TWD: Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake

in , , , , , , ,

It’s funny how sometimes both of my baking groups (Heavenly Cake Bakers and Tuesday with Dorie) are in synch and totally random pick a recipe that shares a common ingredient.  Sometimes the recipes are so close that I have to make an executive decision and choose which one I want to bake more.  No sense in having 2 cakes in the house, especially when I try to get rid of it as fast as I can in the first place – no temptation in sight!

This past weekend Tuesday with Dorie choice won.  Thank you to Kimberly from Only Creative Opportunities who made the choice.

And what a choice it was.

This cake was very simple to make (the best kind) and as Dorie explains very flexible. Since you pretty much can replace any of the ingredients with what you have at hand – which in my mind means one thing:

No trip to the supermarket to find an ingredient that I ran out and forgot to put on my shopping list.

Have I mentioned how I hate to go to the supermarket?

No? Well now you know – your welcome.

Read More

Lemon-Scented Pull-Apart Coffee Cake

in , , ,

As most food blogger out there, we collect recipes from all over.  We print them out, we bookmark them, we tear them out of food magazines, we earmark them with post it on cookbooks and soon, before you know it, we have a cooking TO DO list.

Mine is pretty long, and pretty overdue.

I had this recipe in my list for quite a while now.  I found it via Leite’s Culinaria website a couple of months back and printed it and saved it for that moment in time where I would totally have the nerve to tackle it.

Anyhow…

At first the recipe scared me; it had yeast and needs kneading, and the use of a rolling pin!   Three things that I’m not good at using or doing.  I made bread before – it was a traumatic experience and decided to stick to things that I’m good at, like cake and complicated savory dishes. Anything that has yeast in it has a life on its own and I’m a control freak so that is not a good combination - I know how to choose my battles, and bread is a higher power – so I stay away.

Read More

HCB: Mini Vanilla Pound Cake

in , , , , , ,

This past weekend was insane around our house, last week I was away in Orlando for work-related training, so upon arriving on Friday the amount of stuff that accumulated in the To Do list was ridiculous – laundry, cleaning, folding, dishes and on and on.  I mean, Tom does his share around here, but I guess what they say it true – when the cat is away…. Apparently everything goes to the dogs!  So I was very happy about this week's HCB choice, since I knew it was going to be a snap to prepare, bake and have ready for those hungry boys I live with.

This is straight easy pound cake recipe, with three perfect twist: One, they are mini cake (can you say perfect give-aways? yes you can!). Two, they are made with vanilla bean and three, soaked in a cognac base syrup. (On a side note, I'm on to Rose and her boozy syrups because in my world I trust anything that is made with liquor - it makes everything better - trust).

How can you go wrong?

You can’t.

Read More