Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

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Up until a few months ago, I always made banana bread with my over-ripe bananas. I love banana bread, but – I love banana cake even more. To be honest, the cake itself isn’t that much different than banana bread. It’s less dense, and a little bit sweeter. And, of course there’s the cream cheese icing slathered on the top – which certainly sets it apart from the pack.

It’s a cake your grandmother probably would have made; not the fanciest, but what it lacks in decoration – it makes up for in flavor. I’m thinking that it would be wonderful to substitute pumpkin for banana come October for a fall twist! If you’ve got some bananas on their last leg in the fruit bowl, or some tucked away in the freezer – pass up the smoothie or your other old-standby to give this delicious cake a try. You might just have a new favorite!

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

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
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

For the 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)
Walnut halves, for decorating

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

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the bananas, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  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.

To make the frosting, 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.

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

Source: adapted from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten

Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes

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Becky, an old friend from high school came across a recipe for a Mexican spiced chocolate cupcake a few weeks ago, and passed the recipe along to me. I couldn’t wait to try them! A heavy dose of delicious spices are added to the batter to make them sing of spice. It’s funny how spice can be like that, isn’t it? Spicy doesn’t necessarily mean hot!

Ancho chile powder for a punch of smoke, cayenne pepper for a little bit of heat, and of course cinnamon to round everything out and kick the spice factor into the next stratosphere. These cupcakes were very different, but very well received. The first and foremost thing you taste is definitely the cinnamon – but the other additions are there, simmering on the back burner. The original recipe called for a ganache topping, but I opted for a buttercream instead, and loved the outcome!

If you have a hard time finding ancho chile powder, do what I do – and just grind your own. Dried peppers are a great thing to have on hand in your pantry. A ton of flavor, and they never go bad! If you’re looking for something different, try these cupcakes – they won’t disappoint!

Mayan Chocolate Cupcakes

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa
1/3 cup freshly brewed coffee
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/3 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cinnamon sticks, for garnish (optional)

For the frosting:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Line one 12-cup standard muffin tin with cupcake liners. Combine the butter, cocoa, coffee and 1/3 cup water in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high until the butter melts, about 1 minute.  Whisk to combine.

Meanwhile, whisk the flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, ancho powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cayenne in a large bowl.  Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.  Whisk the hot cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients.  Stir in the sour cream mixture just to combine; don’t overmix.
Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds of the way full with batter.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack in the tin for 10 minutes, and then remove from the tin.  Cool on the rack completely.

To make the frosting, cream butter in an electric mixer on medium-speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Then add cocoa powder, ancho powder, and cinnamon and mix on low-speed until combined.  Gradually add in the milk and powdered sugar, alternately, until combined.  Then beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, another 3-5 minutes.  (Add in more powdered sugar if consistency is too thin). Frost cupcakes as desired, and garnish with a half a cinnamon stick.

Yields: about 12 cupcakes

Source: cupcake recipe from Food Network, frosting adapted from Gimme Some Oven.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

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Fresh strawberry pie has been a summer staple in my house for what seems like forever. But, I always took shortcuts – premade graham cracker crust and the tub o’ glaze that you usually find sitting next to the berries. Still good, but deep down I yearned to make one completely from scratch. So, when we had that large haul of strawberries a couple weeks ago – I turned to my trusty friends at Cook’s Illustrated, and did just that.

Aaand, I can safely say, I’ll never go back to the pre-made ingredients. Being accustomed to graham cracker for so long, I was afraid that the strawberry pie and pastry crust wouldn’t “mesh well”. So wrong! The crust was perfect. Just the right amount of sweetness, it reminded me of shortbread. Also, it held up under the weight of all those glorious strawberries. The graham crust would always buckle upon serving the first slice. The glaze was glorious as well, using a combination of pureed berries to achieve that gorgeous red color, as well as a small amount of low-sugar pectin (make sure you get the pink box!) to get it to set-up slightly. Then you toss it with big juicy berries, pile them into into the blind baked crust – perfection. I liked serving mine with a little dollop of sweetened whipped cream on top.

I can’t say for certain, as the months are still young, but I think this may just be one of my favorite desserts this summer!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

For the Baked Pie Shell:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch slices
¼ cup chilled vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
¼ cup ice water

For the Filling:
4 pints (about 3 pounds) fresh strawberries, gently rinsed and dried, hulled
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1½ teaspoons Sure-Jell for low-sugar recipes (the pink box)
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice

To make the pie crust, process ¾ cup flour, salt and sugar together in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrap down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add ½ cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into a medium bowl.

Sprinkle the water over the mixture. With a rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured work surface to 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick. Roll dough loosely around a rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Working around circumference, ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with 1 hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave overhanging dough in place; refrigerate until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

Trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of pie plate. Fold overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Flute dough or press tines of fork against dough to flatten against rim of pie plate. Refrigerate dough-lined plate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Remove pie plate from refrigerator and use a fork to prick the bottom of the dough. Line the crust with foil, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes.

To make the filling, select 6 ounces misshapen, underripe, or otherwise unattractive berries, halving those that are large; you should have about 1½ cups. In a food processor, process the berries to a smooth puree, 20 to 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, Sure-Jell, and salt in a medium saucepan. Stir in the berry puree, making sure to scrape the corners of the pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, and bring to a full boil. Boil, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent scorching, for 2 minutes to ensure that the cornstarch is fully cooked (mixture will appear frothy when it first reaches a boil, then will darken and thicken with further cooking). Transfer to a large bowl and stir in lemon juice. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, pick over the remaining berries and measure out 2 pounds of the most attractive ones; halve only extra-large berries. Add the berries to the bowl with the glaze and fold gently with a rubber spatula until the berries are evenly coated. Scoop the berries into the pie shell, piling into a mound. If any cut sides face up on top, turn them face down. If necessary, rearrange the berries so that holes are filled and the mound looks attractive. Refrigerate pie until chilled, about 2 hours. Serve within 5 hours of chilling.

Source:  Cook’s Illustrated May/June 2011, via Brown Eyed  Baker

Strawberry Chipotle Jam

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It’s been a trying week in my kitchen, and it’s only Wednesday. To start out the weekend, I discovered the door to our stand up freezer in the basement was left ajar for a couple of days. It needed a good cleaning out anyways, but still, talk about a waste. Then, to make matters worse, when cooking dinner on Friday evening – the propane tank that fuels the cook top ran out. We only have to have it filled once a year, and I guess it just slipped my mind. That meant going until Monday without a propane delivery. Thankfully, we have a beast of a grill with a handy side burner. It’s saved our butts more times than I can count when we’ve been without electricity for an extended period of time.

However, one thing that I couldn’t do on my trusty grill was preserve the 15 lbs of strawberries we picked on Saturday afternoon. So, we went over to my Mom’s house yesterday to can, and it was a great afternoon. Mom always enjoys spending time with the boys, and it was nice not to have them pulling on my apron strings when I was in the process of canning. Hot jars + boiling water + toddlers just makes me nervous!

I couldn’t be happier with how this jam turned out. At first taste, it’s pure delicious strawberry.  But, comin’ up from behind is a lovely smokey, slow burn from the chipotles. I intended to do one batch of this, and one batch of a traditional strawberry jam. But, I loved this so much that I went ahead and did a double batch. I can’t wait to try it mixed into BBQ sauce, brushed onto grilled pork, or making a fun dipping sauce for coconut shrimp. Definitely plan on entering this one into my local fair come August!

Strawberry Chipotle Jam

6 cups strawberries, washed and halved
1 (7 oz) can chipotle chiles in adobo (I used about 3/4 of a can)
6 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin

In a food processor or blender, process the chilis and berries in a food processor (pulse), being careful not to over process, you want some pieces of berry. Pour berry mixture, lemon juice, and pectin into a large pot.

Cook, over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until mixture comes to a boil. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Return to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

Immediately pour the hot jam into hot jars and put the lids on. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Source: adapted from SB Canning and The Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving