Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 orange
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)
Walnut halves, for decorating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan.

Mix bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar in bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add oil, eggs, sour cream. vanilla and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack and cool completely.

Spread frosting thickly on top of cake and decorate with walnut halves. Slice and serve.
Makes 8 servings.

Cream Cheese Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (1/2 pound)
MIX cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don't whip. Add sugar and mix until smooth.

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enjoy!

Apple Tart Cake

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Adapted from here

For this cake, it is particularly important that your oven temperature is accurate. If it runs too hot, the base of the cake could burn before the apples are fully cooked, and the topping, too, could burn before it has time to set.

Also, if your apples aren’t terribly tart, you might consider reducing the sugar in the base a little bit, down from 1 cup to maybe, say, ¾ cup.

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
5 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into a few pieces
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced very thinly

For topping:
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment, combine the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Pulse to mix. Add the butter, and pulse until no large lumps remain. Add the vanilla and the egg, and blend well, until it resembles cornmeal. Dump it into the prepared springform pan. Nudge it around with your fingertips to distribute it evenly, and then gently press it along the bottom of the pan. You’re not trying to really tamp it down; you just want to compact it a little. At the edges, let it curve up ever so slightly, like a tart shell with a very low, subtle rim. Arrange the apple slices over the base in a tight circular pattern. It may seem as though you have too many apple slices to fit, but keep going. Really squeeze them in. Slide the pan into the oven, and bake for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the topping. Combine the ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk to blend well. After the cake has baked for 45 minutes, remove it from the oven, and spoon the topping evenly over it. Bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the topping looks set. Transfer the pan to a wire rack, and cool for 20 minutes. Then run a thin knife around the edge to release any areas that may have stuck, and remove the sides of the pan. Cool completely before serving.

Note: This cake is even better on the second day. So if you can, make it a day ahead: just wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature until you’re ready to eat it. We ate ours plain, but I think it would be great with vanilla ice cream.

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 enjoy!

Spiced pumpkin cheesecake

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crust:

38 Ginger Snaps, finely crushed (I used Nabisco)

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup butter, melted

filling:

4 packages (8 ounces each) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 can (15 ounce) pumpkin

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 eggs

whipped cream for serving sprinkled with ground nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 325*. Mix together the crumbs, nuts and butter. Press mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a 9-inch springform pan. Beat cream cheese and sugar in an electric mixer until blended. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla; mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time mixing after each one just until blended. Pour filling into crust. Bake about 90 minutes or until the center is almost set. Loosen the rim of the pan, cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of nutmeg.

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enjoy!

pumpkin muffins

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  Gourmet Magazine November 2006

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice  (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon


Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a larger bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined. DO NOT OVER MIX, a large wire whisk, when mixing by hand, really allows you to incorporate all of the dry ingredients quickly without mashing them up too much. It really makes it much harder to overdo it.

Stir together cinnamon and 1 tablespoon sugar.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack. Serve warm or room at room temperature.

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enjoy!

save the ta ta's cupcakes

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Queen Guinevere Cupcakes
(recipe on the back of the bag)

2 3/4 cups Queen Guinevere Cake Flour (King Arthur Flour)

1 1/2 cps + 2 tablespoons sugar; superfine sugar is best

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) softened unsalted butter

4 large egg whites + 1 whole large egg

1 cup full fat vanilla yogurt or 1 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Mix all the dry ingredients for 2 minutes on low speed, to blend and aerate. Add the soft butter and mix into a paste. Add the egg whites, then the whole egg, beating after after each addition to begin building the structure of the cake. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl periodically.

In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt (or milk), with the vanilla and almond extracts. Add that mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the egg mixture. Beat 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Pour the batter into 24 lined muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 2o minutes. Remove from the oven, cool, and frost.

 Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

adapted from Sky High

4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
red food coloring to desired shade of pink

Whirl all of the frosting ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spread on with a small offset spatula or pipe onto cupcakes.

enjoy!

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don't forget to schedule your mammogram!

Zucchini and Fresh Herb Fritters

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adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Serves 4

The only thing I changed was to use fresh spinach in place of the basil (marjoram) and parsley, because I had a bunch on hand...it was fabulous!!!

Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 pounds green or golden zucchini, coarsely grated
3 eggs, beaten (for a vegan recipe, substitute 1/3 cup pureed silken tofu)
1 bunch scallions, including 2 inches of greens
1 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped marjoram or basil
1/2 cup or more half and half
olive oil as needed (don't use too much)

1. Lightly salt the zucchini and set it aside in a colander to drain for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients together except for oil and pepper. Quickly rinse the zucchini, squeeze out the excess water, then stir it into the batter. Season generously with pepper.

2. Film two large skillets with olive oil. When hot, drop in the batter (1/3 cup makes a fritter about 4 inches across), and cook over medium heat until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook the second side. Serve hot with salsa, sour cream, applesauce or creme fraiche.

 

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Banana Birthday Cake

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Adapted generously from  smitten kitchen

Makes two 9-inch layers

3 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups mashed or pureed very ripe bananas (5 to 6 large)
6 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper, then coat the paper and sides of pans with butter and flour, or a nonstick spray.

Whisk cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, then bananas, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients in two additions just until combined. Divide batter among two pans.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center of each layer comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool each layer in its pan for 15 minutes before flipping out onto a rack to cool the rest of the way.

Quickest Fudge Buttercream Frosting

Adapted generously from here

Makes approximately 5 cups frosting
4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (no need to sift)
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons half-and-half or whole milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

Whirl all of the frosting ingredients except the melted chocolate in a food processor until smooth. Add the chocolate and whirl it until light and smooth.

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 bon appetit!

Warm Sweet Potato and Black Bean Salad

inspired by Mark Bittman

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Last fall Mark Bittman featured something similar in his Minimalist column, it was amazing and I have been eating variations of it ever since. This recipe is really a blank canvas, I am leaving you with my version, but feel free to play around with it, it is amazingly flexible.  It is wonderful with arugula and ricotta salata, delicious with spinach and feta, bibb and Gorgonzola, spice it up with jalapeno or yellow peppers. Should you have any left overs, it rocks cold the next day.

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can of black beans (rinse and drained
chopped basil or cilantro

dressing:
2 limes, 1 zested, both juiced
4 Tbs. olive oil, divided
a whisper of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sugar

toppings:
4 oz. salty fresh cheese (feta, chevre, ricotta salata or blue cheese)
scattering of pumpkin seeds

a cozy bed of greens (spinach, arugula, bibb or butter, mixed greens)

Preheat oven to 450°.  Place rack on bottom level.
Toss cubed sweet potatoes with 2 Tbs. olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp. kosher salt.  Roast at 450°, about 15 minutes, or until fragrant and caramelizing on bottoms.  Toss gently with a flat metal spatula, turning most over.  Return to oven to roast another 10-15 minutes, or until gorgeous brown and tender.

Meanwhile, drain and rinse beans, and place in a medium bowl.  Chop basil and add to beans.  Crumble cheese and set aside.  Make a cozy bed with the greens on serving dish.

For the dressing, combine zest of one lime, juice of both limes, olive oil, red hot pepper flakes, sugar, and a dash of salt in a jar.  Shake it up, baby.

When potatoes are done, add them to the beans and basil.  Sprinkle the dressing over the bean/sweet-potato mixture (you may not need it all), and toss gently to coat.  Place bean/sweet-potato mixture over greens, top with ricotta and pumpkin seeds...inhale!

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bon appetit!