Recipe Share

Cake? I think I will! For more about my thoughts on cake, click here.

Today, I'll be sharing the recipe for this beauty:

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Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
From Food.com, with modifications and notes from Jane at This Week for Dinner
- 1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed (Jane note: mash the bananas REALLY WELL...no lumps!) - 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 1/8 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Frosting
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened - 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ~3 1/2 – 4 cups powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 300°
Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan or two 9-inch round pans. (Jane note: For the round pans, I actually had some leftover batter – you want to fill the pans up about halfway – the cake grows when cooking)
In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture.
Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cakes are lightly browned.
Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. (Jane note: if you are making two rounds, let them cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, pop them out of the pan onto cooling racks, THEN put in the freezer. The original recipe claims this immediate freezing step will make the cake very moist...I also like doing this because then my cake is ready to be frosted more quickly.)
For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 teaspoon
vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth. (Jane note: the recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar...I used a bit more butter and I didn’t measure the sugar as I added it – just kept adding until it was the right consistency.) Spread on cooled cake. 
Enjoy!

Mid-Week Cake Break

Break up the week with cake!

Delicious Apple Cake
4 cups diced apples (we use Macs and Galas)
2 cups sugar (yowza!)
1/2 cup oil (we use canola)
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
Pour into a greased bundt pan and bake at 350 ˚ F for 1 hour.

Enjoy with the beverage and company of your choice!

Making Connections

I'm sniffing out some leads on potential local connections for our book this week...via a local author and her illustrator and publisher.

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!  I'll be back with the report later this week.

And tomorrow in the kitchen - Fresh Raspberry Bars - summer in a baking dish.

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Starting on a Sweet Note

Busy-Day Chocolate Cake 
Before we even get started, how about a recipe for delicious, easy chocolate cake?  Thought so.

• Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 cup cold water
• 
  
• Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking pan, whisk together all-purpose flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and coarse salt.  

Make a well in center of flour mixture and add vegetable oil, pure vanilla extract, white vinegar, and cold water. Whisk until well combined. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

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