 goals in each of its first six games.
7 … Seven Terps have at least 10 groundballs this season, including three of its top four scorers.
6 … Six different Terps have scored at least one extra-man goal this season.
5 … The Terps are averaging just over five goals per game this season in the second quarter.
4 … Maryland has only lost four times to first-time opponents in its 89-season history.
3 … This will be just the third time in the last six seasons that Maryland has traveled west to play (2009 NCAA's at Notre Dame, 2010 season opener at Bellarmine).
2 … Maryland junior Michael Bender has played two games vs. the Wolverines when he was at Bellarmine.
1 … Maryland is ranked the No. 1 team in the country for the 11th time since 1978.
• John Tillman is in his seventh season as a head coach, and fourth with the Terps, with a 61-34 career record for a 64.2 winning percentage. Tillman is 41-15 (.732) as Maryland's head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.
• John Pauls is the only head coach in the short three-year history of the Michigan men's lacrosse program and has a 6-30 (.200) overall record with the Wolverines.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Terps and the Wolverines.
• Maryland has played 78 different opponents in its 89 seasons. The 2014 season adds Michigan to that list. In the Terps' 78 first-time meetings Maryland is 74-4 (.949) in those games. Adelphi (12-13, 1982), Army (0-3, 1923), Syracuse (3-10, 1927) and Yale (3-5, 1925) are the only schools to beat the Terps the first time the schools met on a lacrosse field.
• The Terps took over the top spot in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the USILA Coaches' Poll on March 3 after two impressive wins over then-No. 2 Syracuse and then-No. 1 Duke in sucsessive weeks. This is the 11th time Maryland has earned the No. 1 ranking since 1986.
• Overall, Maryland has played 31 games as the No. 1-ranked team and is 21-10 in those games.
• This last time the Terps were the No. 1 team in the rankings was in the 2013 season. After taking over the top spot following its 12-10 win at then-No. 1 Loyola on Feb. 23, the Terps played six games as the nation's outright top team and was 4-2, defeating Duke, 16-7, in Durham on March 2, topping Stony Brook, 13-7, at home on March 10, going on the road to beat Villanova, 10-7, on March 16 and dropping a 10-8 decision to North Carolina on March 23. After regaining the No. 1 ranking on April 1, the Terps defeated Navy, 11-8, in Annapolis on April 5, but then dropped a 7-4 decision at home to Johns Hopkins on April. 13.
• Prior to the 2013 season, the last time Maryland was the top team in the nation was in March of 2006 after the Terps defeated then-No. 1 Duke, 8-7 on the road in overtime. Maryland defeated Towson as the No. 1 team the following Saturday, but fell, 7-6 in double-OT, to Bucknell on Tuesday, March 14. The Terrapins were still No. 1 in their 9-4 win at UMBC to close out their two-week stay at the top of the polls.
• The longest Maryland has held on to the No. 1 ranking was seven weeks in 1987. That streak came to an end with a 13-8 loss to No. 4 Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Semifinals.
• One axiom of lacrosse is that if you score 10 goals or more your chances of winning are pretty good. Well, a look at the results since 2002 shows that when Maryland scores 10 or more goals there's not just a pretty good chance the Terrapins will win; it's an almost certainty. Since 2002 Maryland has won 107 of the 116 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .922 winning percentage.
• Maryland scored 10, but fell at North Carolina, 11-10, on March 24, 2012 and again came out on the losing end, despite scoring 11 in a 13-11 loss at Colgate on May 5, 2012. The Terps scored 11 vs. Johns Hopkins on April 16, 2011, but the Blue Jays won the game in overtime, 12-11. On April 3 of last season the Terps lost to No. 1 Virginia by a final of 11-10, giving Maryland its only loss when scoring 10 or more goals in 2010. In 2009 the Terps lost to Georgetown, 13-10 on Feb. 21 and lost again when scoring 10 in the ACC Semifinals in a 16-10 defeat at North Carolina. Prior to that, Maryland had not lost when scoring 10 or more goals since dropping an 11-10 decision to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C. The Terrapins got to 10 goals in the 100th game against Johns Hopkins, but the Blue Jays took the game 14-10. Virginia is the only team to beat the Terps twice when allowing 10 or more goals. The Wahoos did it first in 2002 with another 11-10 decision.
• The Terps have been extremely impressive (winning 92.2 percent of its games since 2002) when it scores 10 or more goals, they have been nearly as impressive when holding opponents to less than 10 goals during that span.
• Since 2002 Maryland is 124-26 in games, for a .827 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 199 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 75.4 percent of the time.
• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 65-4 (.941) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The only four losses were: 13-10 to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas), 11-10 to No. 1 Virginia on April 3, 2010 (10 of 33 for 30.3%), 12-11 in overtime on April 16, 2011 to No. 3 Johns Hopkins (11 of 28 for 39.3%) and 13-11 at Colgate on May 5, 2012 (11 of 31 for 35.5%).
• Maryland is 6-0 on the year and shot 30% or better in three of its five victories and just barely missed that mark in the win at Syracuse.
W- Mount St. Mary's: 16 goals, 44 shots = 36.4%
W- UMBC: 14 goals, 45 shots = 31.1%
W- at Syracuse: 16 goals, 55 shots = 29.1%
W- Duke: 10 goals, 44 shots = 22.7%
W- at Stony Brook: 11 goals, 48 shots = 22.9%
W- Villanova: 12 goals, 39 shots = 30.7%
• If 30% is the benchmark, then 40% shooting is in a class all to itself and Maryland has shot 40% or better in 15 games since the start of the 2008 season. Out of those 14 games, Maryland shot 50% or better in four of them.
• Six games into the 2014 season and so far and three Terps have notched at least one point in every game.
• Senior Mike Chanenchuk has scored at least one point in each of the six games so far in 2014 and has a 29-game point scoring streak dating back to the Johns Hopkins game on Apr. 14, 2012. Overall, for his Maryland career Chanenchuk has tallied at least one point in 36 of 38 games.
• Junior Jay Carlson and freshman Matt Rambo have also registered at least one point in every game this season. Junior Joe LoCascio had his five-game point scoring streak end in the Villanova game.
• With four goals in his first college game, a 16-3 win over Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 8), Matt Rambo became just the ninth Maryland men's lacrosse freshman to record a hat trick since 1998. He followed that up with another hat trick in the 14-3 win over UMBC (Feb. 15) to become the first Terp to record back-to-back hat tricks in his first two collegiate games since Grant Catalino in 2008.
• Connor Cannizzaro scored his first hat trick with three goals in the Terps' 16-8 win at Syracuse to become the 10th Terp freshman with a hat trick since 1998. This marks just the second time since 1998 that two freshman have recorded hat tricks in the same season. Cannizzaro netted his second career hat trick vs. Villanova on March 14.
• Game-by-game stats haven't been saved since the 1998 season, so the following chart can only go back to then, but here's a look at freshman hat tricks (consecutive games are underlined):
Andrew Combs (1 in 1998): 3-0=3 vs. Towson, Mar. 7
Mike LaMonica (1 in 1999): 3-0=3 vs. Penn State, Mar. 17
Mike Mollot (1 in 2000): 3-4=7 vs. Hofstra, May 14 (NCAA first round)
Dan LaMonica (3 in 2001): 3-1=4 vs. Duke, Mar. 4; 3-1=4 vs. Johns Hopkins, Apr. 14; 3-1=4 vs. Virginia, Apr. 20 (ACC semifinals)
Joe Walters (6 in 2003): 4-1=5 at Towson, Mar. 8; 4-2=6 vs. Bucknell, Mar. 11; 4-0=4 vs. Butler, Mar. 25; 3-1=4 at Virginia, Mar. 29; 4-0=4 at Navy, Apr. 5; 3-1=4 vs. UMBC, Apr. 25
Grant Catalino (3 in 2008): 4-0=4 at Georgetown, Feb. 23; 3-1=4 at Mount St. Mary's, Feb. 26; 4-3=7 vs. Yale, May 3
Travis Reed (4 in 2008): 4-1=5 at Mount St. Mary's, Feb. 26; 3-0=3 at Duke, Mar. 1; 3-0=3 vs. Providence, Mar. 3; 3-2=5 vs. Virginia, Mar. 29
John Haus (1 in 2010): 3-0=3 vs. North Carolina, Apr. 23 (ACC semifinals)
Matt Rambo (2 in 2014): 4-2=6 vs. Mount St. Mary's, Feb. 8; 3-0=3 vs. UMBC, Feb. 15
Connor Cannizzaro (2 in 2014): 3-1=4 at Syracuse, Feb. 22; 3-0=3 vs. Villanova, Mar. 14
• Senior midfielder Mike Chanenchuk scored five of the Terps' 10 goals in the team's 10-6 win over No. 1 Duke on March 1, 2014. That performance marks just the ninth time since 1998 that a Maryland player scored at least 50 percent of the team's goals in a victory (with a five-goal minimum). Chanenchuk is the first Maryland player since 1998 to accomplish the feat at home.
• Here's a look at Terps who have scored 50% or more of the team's goals (min. 5 goals) in wins since 1998:
Mike Chanenchuk, 5 goals in 10-6 win vs. Duke (3/1/14)
Jay Carlson, 5 goals in 10-7 win at Villanova (3/16/13)
Joe Walters, 6 goals in 11-4 win at Johns Hopkins (4/15/06)
Joe Walters, 5 goals in 9-6 win at North Carolina (3/25/06)
Xander Ritz, 5 goals in 8-7 OT win at Duke (3/4/06)
Joe Walters, 6 goals in 12-11 win vs. Virginia in ACC finals (4/25/04)
Buggs Combs, 6 goals in 10-4 win at Delaware (3/17/01)
Scott Hochstadt, 6 goals in 9-4 win at Yale (5/1/99)
Scott Hochstadt, 7 goals in 14-11 win at Virginia in ACC finals (4/19/98)
• There are a couple others earlier than 1998, which includes a minimum of six goals scored (which is the minimum for the single-game records):
Rob Wurzburger, 6 goals in 12-7 win at Towson (3/26/88)
Dick Corrigan, 9 goals in 17-10 win over Navy (4/26/58)
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 753-253-4 (.748), dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished every one of its previous 88 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 12-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field and became just the fourth program with 750 wins with a 16-8 win at No. 2 Syracuse on Feb. 22, 2014.
• During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland's win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage. So far, Maryland is 53-19 in the 2010's for a .736 winning percentage.
• Maryland's 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program's 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men's lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy, Army and Cornell as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.
• Two things that make Maryland's accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.
• Maryland's 18-6 win over the Colgate on May 4, 2013 extended the Terps' streak of double-digit win seasons to 11, which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. (Special thanks to Patrick Stevens of the D1scource.com).
• There are only four programs with a current streak of at least five-straight 10-win seasons:
Maryland (11): 2013 (10-4), 2012 (12-6), 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-4), 2009 (10-7), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6), 2006 (12-5), 2005 (11-6), 2004 (13-3), 2003 (12-4)
Notre Dame (8): 2013 (11-4), 2012 (13-3), 2011 (11-3), 2010 (10-7), 2009 (15-1), 2008 (14-3), 2007 (11-4), 2006 (10-5)
Duke (7): 2013 (16-5), 2012 (15-5) 2011 (14-6), 2010 (16-4), 2009 (15-4), 2008 (18-2), 2007 ( 17-3)
North Carolina (5): 2013 (13-4), 2012 (11-6), 2011 (10-6), 2010 (13-3), 2009 (12-6)
• Cornell's string of seven-straight 10+ win seasons came to an end in 2012 with a 9-4 final mark. Virginia's streak of eight-consecutive seasons with 10+ wins ended in 2013 with a 7-8 record, while Siena saw its run of six 10-win seasons end with an 8-9 mark this season.
• Many school's refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men's lacrosse program is truly a family affair. Since 2001, the Terps have had 13 sets of brothers, including three on this season's roster, don the red and black together for at least one season.
Harry & Thomas Alford: 2004-05-06-07
Jake & Jesse Bernhardt: 2010-11-12-13
Justin & Owen Blye: 2009-10-11
Brian & Kevin Cooper: 2011-12-13
Billy & Bobby Gribbin: 2012-13
Brendan & Ian Healy: 2003-04-05
Bryn & Curtis Holmes: 2010
Bryn & Travis Holmes: 2007
Dan & Mike LaMonica: 2001-02
Chris & Willy Passavia: 2001-02-03
Brian & Michael Phipps: 2007
Max & Xander Ritz: 2005-06
Mark & Michael White: 2008-09-10-11
• The 2014 season is the first since 2000 that the Terps have not had a brother combination on the roster.
• Maryland has an 85-3-1 (.961) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 19 openers and 26 of the last 27, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993, when they fell to Duke 9-5 on March 6.
• After losing their 1925 opener to Yale, 5-3, the Terps went on to win 40 consecutive season openers from 1926 through 1967. The streak was broken when Maryland tied Princeton, 6-6, in the 1968 opener. Following the deadlock, Maryland went on to win its next 14 openers, giving the Terps a 54-0-1 record over a 57-year span (Maryland did not field a team in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.)
• After beating Mount St. Mary's to open the 2013 season the Terps have an 20-game winning streak in season openers. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98) and the last nine over Denver, Mount St. Mary's (three times), Air Force, Hobart, Duke, Georgetown (four times), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 21-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 306-108 (an average score of 14.6-5.1) in those games.
• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 21 years. Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score 10 or more goals in a season opener since Syracuse beat the Terps, 16-13 on March 9, 1983.
• Led by senior defender Michael Ehrhardt, four Maryland men's lacrosse student-athletes were chosen in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft.
• Ehrhardt was chosen seventh overall by the Charlotte Hounds, becoming the eighth Maryland player to be taken in the first round, joining Lee Zink (2004, 5th), Chris Passavia (2004, 6th), Joe Walters (2006, 1st), Bill McGlone (2006, 5th), Ray Megill (2007, 9th), Joe Cinosky (2008, 9th) and Jesse Bernhardt (2013, 4th).
• Senior midfielder Mike Chanenchuk was the next Terrapin off the board, also joining the Hounds as the 11th overall selection.
• The third Terp to be selected was senior goalie Niko Amato, becoming the first Terp to join the Florida Launch, with the 29th overall selection.
• The final Terp to be drafted was senior short-stick defensive midfielder Brian Cooper, who earned the distinction of being 2014's MLL equivalent of "Mr. Irrelevant" as the final selection of the draft, going with the 64th overall selection to the Chesapeake Bayhawks.
• Five Maryland men's lacrosse alumni were named to the 30-man roster for the U.S. National Team that will compete at the 2014 FIL World Championships from July 10-19 in Denver.
• Jesse Bernhardt (2013), Dan Burns (2011), Jeff Reynolds (2009), Drew Snider (2012) and Lee Zink (2004) made the team, which was selected from an original pool of 98 players through a seven-month selection process.
• Maryland's five selections are tied for the most of any college program with Johns Hopkins, which also has five alums among the 30-man roster.
• Four players have been named team captains for the 2014 season. The quartet, which was selected by a combination of team vote and coaches' input, consists of seniors Tyler Adelsberger, Niko Amato, Mike Chanenchukand Michael Ehrhardt.
• The University of Maryland's men's lacrosse team will compete in the Big Ten Conference beginning with the 2015 season, following an announcement from the conference office on June 3, 2013 that the Big Ten has secured six men's teams when Johns Hopkins was accepted as a sport affiliate member for men's lacrosse only beginning with the 2014-15 academic year to give the Big Ten six men's programs, joining Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers.
• The six programs that will comprise Big Ten men's lacrosse boast 56 national championships, with schools that have competed for more than a century. Johns Hopkins has been an independent since 1883 and leads all schools with 44 national championships. Maryland has claimed 11 national titles, while Rutgers has also won a national championship. The Scarlet Knights launched men's lacrosse in 1887, followed by programs starting in 1913 for Penn State, 1924 for Maryland and 1953 for Ohio State. Michigan instituted a men's lacrosse program in 2012. Maryland, Ohio State and Penn State each qualified for the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 2013, with the Buckeyes advancing to the quarterfinals.
Comments Off on Maryland makes first ever visit to future Big Ten foe Michigan Tuesday
Posted on 28 February 2014 by WNST Staff
Big Ten Announces 2014-15 Men's Basketball Home and Away Opponents
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Big Ten Conference announced on Friday the Maryland men's basketball conference home and away opponents for the 2014-15 season.
The Terrapins' inaugural Big Ten season features an exciting docket of home games, including five teams that qualified for the 2013 NCAA Tournament: Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Terps will also play Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State and Rutgers at home.
Maryland will play five home-and-home series, featuring Indiana, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State and Rutgers. It will also face Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State and Purdue on the road.
The Big Ten currently has five teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25 – the most of any conference in the nation.
For ticketing information or questions, contact the Terrapin Ticket Office at 1-800-462-8377.
Below is Maryland's home and away opponents for the 2014-15. Dates and times for the games will be announced at a later date.
Michigan State
Penn State
Michigan State
Ohio State
Penn State
Comments Off on Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana all to visit Maryland in first Big Ten hoops season
Posted on 22 February 2014 by WNST Staff
BALTIMORE, MD – The eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team jumped out to a 9-1 halftime lead and had 11 different players score as the Blue Jays eased past visiting Michigan, 14-5, at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays improve to 3-0 on the year, while the Wolverines slip to 2-2.
The win was the 150th for Dave Pietramala as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and it came in his 200th game as the head coach at Homewood. He is now 150-50 as the head coach at Johns Hopkins and 173-67 overall.
Hopkins sprinted out to a 6-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes as five different players found the back of the net. Junior Michael Pellegrino's transition goal opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game and JHU added five more goals on 13 first-quarter shots to push out to the early six-goal lead.
Junior Wells Stanwick assisted on Pellegrino's goal, added a strike of his own four minutes later and got the helper on Brandon Benn's second goal of the quarter in the final minute to fuel the early run, which also included unassisted goals from midfielders Bronson Kelly and John Crawley.
Doug Bryant broke a game-opening Wolverine scoring drought that reached more than 21 minutes when he fired home an unassisted goal at the 9:21 mark of the second quarter, but a three-goal Blue Jay run that took less than two minutes midway through the period effectively put the game away. A pair of Holden Cattoni goals, including one while the Blue Jays were on the extra-man, and a strike from senior midfielder Rob Guida accounted for JHU's second-quarter scoring and gave JHU the eight-goal halftime lead.
Michigan eventually outshot the Blue Jays 41-36, but the Blue Jay defense did a great job of pushing the Wolverines to their off-hand and tough angles. Senior goalie Eric Schneider posted eight of his career-high 20 saves in the first half as the Blue Jays built their lead. Schneider's 20 saves are the most by a Johns Hopkins player since Pierce Bassett had 20 in a win against then eighth-ranked Loyola on May 8, 2010.
The Blue Jays nearly matched their three-goal second-quarter run with a three-goal flurry in the third quarter that took just under three minutes and included Guida's second and goals by sophomore Ryan Brown and freshman Cody Radziewicz. Guida's goal with just over 10 minutes remaining gave the Blue Jays a 12-1 lead.
Michigan won the statistical battle over the final 20 minutes of the game and outscored the Blue Jays 4-2 over that span to account for the 14-5 final score. David McCormack, David Joseph and Kyle Jackson scored unassisted goals during that time for the Wolverines and Peter Kraus assisted on a Riley Kennedy goal for the Wolverines, who fired off 27 of their 41 shots in the second half.
Benn, Guida and Cattoni all scored twice for the Blue Jays, who also got the one goal and three assists from Stanwick.
The Blue Jay defense held Michigan's starting attack and first midfield to a combined two goals and no assists on 18 shots. Sophomore Brad Lott had a great day on faceoffs for the Wolverines as he was 14-of-23 and added nine ground balls.
Notes: Johns Hopkins is 3-0 for the fifth straight year and the sixth time in the last seven years • JHU improved to 20-3 all-time in the month of February • Benn's two goals extended his goal-scoring streak to 19 games.
Michigan (2-2) 0-1-2-2/5
Johns Hopkins (3-0) 6-3-4-1/14
Goals: M: McCormack, Jackson, Bryant, Joseph, Kenedy. J: Guida-2, Benn-2, Cattoni-2, Stanwick, Crawley, Pellegrino, Schuler, Brown, Madarsz, Radziewicz, Kelly, B. Assists: M: Kraus. J: Stanwick-3, Benn, Brown, Guida, Reed, Schneider.Saves: M: Zonino-7. J: Schneider-20, Ryan-1. Shots: M-41, J-36. EMO: M: 1-for-1. J: 1-for-1. Attendance: 1,603.
Comments Off on Hopkins stays unbeaten with win over Michigan
Posted on 08 November 2013 by WNST Staff
Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala announced a change in the Blue Jays' 2014 schedule today. The Johns Hopkins-Michigan game, originally scheduled for February 22, 2014 at Michigan, will now be played at Homewood Field (noon). Television plans for the game have not been announced at this point.
The game cannot be played at Michigan Stadium as originally agreed upon and a decision to move the game to Homewood Field was made by Pietramala and Michigan head coach John Paul.
Comments Off on Hopkins/Michigan lacrosse game moved to Homewood Field
Posted on 11 July 2013 by WNST Staff
CHICAGO, Ill. – The Big Ten announced on Thursday its football schedule for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The 2016 season marks the beginning of a nine-game conference slate for the league's 14 members and features Maryland's first-ever matchup with Nebraska.
As part of the Big Ten's schedule rotation, Maryland will host five conference games in 2016 and will host four in 2017.
Maryland's third season in the Big Ten will open on Oct. 1, 2016 when Purdue visits College Park marking the Terps first meeting with the Boilermakers as a conference foe. After traveling to Penn State on Oct. 8, Maryland plays host to Minnesota on Oct. 15.
The Terps face their second division opponent the following weekend as Michigan State (Oct. 22) pays a visit to Capitol One Field at Byrd Stadium before consecutive road games at Indiana (Oct. 29) and at Michigan (Nov. 5).
After its trip to Ann Arbor, Maryland ends the regular season with two of its final three games at home. The stretch begins on Nov. 12 with a home contest against Ohio State followed by a trip to Nebraska on Nov. 19. The home finale is set for Nov. 26 against Rutgers.
The 2017 season begins with three of four games on the road. Maryland opens with back-to-back road contests at Minnesota on Sept. 30 and at Ohio State on Oct. 7.
Maryland's conference home opener is set for Oct. 14 against Northwestern before traveling to Madison to face Wisconsin on Oct. 21.
The Terps final five regular-season games are all against divisional opponents beginning at home against Indiana onOct. 28. After a trip to Rutgers on Nov. 4, Maryland plays host to Michigan on Nov. 11 followed by a road game onNov. 18 at Michigan State.
The regular-season finale is scheduled for Nov. 25 at home against Penn State.
Now is the time to order your season tickets for this historic new era of Maryland Football. Become a season ticket holder today to secure the best seats available and lock-in your price for two years including the inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference.
All season tickets for 2013 include the game with West Virginia at M&T Bank Stadium. A variety of season ticket options are available and prices start as low as $159. Family 4-Packs are also available for $600. The five-month payment plan is a great option for fans to spread out the cost of tickets.
Fans can purchase season tickets online at UMTerps.com or by calling the ticket office at 800-462-TERP or 301-314-7070
The complete schedule and game times will be announced at a later date.
2016 Big Ten Schedule
Date Opponent
10/1 Purdue
10/8 at Penn State
10/15 Minnesota
10/22 Michigan State
10/29 at Indiana
11/5 at Michigan
11/12 Ohio State
11/19 at Nebraska
11/26 Rutgers
2017 Big Ten Schedule
Date Opponent
9/30 at Minnesota
10/7 at Ohio State
10/14 Northwestern
10/21 at Wisconsin
10/28 Indiana
11/4 at Rutgers
11/11 Michigan
11/18 at Michigan State
11/25 Penn State


text:
Cocoon by Sealy Reviews
Cocoon by Sealy mattresses feature multiple layers of memory foam, soft and firm feels, and extensive durability testing from a company in business 130+ years.
About Cocoon by Sealy
Made with multiple layers of memory foam and developed over the course of two years, Cocoon by Sealy is a direct-to-consumer mattress that promises to deliver unmatched quality and durability. In fact, Sealy claims their Cocoon mattresses can "transform your bedroom."
Each Cocoon mattress comes in soft (a cozy, enveloping, in-the-bed feel) and firm (a sturdy, substantial, on-the-bed feel) models; is designed, developed, and manufactured in-house, and utilizes only high-quality materials. During this process, Sealy tests for durability, comfort life, safety and flammability, and more.
On top of this, Sealy ships each Cocoon mattress directly to your door in a vacuum-sealed container, which they claim makes setup a breeze:
- Unbox your Cocoon mattress.
- Place your mattress on a flat, sturdy foundation. Then, remove the tape and wrapper.
- Your mattress will quickly "inflate" to almost its full size after about a minute.
You probably already recognize that you have many popular options when it comes to discount online-only mattress shopping (if not, we'll discuss the topic in greater detail soon!). Among these options, is there anything that makes Cocoon by Sealy a better choice? Stick with us and we'll provide what you need to make a more informed decision.
The Full Scoop on Sealy's Cocoon Mattresses
Each Cocoon by Sealy consists of two layers:
- A base layer of "heavier, more robust" foam that provides support, durability, and resistance, and bounces back every time. For firm models, Cocoon uses Reinforced Essential Support Foam, while soft models use Flexible Essential Support Foam.
- A top layer of high-quality Perfect Fit memory foam, which is supposed to conform to your weight and shape and deliver "perfect" support in your naturally comfortable position. In addition, this layer will help reduce the amount of movement transfer.
Both of these layers are then surrounded by a stretch-knit, premium fabric cover that offers both breathability and durability, while allowing you to "experience the "cushion" of the top layer." Based on this design, Sealy claims their Cocoon mattresses can be used with any flat, sturdy foundation, whether it's a standard frame, wooden slats, or a box spring.
During production, Sealy submits their Cocoon mattresses to two tests called the "Rollator Surface Fatigue" and the "Mattress Durability Impact Test." Here, machines repeatedly apply 225 pounds of force for more than 100,000 cycles (or the equivalent of 10 years of use) in order to verify durability.
In addition, Cocoon mattresses are manufactured without chemical fire retardants and are submitted to "grueling" flame-resistance testing. They're also tested for VOCs, although Sealy notes that there still "may be a slight smell" after unboxing, which should disappear within the first week (more about this in a second).
How does this compare to other online-only mattresses?
How Does Cocoon by Sealy Measure Up?
Cocoon vs. Casper
A couple years ago, Casper entered the scene and completely shook up the traditional mattress buying experience by offering just one model of a quality memory foam mattress, online-only shopping, free vacuum-packed shipping, a 100-night in-home trial, and free returns. Not only this, by cutting out middlemen, Casper claimed their customers could spend 3X less than a comparable mattress from a mainstream manufacturer.
Compared to Cocoon by Sealy, which features two memory foam layers, Casper's mattresses feature one layer of latex and another of memory foam. Despite this seemingly big difference, Cocoon's mattresses are priced within $50 of Casper's, while offering all the same perks (100-night trial, free shipping, etc.).
However, Casper's mattresses only come in one middle-of-the-road firmness level, while Cocoon's come in two. As such, if you're looking for more customization when it comes to firmness (despite the fact that most of Casper's customers seem pleased with their comfort level), Cocoon might be more to your liking.
Cocoon vs. Other Online-Only Mattresses
Soon, other companies jumped on the same business model bandwagon, including Novosbed, Tuft and Needle, Leesa, Saatva (and their Zenhaven line), and many more.
Now, with the release of Cocoon, it seems that the "big players" have taken notice and are trying to get their own piece of the online-only pie. But how do they stack up against these longer-term players?
Obviously, Sealy is a giant company who's been around for 130 years, so they likely have greater access to different R&D methods and manufacturing processes than their smaller competitors. Does this translate into a better mattress, though?
Comparatively, Leesa and Zenhaven provide three layers of foam (Zenhaven specializes in luxurious Talalay latex), although Leesa only delivers one firmness level, while Zenhaven offers Luxury Plush and Gentle Firm options. Cocoon offers two, while Novosbed and Saatva offer three.
All of these options come with the same in-home trials (more about this next), vacuum-sealed shipping, and free (or very reasonable) returns as Cocoon by Sealy.
» For Further Reading: Do Lower Prices of Bed-In-A-Box Mattresses Deliver Better Value?
How Much Does Cocoon by Sealy Cost?
Cocoon mattresses are priced as follows:
- Twin (38" W x 74.5" L x 10" H): $549
- Twin XL (38" W x 79.5" L x 10" H): $599
- Full (53" W x 74.5" L x 10" H): $749
- Queen (60" W x 79.5" L x 10" H): $849
- King (76" W x 79.5" L x 10" H): $999
- Cal King (72" W x 83.5" L x 10" H): $999
Sealy claims that it will take you less than 2 minutes to order your Cocoon mattress, which will be processed within 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.
All Cocoon mattresses come with free shipping via UPS Ground, free returns, and free 100-night trial. Sealy recommends sleeping on your Cocoon for at least 30 nights, since it can take a bit of time for you body to become accustomed to your new sleeping surface, especially if your previous mattress was in poor condition.
If it still doesn't work for you, the company can send you a new mattress in the opposite firmness. If this still doesn't work, they'll arrange to have it picked up and donated at zero cost to you.
Cocoon mattresses also come with a 10-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. To request a refund or process a warranty claim, Sealy offers 24/7 support at (888) 818-4039 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Compared to the competition, Cocoon by Sealy seems to fall relatively in line with Casper and Leesa, as well as Saatva for some of their less expensive models. Tuft and Needle definitely wins out from a price perspective, while Zenhaven costs about twice as much (although they deliver a completely different, eco-friendly, luxury-oriented lineup).
Granted, these are data comparisons. Are there meaningful differences in customer feedback?
Cocoon by Sealy Customer Reviews
On the Sealy website, Cocoon had an average rating of 4.6 stars, with customers complimenting the mattress' comfort, lack of smell, high quality, and solid value. On the other hand, some customers didn't like the feel of their mattress.
Outside of this, we didn't find a whole lot of online customer feedback for Cocoon mattresses, likely because they hadn't been available for more than a few months at the time of our research. GadgetReview provided some unique insight after testing their Cocoon though, claiming:
It has a "Windexy, bleachy chemical smell" after unboxing, which they felt was related to "the way the bed-in-a-box system is compressed and shipped." Although the smell dissipated within a week, they claimed the first few nights were rough going due to the "intense" smell. So bad, in fact, that they slept on their couch for the first few nights.
Once their body became accustomed to the feel, it made a real difference in the quality of their sleep, as well as how well they felt the next day.
In the end, they noted Cocoon by Sealy is "easily one of the best mattresses I've ever slept on, bar none."
Emily Rems of Bust also ordered a Cocoon mattress, although most of her review referenced complications with UPS than it did her experience with the mattress. Ultimately, she found it provided firm—yet cozy—support, affordability, and quick setup.
When unboxing their Cocoon by Sealy, SleepSherpa found the "inflating" process took a little longer than the competition, which they felt was due to the extra density of the top layer. Note: They found that Cocoon's soft version had three layers, while the firm version only had two. There's no mention of this 2-ply option on Sealy's website.
Ultimately, they liked the top layer of the soft model, which conformed well and provided "great" pressure relief. However, they noted that the base layer might not be substantial enough for heavier sleepers.
Is a Better Night's Sleep Just Around the Corner with Cocoon by Sealy?
Pretty much any purchase we make is based largely on personal preferences, but this is especially true when shopping for a mattress. After all, we spend about 1/3 of our life laying on them, so finding a mattress that meets all (or at least most) of our wants and needs is a highly personal process.
From a sheer numbers perspective, Sealy has priced their Cocoon mattresses solidly in line with some of their online-only competition and offers many of the same perks (e.g. 100-night trial, free returns, vacuum-sealed packaging, etc.). Most of their customers seem to be pleased with their experiences, to boot.
Does this mean Cocoon by Sealy is right for you? There's no way to be sure without trying one out, but it seems you'll be able to do so without any real risk.
Great mattress
The Cocoon by Sealy has been hands down the best mattress that I have ever slept on. I've had this since October 2016. I hesitated about ordering a mattress online, but decided what the heck. Ordering was easy, and it came within a week of my placing the order.
I did not notice any smell when I got it unboxed and set up, and believe me, I checked because I had read some reviews about it. From the first night, I was in heaven. I hadn't realized how bad my old mattress was until then. It has helped my back problems immensely. I'm no longer bent over when I get out of bed.
Bottom line, when this one wears out, I plan on getting another one.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend