Banana Poppy Seed Cake

We're starting again with the bananas! This time, I've bitten off way more than I can chew. Last week, I took an entire bunch of bananas and they've finally gone bad. Except now I dont know what to do with them. Ive already made banana everything. I might have to start repeating... Anyway, when I got home from Shabbat in Alon Shvut, the first thing I did was turn on the oven to make a dent in the bunch. Ive been flipping through all my cookbooks in search of promising banana recipes. Having struck gold last time with Flo Braker's banana snack cake, I decided to try her recipe for Banana Poppy Seed Cake, since I had everything on hand. The cake is really easy to put together and when baked in a ten inch round springform pan bakes up really quickly. I made the lemon glaze a bit skeptically. I'm always afraid to bake things that have a more sophisticated flavor profile because Im never sure that my girls will enjoy anything other than chocolate. So I was incredibly surprised when this cake mostly disappeared in about ten minutes, receiving glowing reviews. No one complained about the poppy seeds, which I think contribute a beautiful appearance and the lemon glaze which, although nervous about, was in perfect balance with the flavor of the bananas. This quite an elegant tea cake. It would be lovely at the end of a heavy dinner, with tea and coffee. I also personally love the look of cakes baked in round springforms. They look so delicate and sophisticated. I really should make them more often. Theyre a great alternative to the ubiquitous bundt. For now though, its back to the banana drawing board.

Banana Poppy Seed Cake

from Baking for All Occasions

Cake:

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 1/2 tsp poppy seeds

3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/3 cup well shaken buttermilk

1 stick unsalted butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp poppy seeds

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a ten inch springform pan with non stick spray. Set aside.
Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and poppy seeds in a bowl.
Whisk to combine. Set aside.
In a small bowl place the mashed bananas and buttermilk.
Whisk to combine.
In another bowl, place the margarine and sugar.
Beat or mix to cream. I usually take the lazy way out by using a plastic bag as a glove and mix things that way. I hate dirtying my hand mixer when I dont have to. Thats how I mash bananas, too.
Add the eggs one at a time,
blending well after each addition.
Add the banana/buttermilk mixture,
and mix. The mixture will look curdled at this point but thats okay.
Add the dry ingredients,
and stir to make a uniform batter.Pour into the pan and spread to all of the edges. Bake the cake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is nice and browned.
For the glaze, place all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
Mix to combine, adjusting the liquid to make it drizzle-able.
Drizzle over the cake. Dig in!

Chocolate Layer Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

This cake was made in celebration of E's birthday that just past last night. I decided to make it earlier and rename it congratulations-on-finishing-your-paper-cake. Both of us are in university and we both had papers to complete and we did. She was more concerned about finishing her paper so this cake was really well-deserved. Anyway, one of her favorite, if not her favorite flavor combinations is the classic, peanut butter and chocolate. Immediately, this cake from Sky High: Triple Layer Cakes came to mind. I remember seeing it also on Smitten Kitchen. Her review was nothing short of glowing so I knew this would be a winner. The cake couldnt have been easier to put together. All it required was a bowl and a whisk. The batter is quite thin, which I think in addition to the sour cream is responsible for its extremely moist, almost sticky, texture. (I think I might reduce the amount of water next time to give the cake a bit more body and sturdiness.) I loved the PB frosting for a bunch of reasons. Firstly, it got rid of some cream cheese that I had laying around. It was also easy to prepare and for all the sugar it contained, it wasnt too sweet. And its spread like a dream. I upped the PB until it was as nutty as I wanted it to be. I omitted the glaze as I thought it would be too much and I was right as this cake was extremely decadent. But boy was it good. Even I would admit this was a divine creation. The cake made its way down to the office. I know this because I received a text from our dorm mother saying, Your cake is the reason the the earth rotates on its axis. Enough said. Make this cake. Now.

Chocolate Layer Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

from Sky High: Triple Layer Cakes

Cake:

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup dutched cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups water

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Frosting:

10 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

4 ounces unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature

5 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

Preheat your oven to 350. Line three 8 inch pans with parchment paper. Grease the paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
Add the oil and sour cream,
and blend.
Add the water,
and mix to make a very thin batter.
Add the eggs and vanilla,
and mix.
Evenly distribute the batter among the three pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. After twenty minutes, remove from the pans and peel back the parchment paper. Let them finish cooling.
To make the frosting, place the cheese and margarine in a bowl. Beat until light and fluffy.
Somewhat light, not so much fluffy.
Gradually add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, periodically scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Your mixture should look something like this.
Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.
Frosting.
To assemble, place one cake layer on your plate.
Top with a nice amount of frosting and spread to the edges of the cake layer.
Repeat with the remaining layers.
Frost the sides and smooth the edges. Decorate as you please.. or just dig in! Refrigerate any remaining cake... Should there be any..

Whipped Cream Cake

Ever since the Heavenly Bakers made this cake it received unanimously rave reviews, I have wanted to make this deceptively simple and delicious cake. I happened to have two boxes of cream that desperately needed to be used so they wouldnt be wasted and I couldnt have found a better application for them. Although the cake is easy to prepare, the concept is interesting. The cream replaces the butter because of its higher fat content. Cool, huh? The cream is whipped until stiff before the other ingredients are added. This light and unassuming batter is poured into a greased pan and baked for around half an hour. It cools in its pan for around ten minutes before being depanned. The best part? It unmolds flawlessly! All the hype surrounding this cake was totally warranted. It had a light, almost fluffy texture and the most wonderful, vanilla classic bakery cake flavor, in the best way possible. In fact it's a flavor that Ive long been trying to recapture. I was nervous the cake would taste as buttery as it smelled because Im not a butter fan, but it didnt. So how did this cake fare among the girls? Well it disappeared slower than the snack cake, that's for sure. But I considered it the highest compliment when when one of my girls entered my room, saw the cake and literally proceeded to consume more than half the cake in one shot. I couldnt stop laughing because she kept going and wouldnt let anyone else so much as look at the cake. What can I say? The girl's got good taste.

Whipped Cream Cake

from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a ten cup bundt pan. Set aside.
In a bowl, place the flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk and set aside.
In a smaller bowl, place the eggs and vanilla,
whisk thoroughly and set aside.
Place the cold cream in a large mixing bowl.
Whip until stiff peaks form.
Add the egg mixture slowly,and beat until thoroughly incorporated.
Slowly add in the sugar. It should take about 30 seconds to incorporate.That's what you get.
Add half the flour in at a time, folding thoroughly after each addition.
Here is the final batter.
Spoon the batter into the pan,
and bake for 30-35 minute or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The cake will only spring back when it is out of the oven.Cool for ten minutes in its pan and then unmold onto a rack to cool completely. Move to a serving plate and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Any Day All Occasion Snack Cake

My does time fly. It's March! I can't believe it. Soon I'll be leaving on a jet plane to visit the family. Before that, though, I have to endure some school, starting tomorrow. To make that thought more palatable, I went on a baking spree. And made...three cakes. I'm evil, I know but I had lots of dairy in the fridge that's nearing its expiration date and something just had to be done with it. This was the first cake to be produced. The girls were quite frustrated that I wouldnt allow them to touch it as this is dairy and they usually have meat for dinner. Since most wouldnt be able to have, I told them none could. It now sits on a plate on my counter awaiting them tonight. This is a simple snack cake, as Flo Braker calls it, but I like to call it a coffee cake. It has a streusel and it would be perfect with coffee. Coffeecake it is. What's unique about this cake is its technique and ease of preparation. Some flour and sugars are mixed and then some of the mixture is set aside for the topping. The rest of the ingredients are then added and, voila, a batter! Without dirtying too many dishes. I accidentally added the extra cinnamon called for to the batter itself and not the streusel so my cake was quite cinnamony, which I found to be a happy mistake- I'd do it again. The cake baked up sticky and moist and yummy, and yes, perfect for snacking. **I must add this post script-- the girls LOVED this cake! They thought it was moist and delicious and it walked off the plate! One girl even ranked this in the top few baked items. For a simple coffee cake, thats not too shabby.

Any Day All Occasion Snack Cake

from Baking for All Occasions

2 1/3 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, divided

1 cup light or dark brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup well shaken buttermilk

1 egg

Preheat your oven to 350. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the flour, sugars, salt and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk until combined.
Add the oil,
and stir until well blended. Remove 3/4 of this mixture and set aside. To that, add the remaining cinnamon and blend.
Blend in the leavening.
Finally, add the buttermilk and egg,and mix to combine.
Pour into the pan and spread to the edges of the pan.
Top with the reserved streusel mixture.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool ten minutes in the pan before removing to a rack to cool completely.