Harrison's First Birthday Cake

The biggest reason my blogging has become so infrequent is I've got this little man around that takes up so much of my time. It's fantastic. This past Friday was his birthday, so we went with the family to Lincoln City to celebrate one year of Harrison.

Of course I made him his own cake. It was a process that took a couple of weeks and lots of test cakes. Some were too snack cake, some were disgusting (that's what I get for trying sugar free), and some were just meh. But I found one that was just right and then, as I do, started to modify. I used the frosting from my favorite baby food blog/book (thanks Renai!) and along with some exploding writing icing and a bit of cinnamon, we had a cake.

Harrison tried to eat a slice whole. I'd say that's a success.

Harrison's First Birthday Cake adapted from Martha Stewart and Wholesome Baby Food:

Makes 1 9" 2 layer cake

For the cake -

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. salt

¼–½ tsp. cinnamon

½ c. sugar

½ c. butter, melted

½-¾ c. yogurt

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 c.)

For the frosting -

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

¾ c. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1½ c. heavy cream

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Butter and flour two 9x2 round cake pans. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Blend in the melted butter, mixing together until moist. Add half of your yogurt and combine.

In a separate bowl, combine the other half of the yogurt with the eggs and blend into the flour mixture. Add the vanilla and mashed bananas. Beat for 1 minute. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and place in center of oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. When cake is done, top should be a golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

Cool cakes on a cooling rack in pans and then invert onto rack to cool completely.

While cakes are cooling, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth. In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cream cheese mixture.

When the cake have cooled, place one top side up on a cake stand or inverted plate. Place a big dollop of frosting in the center and spread evenly across the top. This is going to be that tasty middle layer of frosting, but don't go too bananas (haha), you need enough to frost the rest of the cake. Place the other cake top side down over this frosting layer. Put a huge amount of frosting in the center of the top and spread it across and down the sides. Keep turning the cake until you've frosted the whole thing. Stick a large knife or spatula or anything long you can find to remove the cake from the plate and onto another one. This is a great two person process, so wrangle someone in to help you.

Once on the other plate, stick in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to let the frosting firm up a bit before doing any further decorating.

Slice it up and watch an adorable one year old get his first piece of cake. Also, some other people ate it, but you know, priorities. 

30 Before 30: Banana Cream Pie (#16)

I wanted to try something very new for an ending to our corned beef lunch. I've never made a custard pie before and what better than banana cream pie? The crust was disappointing. I should have stuck with my gut and gone for Thomas Keller's amazing pie crust and rolled it in graham cracker crumbs. The filling though? Magnificent.

Banana Cream Pie via Baking Illustrated:

Makes 1 9-inch pie

For the crust-

1¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

1 Tb. sugar

3 Tb. vegetable shortening, chilled

4 Tb. cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch pieces

4-5 Tb. ice water

½ c. graham cracker crumbs (about 8 crackers)

For the filling-

½ c. plus 2 Tb. sugar

¼ c. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. salt

5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 c. 2 percent or whole milk

½ c. evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tb. unsalted butter

1-2 tsp. brandy

2 medium bananas

For the topping-

1 c. heavy cream, chilled

1 Tb. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Make the crust first. It needs to be completely baked and cooled before filling it with the custard.

Process the flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined. Add the shortening and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about ten 1-second pulses. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.

Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture. With a rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding up to 1 tablespoon more ice water if the dough does not come together. Flatten the dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Roll the dough on a work surface sprinkled with 2 tablespoons of graham cracker crumbs. Continue sprinkling additional crumbs underneath and on top of the dough as it is rolled, coating the dough heavily with crumbs. Roll the dough out to a 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate by rolling the dough around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan. Working around the circumference of the pie plate, ease the dough into the pan corners by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while gently pressing into the pan bottom with the other hand. Trim the dough edges to extend about ½-inch beyond the rim of the pan. Fold the overhang under itself; flute the dough or press the tines of the fork against the dough to flatten it against the rim of the pie plate. Refrigerate the dough-lined pie plate until firm, about 40 minutes, then freeze until very cold, about 20 minutes.

Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the dough-lined pie plate from the freezer, press a doubled 12-inch piece of heavy duty foil inside the pie shell, and fold the edges of the foil to shield the fluted edge; distribute 2 cups ceramic or metal pie weights over the foil (or dried beans, like me). Bake, leaving the foil and weight in place until the dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights by gathering the corners of the foil and pulling up and out. Continue baking until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

To make the filling, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Add the yolks, then immediately but gradually whisk in the milk and evaporated milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently at first, then constantly, as the mixture starts to thicken and begins to simmer, 8 to 10 minutes. It seems like it will never happen, but then suddenly it does and it is fantastic change. Once the mixture simmers, continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute longer. Remove the pan from the heat, whisk in the butter, vanilla extract, and brandy.

Pour the filling into a shallow pan. Put plastic wrap directly on the filling surface to prevent a skin from forming; cool until warm, 20 to 30 minutes. Pour half of the warm filling into the baked and cooled pie shell. Peel the bananas and slice them over the filling. Top with the remaining filling. Once again place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the filling surface. Refrigerate the pie until completely chilled, at least 3 hours.

When ready to serve, make the topping. Beat the cream and sugar in a chilled bowl over an electric mixer at medium speed to soft peaks; add the vanilla. Continue to beat to barely stiff peaks. Spread over the filling and serve immediately.

Overall, I really enjoyed this pie. Again, the crust was the weakest part, but the filling was so good, in the end it was just delicious.

Recipes Complete: 16

Recipes to Go: 14

30 Before 30: Chocolate Banana Ice Cream (#6)

It has been a long time since I've made a new ice cream recipe. Aaron and I had some friends come down last week and they have a 2 very precocious daughters. I thought about making cupcakes, mini pies, other small things, when ice cream came to mind. The leftovers would be easier to deal with, it's (slightly) less messy, and like I said, it's been awhile. If I do this again, I might throw peanut butter into the mix because why not.

If you ever get take out pho, keep the containers. They are perfect for homemade ice cream storage.

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream via Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book:

Makes about 1 quart

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate

¼ c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ c. milk

2 large eggs

¾ c. sugar

1 c. heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 overripe bananas

Juice from 1 lemon

Melt the unsweetened chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot, not boiling, water. Gradually whisk in the cocoa and heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. There's a warning here about the chocolate seizing. It has every time I've done this recipe. Don't worry about it. The milk dissolves the clumps. Whisk in the milk, a little at a time, and heat until completely blended. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream and vanilla and whisk to blend.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the cream mixture and blend. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 1 to 3 hours.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze for 28 minutes.

While the ice cream is mixing, mash 2 overripe bananas and the lemon juice in a bowl, then whisk until smooth. Add the mixture to the ice cream and freeze for 2 more minutes. Transfer to freezer safe containers. Also, eat a lot of it.

This is a pretty darn good ice cream. You should eat it quickly though because it gets a little gritty/grainy the longer it sits in your freezer. So have an ice cream party! 

Recipes Complete: 6

Recipes to Go: 24

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

(Tea + banana bread = great way to wake up)

I love bananas. A lot. But do you ever go through phases with foods? I do. I really did intend to eat these bananas, but they got all brown and that’s when I say banana bread! I wanted to try out something from my King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book I picked up at Title Wave a few months ago and wouldn’t you know it, it had a banana bread recipe. I took out the walnuts because Aaron doesn’t really like them, but if you’re into it, add a half cup of walnuts before baking.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking:

One loaf

½ c. unsalted butter
½ c. packed brown sugar
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ c. mashed ripe banana
¼ c. honey
2 large eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5” loaf pan.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Bake the bread for 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven and all it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

This is the moistest banana bread I have ever had. Ever. It is so good and you would have no idea there is whole wheat in it. If you forget about your bananas until they’re brown, I’d recommend this one.

Kale, Spinach, and Pear Smoothie

 I’ve been feeling blah this week. That means that I’ve been eating lots of soup (with garlic!), drinking lots and lots of tea, and watching Netflix like crazy. Oh yeah, and doing homework. Anyway, this smoothie is getting me back on the mend. Lots of greens for breakfast or dessert and it tastes fantastic? Yes please! Plus, it starts with almond milk, which is my favorite nondairy choice.

Kale Spinach and Pear Smoothie from Joy the Baker:

Makes 1 dynamite smoothie

1 c. spinach leaves
1 c. chopped kale leaves
½ pear
1 frozen banana
1½ c. cold almond milk
1 Tb. honey (I used lavender honey)

Remove kale leaves from their rough center stalk and coarsely chop. In a blender or food processor, combine kale, spinach, and almond milk. Blend until no big kale bits remain. Stop and add banana, honey, and pear. Blend until smooth. Enjoy immediately.

You can make this all the way vegan easily by subbing in another natural sweetener for the honey. You might get spinach or kale in your teeth, but it’s tasty and good for you! Win!

Banana-Brown Sugar Ice Cream

Fancy dinners need to end with fancy desserts. David Lebovitz, who I’ve been talking about a lot lately, has a number of amazing dessert recipes on his blog. He’s where I got half of my idea for my Thanksgiving panna cotta (and when I discovered him, incidentally) and I am loving his recipes, even if most of the time it’s just with my eyes. I love bananas and this recipe seemed like a great way to use them. It tastes reminiscent of bananas foster, but without all the work. Or the fire.

Banana-Brown Sugar Ice Cream from David Lebovitz:

Makes about 3 cups

1¼ lb. very ripe bananas (6-7 medium), peeled and cut into ½” slices
¾ c. dark brown sugar
2 c. full-fat sour cream
Big pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. dark rum
½ tsp. vanilla extract

In a wide skillet or saucepan, heat the brown sugar with ½ cup of sour cream, stirring, until smooth and bubbly. Add the bananas and salt, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the bananas are soft and completely cooked through. It should take about five minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream, rum and vanilla. Puree in a blender or food processor until completely smooth.

Chill thoroughly, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. I ended up doing it for a few minutes over the normal amount for my machine (22-25 minutes) due to doing many other things for our anniversary dinner, including burning the broccoli. Freeze for at least two hours. Because this is a non-cream based ice cream, it freezes harder than others and you will need to leave it out at room temperature for at least 5 minutes to bring it to a scoopable level.

I like this ice cream, but I do agree with my friend Kerry and Aaron that it is a little weird, owing to the addition of sour cream. The texture is also a little grainy. I think it would be fantastic with coconut milk, as the original recipe started with, but I also think that the mixture would be great in my normal ice cream base (originally seen here). I think that’s what I’ll try next time. Make no mistake, I dig this ice cream and it was a fitting end to my anniversary meal, I just think it could be even better.

Who Dat! Bananas Fosters Mini Cupcakes

In honor of the New Orleans Saints making it to their first Super Bowl and also because I was rooting for them, I made bananas foster mini cupcakes. Bananas foster was invented in New Orleans and seemed like an appropriate choice for the Saints. I didn’t think that bananas foster in and of itself would be appropriate for a Super Bowl party, so I decided to make them as cupcakes and mini cupcakes at that. Small, snack size food is so perfect for parties.

I found this recipe after a cursory search and I really liked her ideas about adding in whole wheat flour and cutting a bit of the butter. We both did half size recipes and had similar results with our flambé attempts. There’s a video on the original recipes page you should check out to see how mine went. I had the perfect amount of batter for the number of silicone mini cupcake liners I have, but that’s partially because I was eating some of the batter. Hey, it was good!

Bananas Foster Mini Cupcakes from Erin’s Food Files:

Makes 24 mini cupcakes

For the Bananas Foster-
½ stick unsalted butter
¼ c. packed brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 ripe, but still firm banana quartered (halved crosswise, then lengthwise)
1 Tb. dark rum (I used Mount Gay)
¼ tsp. vanilla extract

For the cupcakes-
1 ¼ c. flour (I did 1/3 c. whole wheat and the rest all-purpose)
½ tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
¾ stick butter, softened
¾ c. granulated sugar
2 eggs (Use 1 egg if you have extra large)
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp dark rum
Banana mixture already prepared
¾ c. sour cream

For the frosting –
4 oz. cream cheese (½ block), softened
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ c. powdered sugar
¼ c. butter, softened
Slightly less than ½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. dark rum

½ ripe banana for decorating cupcakes





In a sauté pan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook until butter melts and sugar is dissolved, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the banana slices and cook until tender, turning once for 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remember that the second side will cook faster than the first. Also, don’t get any of the butter sugar mixture on you. It’s very hot and it will hurt.

Stir together rum and vanilla. Turn off the burner and add the rum mixture to the pan.

(teeny tiny flame!)

Using a long match, light the alcohol by placing the flame just in the outer edge of the pan. Stand as far back as possible. The flame should extinguish in a few seconds. Or not get started and then be kind of piddly, so I added just a little more rum to make it happen. If I’m going to flambé, there’s going to be fire. I did spend a bit of time swearing at the pan and bananas for not catching fire. If anyone had been around, I’m sure it would’ve been quite amusing.

Gently shake the pan from side to side to coat the bananas with the sauce. Spoon the bananas into a bowl and set aside.

To make the cupcakes, heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, vanilla, rum and banana mixture. Mix well.

Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream; blend thoroughly but do not over mix. Pour into prepared cupcake pans. Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan on rack. Remove after a few minutes and cool completely before frosting. The excellent thing about silicone liners is that they just pop right off and they are easier to frost and there’s nothing to remove before you eat. It’s fantastic!

To make the frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, rum, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy. I misread the recipe and added not enough cinnamon and then adjusted by adding too much. I think I might have made it better, but I couldn’t tell you how much extra I accidentally put in.

Add about half the powdered sugar and beat until mixed well. Then gradually add the remaining powdered sugar until you reach a spreading consistency.



Frost the cupcakes. Cut up the other banana into half slices and decorate the cupcakes as you see fit. Serve to football fans and enjoy.

I thought these were fairly fantastic, but not that much different from the banana cupcakes I made previously. Certainly not different enough to justify flambéing and swearing. I’d love to try bananas foster again and flambéed foods in general, but probably not for these cupcakes. I might adjust it and have it so there are chunks of bananas in the mixture. That might make it worth the extra time. The base cupcake recipe with the rum, though, is a winner and I will have to fiddle around with that. All in all though, these were a big hit and I’m glad I did it.

At least I didn’t set my hair on fire.

And the Saints won!

Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I actually turned my oven on Saturday night, but only because a) the high temp was about 10 degrees lower than it had been Tuesday/Wednesday and b) I had bananas that were practically black and needed to be used. When I saw this post in Bread and Honey, I mentally filed it away in “to make” and Saturday turned out to be the day. Well, Sunday too. Since I already have an amazing banana bread recipe (although the one in the original is very similar), I just went with mine and used their frosting recipe. And it was worth turning my oven on, that’s for sure.

Banana Cupcakes modified from Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting from Bread and Honey:

Makes 12 cupcakes and 8 mini ones

Banana bread batter
6 oz. (or ¾ package) of cream cheese. Mine had nice markings on the package to make dividing it a snap
1 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. (or ½ stick) room temperature butter
2 c. plus 2-3 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Or, in my case, line and reline the same cupcake pan because you only have one regular size cupcake pan. And line a mini one too because mini cupcakes are cute!



Make banana bread batter. Scoop into liners (I usually go about halfway) and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine were perfect at 20.

Meanwhile, or in my case the next day, combine cream cheese, vanilla, and butter and beat until creamy. Gradually add the 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add 2-3 more until desired consistency is reached. Beat well. I added 2 more. This makes a ton, by the way, and I have at least a cup leftover so either make more cupcakes or frost something else or give it to someone so they can go frost something. It’s delicious, so find something to do with it.



When the cupcakes have cooled, frost them however you desire. I went for a straight up frost this time, unlike the dollops on my Irish cupcakes. And they are fantastic! I have been struggling to not eat these for breakfast. We had friends over Sunday and they went over well and my coworker got one as a present this morning and she loved it. I need to give these away fast or I will eat all of them. And maybe the frosting in my fridge too. It’s just so creamy and delicious. So make these when it cools down enough at your place, but be careful. These are dangerous.

Banana Breads

I have been on a total banana kick lately. I go through phases with bananas. Sometimes I’ll buy a bunch and I’ll eat one and then rest will just sit there until they have to become either banana bread or weapons. Lately, though, I’ve just been chomping them down. I did really want to make banana bread though because of my awesome banana bread recipe, so I made myself not eat a few of them and let them turn all brown and perfect. While talking about this with Aaron, he said “Hey, you should put Oreos in the bread. That would be awesome!” Liking the idea, but hedging my bets, I decided to make two loaves, just in case the Oreo one was all weird.

It’s not. It is delicious and lovely. I love the original as well. There’s just something so nice about warm banana bread. I love taking fruit and making it bad for you. Plus, my poorly subtitled, but oh so lovely to use Settlement Cookbook gets to make another appearance in this blog. Good times all around.

Banana Bread from The Settlement Cookbook:

Makes 1 loaf

2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ c. butter
½ c. sugar
2 eggs
2 medium ripe bananas
½ c. butter milk (I always use buttermilk power. Mix 2 Tb. of the powder in with the flour, etc. and ½ c. water with the wet ingredients.)
About 12 Oreos, crushed, if you’re going that route

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bread pan.



Mix flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, mashed bananas and milk.





Slowly mix in dry ingredients. If doing the Oreo bread, add the Oreos now. When well blended, pour into bread pan, and bake for 1 hour. It’s done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The Oreo version took a bit longer to bake, but this bread is usually perfectly done at 1 hour.



Let cool and serve. Yum!