Banana Pecan Torte

I know it's been awhile, and I apologize to those of you who like to take the time to come here and look for new recipes! It's great to be back, baking something new to share with everyone!

To start off, as mentioned in my earlier banana-related posts, I'm sure there's many of us out there who seem to have ripening bananas that we can't get rid of any faster. And I'm also pretty sure there are many of us out there who are sick of using them to make banana bread!

Well, I was going through one of my recipe books, The Taste of Home Baking Book, and went through the index looking for all things starting with banana to try and change things up. When I turned to the page of this recipe, the first thing that caught my eye was the picture of the 3-layer cake. Anything with layers and frosting makes me excited because it looks impressive. Well I'm happy to say, that it not only looks good, it tastes good too! The torte turned out to be moist and there were just the right amount of pecans. The cream cheese frosting was not so strong because it was mixed with butter, and the frosting really complemented the banana flavor of the cake. If you're not a fan of pecans or you don't have any, you can always substitute with walnuts and it would taste just as amazing!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup  butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3-4 medium)
• 2 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Frosting:

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla flavoring

Topping:

• Toasted chopped pecans

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Beat in bananas and vanilla.

You may need to use more or less bananas depending on their size. Make sure you  have 2 cups! I had to use about 4  medium sized bananas.

4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately  with buttermilk. 

5. Stir in pecans.

Make sure to toast your pecans for a few minutes in the oven  at about 300 degrees F. Do not  leave them any longer than a few minutes because nuts get burned very quickly!

6. Pour into three greased and floured 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. 

These have been greased with butter and lightly floured. 

Make sure you fill all 3 cake pans evenly!

7. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

8. For the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla. Spread between the layers and over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with pecans. Store in the refrigerator.

Banana Nut Muffins

It's been one of those days again...a day when there's bananas going bad and you have to think desperately what to do with them so they don't have to be thrown away. Well, lucky for those of us out there who face this problem often (I know I do), there's tons of great recipes out there for bananas. I have a few that I want to try out. But today, I decided to try this muffin since it makes for a nice breakfast and something you can have with tea or coffee. All I have to say is, these are super moist and delicious...you cannot go wrong with making these! The recipe is from the Food Network website...here's the link: Banana Nut Muffins: Tyler Florence. For an extra pop and more yummy flavor, I added chocolate chips in a few muffins...chocolate and banana = the perfect combo. Also, I didn't have pecans, so I substituted them with walnuts. Pecans or Walnuts, with or without chocolate chips, it doesn't matter...these are amazing. Enjoyyy =)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 overripe bananas
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and prepare a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. 

3. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. Put aside. 

4. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining 2 bananas and brown sugar together for a good 3 minutes. 

5. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. 

6. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.

7. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. 

8. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

9. Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. 

10. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tip: Add chocolate chips to make it even more yummy:

Banana Nut Cheesecake

I probably wouldn't have tried making this cheesecake if it wasn't for one of my cousins who said he really loved it and was wondering if I ever made it before. So one day, we invited them over for dinner and I made it for dessert. I'm actually glad I did because it's one of my favorite cheesecakes now and it turned out REALLY good. I didn't have a recipe for this cheesecake at hand or in my baking books, so I searched for one on the Internet and I came across a winner on the website for "Taste of Home." You can get the recipe by clicking on this link: Banana Cheesecake Recipe.
When I made this cheesecake, I didn't actually follow all of the recipe. I did the crust differently, and I also put different toppings. The recipe for the crust is actually from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. As for the topping, I crushed some walnuts, toasted them, and sprinkled them on top in addition to drizzling the slices with caramel sauce. Yummm!

 Ingredients:
Crust-

• 1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup walnuts (toasted and finely chopped)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp (or 1/2 stick) butter, melted

Filling-

• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla

1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Stir the graham cracker crumbs, chopped walnuts, sugar, and salt together in a bowl and mix with melted butter. All of the dry ingredients should be moist, and it's best to mix with your fingers. Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and pat down an even layer of crumbs over the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Put the pan in the freezer while preheating the oven for 10 minutes. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Then place the springform pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while making the cheesecake.

2. For the filling, combine the bananas and lemon juice; set aside.

3. Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until smooth.

4. Add the eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.

5. Stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and banana mixture. Pour into the crust. Place the pan in a baking pan filled halfway with water and bake at the 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until the center is almost set. When the cheesecake is done, turn off the oven, prop open the oven door, and let the cheesecake sit for another hour in its water bath.

6. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let cool before refrigerating the cheesecake for 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, top with toasted (chopped) walnuts, a drizzle of caramel or chocolate sauce, and a dollop of whipped cream!

(I'm sorry about the horrible quality of the pictures, but at the time I made this, my digital camera wasn't working so I had to use my phone camera.)

Coconut-Banana Sundae Cake

So now that I'm done with school and I had a few bananas getting overripe and about to go really bad, I turned to one of my favorite baking books for a good recipe I could make. The credit for this cake goes to the recipe "Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake" from the book Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The cake turned out very yummy, looked delicious (it's a two-layer), I saved four bananas from going in the trash, AND I had lots of fun playing around with the cake when dressing it up.

Although it doesn't say it in the recipe, I filled and drizzled the cake with chocolate ganache and topped it with maraschino cherries. But, I did follow the suggestion of frosting it with whipped cream. Basically, the cake reminded me of a sundae and that led me to give the cake a new name, hence the title. Now that I think about it, you can even top it with chopped nuts!

This cake has a lot of ingredients, so I suggest gathering everything you need before you start (I actually do this anytime I bake so nothing is accidentally forgotten).

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar (or you can use granulated sugar)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (you should have 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)
• 1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk, whole milk, buttermilk, sour cream, or plain yogurt (Note: I love this recipe because of the fact that you can choose from a variety of options in case you don't have one of the ingredients - I used sour cream when I made it)
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, preferably toasted (or an equal amound of moist, plump dried fruit, such as currants, raisins, chopped apricots, cranberries, blueberries, or halved cherries, or a combination of coconut and dried fruit - Note: I used only coconut)
  

1. To get ready, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans, dust the insides with flour, and tap out the excess. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg together.

3. Working with a stand mixer, preferrably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.


4. Add the sugars and beat at medium speed for a couple of minutes, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. You should have a satiny batter.


5. Now lower the speed and add the bananas - the batter will curdle, but that's fine; it will come together as you add the remaining ingredients.


6. Still on low speed, add the dry and liquid ingredients alternately, add the flour mixture in 3 portions and the coconut milk (or whatever liquid you used - remember to begin and end with the dry ingredients).


7. Mix just until everything is incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently stir in the coconut. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.

8. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the cakes are a deep golden brown. They should start to pull away from the sides of the pans and a thin knife inserted into their centers will come out clean.


9. Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold and invert onto another rack to cool to room temperature right side up.

10. You can fill and frost the cakes with a variety of frostings, but as mentioned before, I chose to fill it with chocolate ganache and topped it with sweetened whipped cream. You can find the recipes for both below.

After we dug in! :

In fact, you don't even have to frost it because you can serve one layer sprinkled with confectioner's sugar accompanied by ice cream or whipped cream and/or hot fudge sauce. The fun is that it's totally up to you!
The cake will stay at room temperature for 4 days, but if you frost it with whipped cream, make sure it stays refrigerated!

Chocolate Ganache Recipe (Makes about 1 cup)

Ingredients:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 stick (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into little pieces, at room temperature

1. Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, then pour half of the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds.


2. Working with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the center of the bowl and working your way out in increasingly larger concentric circles. Pour in the remainder of the cream and blend it into the chocolate, using the same circular motions.

3. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in the butter piece by piece. Don't stir the ganache any more than you must to blend the ingredients - the less you work it, the darker, smoother, and shinier it will be.


4. After it's done, let it sit until it thickens to the desired consistency.

Note: It can be tightly covered and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Let the ganache stand at room temperature to bring it back to the consistency you need; stir gently before using. You can warm it in very short spurts (5 seconds each) in a microwave, or put the ganache in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Whipped Cream Recipe (Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients:
1 cup very cold heavy cream
1-5 tbsp confectioner's sugar (to taste), sifted
1/2 -1 tsp vanilla (to taste, optional)

Working with stand mixer and whisk attachment or hand mixer, beat the cream and sugar together just until the cream starts to thicken. Start beating the cream slowly - don't rush the process - and inrease the speed as the cream gains texture. Continue to beat until the cream reaches the desired consistency (high peaks for a consistency to frost the cake). Make sure to not overbeat or else the whipped cream will become grainy and look like it will sepearate. When it is just about ready to be at the right consistence, quickly beat in the vanilla.

Classic Banana Bundt Cake

Before I provide the recipe, I just want to remind those that are not as familiar with baking that a bundt cake is made in what is known as a "bundt pan"...it is a special ringed tube pan that has ridges in the inside (or "fluted sides") that give the cake a pretty shape when it is done. They are also very large and are able to hold a lot of batter. Therefore, they take a longer time to bake and usually develop a delicious crust on top when they are done. When checking to see if the cake is done, it won't work to insert a normal toothpick since the cake is so big and tall- you will need a long tester. This cake was very moist, dense, and had an irresistable banana flavor! I enjoyed eating it for breakfast as well as having it as a late night indulgence with a glass of milk

Note: The recipe is from Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Makes 14 servings- Cut into thick slices- Can be served with coffee, tea, milk, or milkshakes
For storing, wrapped airtight, the cake will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
• About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (you should have 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9- to 10- inch (12 cup) Bundt pan.
Note: If you are using a silicone Bundt pan, there's no need to butter it. Also, do not place the pan on a baking sheet- you want the oven's heat to circulate through the Bundt's inner tube.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.

3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy.

4. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy.

5. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in.

6. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas.

7. Finally, mix in half of the dry ingredients (don't be disturbed when the batter curdles), all of the sour cream or yogurt, and then the rest of the flour mixture.

8. Scrape the batter into the pan, rap the pan on the counter to debubble the batter and smooth the top.

9. Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Note: Check the cake after about 30 minutes- if it is browning too quickl, cover it loosely with a foil tent.

10. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.
Note: If you've got the time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow it to sit on the counter overnight before serving- it's better the next day.