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In , on April 27, 2016 with No Comments

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Rum Frosting

It’s been a few days since I’ve posted anything, mostly because work has finally picked up again, and I haven’t had much time for testing out new recipes or doing any baking. While my waistline may appreciate it, my boys haven’t, so I decided to take a break yesterday and make them a cake. I actually had a few ripe bananas sitting on my counter, which itself is an amazing accomplishment because every time I buy bananas intending to use them in a recipe, the boys devour them immediately. That’s all fine and dandy because they’re good for them – it’s just I rarely get to make a recipe that calls for bananas 🙂




This is a basic cake recipe, and while it’s perfectly delicious as is, you could add some chopped pecans or walnuts for a yummy addition. For the frosting, I used my grandmother’s basic buttercream frosting recipe and added about 4 ounces of cream cheese that I had leftover from another recipe. It turned out great, and I didn’t have extra cheese sitting around that would be tossed out later. Win win 🙂

banana cake in pan

 

banana cake 2

 

banana cake

Banana Cake with Rum Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 2)

3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1/2 butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon good vanilla

2 eggs

Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking dish (or two 9-inch round cake pans) with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the mashed bananas, buttermilk, softened butter and vanilla. Mix on low speed until well combined.

Add eggs one at a time, and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake tests done with a toothpick inserted into the middle. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans (if using round cake pans), and allow to completely cool on wire racks. Frost cake when completely cooled.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 egg white

2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon good vanilla

1/2 teaspoon rum flavoring (or good rum)

In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese until nice and fluffy. Add the egg white, and mix until completely incorporated. Slowly add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, and mix on low to incorporate. When combined, increase the speed to medium high, and beat mixture for about 1 minute. Add in the flavorings, and mix until completely combined. Depending how thick or thin you like your frosting, you can add more powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency. If it becomes too thick, add 1-2 teaspoons of milk to thin it. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.

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In , on January 25, 2016 with No Comments

Banana Cream Pie

My family loves pie, and my husband’s favorite one is probably banana cream pie. For all the pies I’ve made over the years, I’d never made one until this past weekend. I’m not a huge banana fan, but I love cream pies, so I decided I’d try to make one.

The concept is really simple. You blind-bake the pie crust, slice up some bananas, and make a custard filling. Nothing hard about it at all. Most of the banana cream pie recipes you find on the Interest and in cookbooks are basically the same and use the same ingredients. For the custard filling, you can use whole milk or 2% milk, but I’d avoid using skim or fat-free milk. You’re making cream pie, for heaven sake! For mine, I used 2 cups of 2% milk and 1 cup of cream.

 

banana cream pie

 

banana cream pie half

Banana Cream Pie

1 unbaked pie crust (either homemade or store bought)

3 cups whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)

1 teaspoon good vanilla

4 to 6 bananas (depending on size), sliced

Whipped cream

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To blind-bake your unbaked pie shell, add a layer of parchment paper to the pie shell, and add dry beans or a pie weight to weigh down the parchment paper. Bake the pie shell for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and remove the parchment paper and beans. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the pie crust is nicely brown. Remove from the oven, and let it cool completely.

In a large skillet over low-to-medium heat, scald the milk. In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually stir mixture into the scaled milk. Over medium heat, cook the milk mixture, stirring constantly, until it thickens.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Temper the eggs by adding about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly. When combined, add the egg mixture to the pan of the hot milk mixture, and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes more, or until the mixture is thick and custard-like.

Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the butter and the vanilla. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Slice the bananas into the bottom of the baked and cooled pie crust. Top the bananas with the slightly cooled custard, making sure to smooth the filling over all the bananas. Refrigerate for several hours to allow the filling to set.

To serve, slice the pie, and top each slice with whipped cream.

 

banana cream pie slice 2

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In , on June 16, 2014 with No Comments

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins and Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

When you have teenagers (and young adults) who have an endless stomach, you have to have snacks on hand. Trying to make them healthier snacks that are also tasty can sometimes be tough, but I found 2 recipes this weekend that everyone agreed were hits.

The first recipe I tried was Peanut Butter Banana Muffins. Really easy to make with ingredients I already had on hand. Doubling it was easy too, because I knew if they were a hit, I’d have to make more anyway!

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed
6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 10 muffin tins with either muffin cup papers or lightly spraying with vegetable oil.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Mix the banana, peanut butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, and egg together in another bowl.

Mix the wet mixture into the dry and stir until just combined.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

 

Next on the snack list was trying my hand at homemade granola. We all love it, but it can get pricey to buy too often, so why not make it? I looked over lots of different recipes online and found one at honestcooking.com that sounded pretty good….and it was super easy and delicious.

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

2 cups oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or other spices as desired (cardamom, nutmeg, etc.)
2-1/2 cups additions:  Dried fruit, seeds, nuts, flax meal, bran cereal, puffed rice cereal, crushed pretzels, chocolate chips…whatever you like. (I used chocolate chips, raisins, and black walnuts)
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons olive oil, canola oil, other oils….or melted butter (I used butter)
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup, or Agave syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on desired thickness, line a square (8×8 or 9×9) or rectangular (9×13) baking dish with parchment paper (aluminum foil works too), then lightly grease the paper with a non-stick cooking spray, oil, or butter. Thicker bars are a little more decadent, if you’re planning on using this as a dessert.

Process 1/3 cup of the oats in a blender or food processor until finely ground.

If necessary, chop up dried fruit and nuts.

Stir together all dry ingredients (oats, ground oats, sugar, salt, cinnamon, fruits/seeds/nuts).

Whisk together wet ingredients (oil/butter, honey, peanut butter, and water).

Mix together wet and dry ingredients and then spread in the pan. Press firmly into the corners and edges so the top is even.

Bake for around 30 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Thicker bars will likely take longer, so you’ll need to watch them, depending on how much batter you’ve spread in what size pan. The edges will become deep golden, and they may feel underdone in the center, but that’s okay. They’ll firm quite nicely as they cool.

Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack for at least 20 minutes, then take them out of the pan using the parchment paper/foil. Let cool completely before cutting.

 

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