Banana Streusel Snack Cake and friends...

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines friendship as "...as distinctively personal relationship that is grounded in a concern on the part of each friend for the welfare of the other, for the other's sake, and that involves some degree of intimacy." The concept of comradeship has been on my mind for numerous months now. I have finally concluded that a wonderful friendship contains mutual caring, intimacy, and shared interests.

For me, mutual caring is the method that I use to say: “I love you”. While, I may not have the courage to tell one in person I try to make sure that the people I care about can feel it. I persistently try to give without ever expecting anything in return. Only when we offer without expectations can one truly enjoy the gift of honest camaraderie.

With certain people, friendship is instantaneously, like my friend K, E, and S. With You, I wanted to be your friend immediately. I found delight in the way you titled your head to the left with a crooked smile and giggled at my dumb jokes. That is why “I loved you”, but you also inspired me with your joys, successes, frustrations, and failures. I want to jump for joy when you are feeling bliss and hold your hand when you are sorrowful. Because I believe when life is disheartening and we can only feel our own misery is when our true friends come to our aid without asking.

Furthermore, it is during the arduous times that an intimacy develops between friends. You shared with me the difficulties of your life. My heart broke when you said all you wanted was “unconditional love”. Like a good ally, I promised you exactly that ...unconditional love. I am sorry that I failed you.

In the beginning of our friendship, I truly believed I was strong enough to weather any storms you had. I wanted to be your life preserver the way K, E, and S had been for me. You asked me not to let you go; but I did. Forgive me, for I was weak and let others influence me about you and I …regret it.

I will continue to believe in your ideas because you have promise and that is a beautiful quality in a friend. I will always remember lovingly how much you smiled when you talked about your dreams and aspirations. When you spoke, your eyes gleamed with happiness, as is if they could no longer contain the joy and pride you felt. I wish I could have captured that moment.

In addition, I should have disclosed to you that not only do we share a zeal for cooking; but also that we have the same family structure and up bringing. However, I was too scared to tell you. It is for those reasons that I do understand where you are coming from even if I cannot admit it aloud to myself.

In any case, I know you are strong enough and capable of overcoming any adversary because you are trained to do so. For I know that you have moved on, but I wanted you to know that you were right about everything concerning true friendship.

Finally, I baked this banana cake with you in mind. It is rich, buttery, and travels well. Should it need to trek many, many, many miles from here. It would be my pleasure to ship this cake anywhere ...just for you.

PRINT: BANANA SNACK CAKE

Banana Bundt Cake

As you may have already guessed by reading this blog; is that I love to bake. Yet, I never share the really simple recipes that my family and friends love.

For example, this bundt cake is utterly moist and full of banana flavor. It will last forever in the fridge without drying out. I love it warm with a glass of soy milk or cold with a cup of hot coffee.

Despite how much I heart bundt cakes, I have only posted one bundt cake recipe so far. Shame on me. Especially since they always bring a smile to my face.

Every single time I bake a bundt cake I think about my mom and a particular scene from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". My mom loves-loves bundt cakes. To her a bundt cake is "real cake". No fancy icings to hide a bland, dry, and over priced cake. I guess you can say, bundt cakes are the "salt of the earth" cakes.

For me, bundt cake recipes are reliable, honestly delicious, large enough to share and show kindness with a slice. Just like my mom's love.

Print Recipe: Banana Bundt Cake
One Year Ago:Fruit Financiers

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

I just wanted to say "thank you" to everyone who left a comment for the Pineapple Jerky giveaway. And now for the moment everyone has been waiting for. The winner is ...Jenn from a "A Day in the Life..." !

I used Random (dot) Org to generate the winning number. Jenn when you have time, shoot me an e-mail so you can collect your Pineapple Jerky.

I can see you looking at the muffins. I know you're thinking "...banana muffins? Been there done that." Yes, that maybe true; but have you had banana muffins with espresso?

At first, I was unsure at how well the banana and espresso would pair together. I finally gave in to my curiosity and made the muffins. The espresso adds a nice element to the muffins. Personally, I think the espresso made the brown sugar and chocolate more pronounced in the muffins. [Which made the muffins special for me.]

I really enjoyed my squat little muffins. In case you're wondering go ahead and divide the batter evenly without fear of "overflow". These little guys don't rise too high. The recipe is from the book titled "Baked" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. [Great book by the way!]

PRINT RECIPE: BANANA ESPRESSO...
ONE YEAR AGO: BANANA DULCE DE LECHE CAKE

Banana Cake with Praline Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

It's that time again where The Cake Slice bakers are baking up layers and layers of cake from Sky High:Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alsia Huntsman and Peter Wynne.

I wanted to rename this post ...the cake that should had never been baked!

The cake itself was a breeze to put together. It baked up beautifully. The batter was splendid. The couple of crumbs of cake I snagged were heavenly. Next, I had to make candied pecans.

I managed to make them without the need of burn lotions or a fire extinguisher. Super awesome!

Then I had to make a white chocolate ganache. The first time it "curdled" and no matter how long I whipped it never came together. Attempt number two, yielded a whipped cream with shards of white chocolate mixed in. This is where I started to lose my mojo.

For the third attempt, I decided to heat all the cream and then pour it over the chocolate. I whisked the ganache until it was smooth and glossy. When the ganache cooled I whipped it up. And it came together like a dream. Oh, wait I forgot to add vanilla! I hurry over to the cabinet and grab caramel extract! DOH!

Hence the beige icing. I dip a spoon into the ganache and surprisingly it's quite delish. So, I go about icing my cake and adding decorative pecans on top. I look at my little cake and say "...awe your cute!".

I immediately call my friend Izzie and ask her if she and her husband would like to have coffee and dessert with me. She says yes! I turn around and assemble the cake box I bought earlier in the week. I then grab the cake and proceed to walk it over to the box when I hear ...splat!

That was my mojo saying "...peace out Gigi! And by the way, your cake is on the floor." Yes, the cake fell to its death on the floor ...face down.

If you would like to know what all components of this cake tasted like together then head on over to The Cake Slice. Where you'll find dozens and dozens of beautifully baked up triple layer cakes.

Print: Banana Cake with Praline Filling and White Chocolate Ganache
One Year Ago: Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Banana Dulce De Leche Cake

You didn’t think I would have a BBQ party without serving dessert? Of course, I served dessert. After everyone ate their burgers on freshly made hamburger buns, I brought out a banana cake filled with dulce de leche and iced with a mascarpone frosting. I served the cake with iced coffee because lately it’s been very warm here in Southern California. Everyone enjoyed the cake especially the icing. I was a little worried that my guests would think that the mascarpone icing would be a little too tangy. As it turned out my worries were unfounded.

The cake is a rich banana cake made tender by the sour cream in the batter. The original recipe calls for a banana filling as well, but I decided against that. I had a jar of dulce de leche left over from my last vacation in Mexico.

In Mexico, the best dulce de leche is from the state of Guanajuato. In addition, it is not called dulce de leche. Its proper name is cajeta and is packaged in little wooden boxes. You can have it made with goat’s milk, cow’s milk, or a mixture of both.

My grandmother (father’s side) is from Guanajuato and I have spent many summers there. At the local bakery, they had a toast that was extremely dry and it had a “cream cheese” spread on top. We used to buy the toast and then drizzle cajeta over it. Seriously … unbelievably good!

Well, I am going to have to wait until June to replenish my stash of dulce de leche and other goodies I purchase in Mexico. (Stef-I a put a post it in my passport so I remember to bring you dulce de leche.) Finally, the recipe.

Mascarpone Icing

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook
Makes one 9-inch layer cake
1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 2/3 cups of sugar
2 ¾ cups of all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of salt
3 very ripe bananas mashed
¼ cup of sour cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla
4 large eggs
¾ cup of dulce de leche (cajeta)

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper and dust the pans with flour; tapping out the excess. Into a medium bowl sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a small bowl mash together the bananas, vanilla and sour cream; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar (medium speed) until fluffy and light. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly after each addition. With the mixer on low speed add the flour in two batches. Using a rubber spatula fold in the banana mixture.

Divide the batter among the pans evenly. Bake rotating the pans halfway through until cakes are golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes on to the racks and remove parchment paper. Reinvert cakes, and cool completely.

Once the cakes are cooled, spread the dulce de leche on one of the layers. Place the remaining layer on top and ice with the mascarpone icing. I had a little extra dulce de leche left in the jar and I drizzled that over the top of the cake.

Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Sorry for the delay. Vacation was great, but I came home with pneumonia. Yikes! Not a fun time. I am feeling much better than I look (so, I keep telling myself). Listen girls, if you need to drop 10-15 pounds in a week the pneumonia diet is the way to go (just kidding!). Since I was feeling much better and had dropped a couple of pounds, I was thinking it was time for an indulgent cupcake. I had wanted to make banana muffins or bread but, it just didn't satisfy the indulgence factor I was looking for. Banana chocolate chip cupcakes? ....mmm? No. Banana cupcakes with a dark bittersweet ganache topped with a rich cream cheese peanut butter icing? YES! The banana cupcake recipe and the ganache is from Kara's cupcake. Kara's recipe calls for a cream cheese icing but I wanted to make it even richer, so I added peanut butter (1/2 cup). The recipe is located at the bottom of the article, so scroll all the way down and enjoy.

Hummingbird Cupcakes

This week I organized all the recipes I ever ripped out of magazines or have collected from various websites.

As I flipped through binders of recipes, looking for a Mother's Day type of dessert, I came across"HummingbirdCupcakes".

Hummingbird cake is a banana cake, with pineapple, coconut and walnuts in the batter. They were really delicious and all 15 of my taste testers agreed!

The cupcakes are iced with a cream cheese icing and topped with a dried pineapple slice. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!


Hummingbird Cupcakes

(Martha Stewart)
24 cupcakes

3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of butter, melted and cooled
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of sugar
3 eggs
2 cups mashed banana
8oz of drained crushed pineapple
1 cup of walnuts
1 cup coconut

1.Preheat the oven to 350F. Line cupcake pan with liners. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda; set aside.

2.In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, vanilla, and sugar for 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat for 3 minutes.

3.In a medium bowl mix banana, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts. Add to the egg mixture and mix well. Slowly add the flour.

4.Fill the liners 2/3 full and bake for 25-28 minutes. Cool cupcakes before icing.