Banana Cake

I happen to not like bananas much.  I'm a texture sensitive eater, and bananas score quite poorly with my particularness.  It takes a large amount of peanut butter to accompany a banana if I'm going to eat one straight out of the peel.

Yet, I do like banana flavor.  I eat half of one (frozen) with each smoothie I drink, So, I guess you could say our relationship is fussy, but not terrible.

This past weekend I made a banana cake for my mom's birthday party with a recipe that she has used before and had great success.  Her favorite cake is the Beaverton Bakery banana cake, and we all agree that this cake is as good, if not better than it.

The recipe is based off of one from Cooking Light, but the ingredients have been altered a bit in order to make a larger cake.  This one feeds 16-20 people.

Banana Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
3/4 cup buttermilk


frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk


remaining ingredients:

4 tbsp finely chopped pecans, toasted
4 tbsp flaked sweetened coconut, toasted



Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make cake, coat two 9 inch round cake pans with cooking spray.  Line each pan bottom with parchment paper, and spray paper with cooking spray too.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Stir well with a whisk.  Put granulated sugar, oil, vanilla extract, egg whites, and egg into a mixing bowl with paddle attachment.  Beat well.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-37 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes on wire racks then remove from pans.  Peel off parchment paper and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with a paddle attachment until well blended.

Once the cake layers have cooled, place the first layer on a cake plate and put 1/2 cup or so of frosting on top and smooth it over the first layer.  Then add the second layer and finish frosting the entire cake.

Once frosted sprinkle the toasted pecans and coconut on top.  Keep cake covered and refrigerated until serving.

Enjoy!

Oh, and of course, you can serve this with a spot of ice cream or whipping cream.  I take mine with whipping cream because I'm addicted to that stuff.  It's my kryptonite.

Bacon Mac and Cheese

Yo, yo, yo, I'm back and I'm sorry.  Life sorta grabbed me by the throat and shook me around for the past few weeks.

When I was a child, my mom was a real health nut.  We were the only family on the block to eat whole wheat bread, non-sugar cereals, homemade soups and sauces and very little processed food.  So, I spent my childhood craving everything I couldn't have.  Gimme some good old Wonder bread, processed cheese slices and a can of Pepsi and I would have thought I'd found nirvana.

One processed food item my mom did purchase, on occasion, was macaroni and cheese.  But, she bought the more fancy one that had the cheese in a prepared pouch that was already cheese-like, instead of the kind with the powdered cheese that you added water to.  I loved it.  It was something she might serve along side a hamburger patty and salad.

When I had kids, I bought the same type of macaroni and cheese and they scoffed.  They preferred the one with the powdered cheese, and, well, my high-flatulent palate could not handle such nastiness, so I pretty much stopped eating mac and cheese, until...I started making it from scratch.

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman, but I do change some things in it, to make it more to our family's liking.

Bacon Mac and Cheese

4 cups macaroni noodles
1/4-1/2 of a red onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 4oz can chopped green chilies
1 cup frozen corn
1 heaping cup of grated pepper jack cheese (I have substituted sharp cheddar for this and it's still good)
1 spoonful of minced garlic
1 cup heavy cream
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
4-6 stripes of cooked bacon, crumbled


Boil pasta until al dente.

In a large skillet (use cast iron if you can!) saute the onions, pepper, garlic and corn in some olive oil on medium heat for a few minutes.  Add chilies and stir.  Take off heat.

Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet.  Pour in cream and cheese.  Give it a good stir to let it all melt and get gooey.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add crumbled bacon and mix.  

You can serve this as a side dish, or a main dish.  Sometimes, I make it a little early in the day, and I cover the cast iron skillet with aluminium foil and keep it warm in the oven until dinner.  It does well as a left over for the next few days if you refrigerate the remaining amount.