JBug's Kitchen Antics

Not Your Mama's Banana Pudding

What do you make for a guy that's been living off hiking food for 4 days? Anything with calories, lots and lots of calories!

The Big Guy made it back from his Grand Canyon adventure tanned, tired and hungry so other than greeting him at the door with a monster sized martini, I cooked up a whole mess a' beef and mashed potatoes.

We've had the beef before - it's one of my Big Guy's favorites, so I'll send you to the previous version to check it out in all it's beefy bacon beerie filled glory, but here's a picture of the first serving of several. Along with a monster sized salad, my alter ego was happy happy.

For dessert, I had every intention of whipping up a rhubarb strawberry pie but then I had an epiphany of sorts and realized after sweating buckets and buckets, my man likely needed to have his potassium levels re-adjusted. What better excuse to make this fabulous dessert from Paula Deen. 

Loaded with bananas and tons and tons of calories, I changed it up by using some of the leftover lady fingers from Big Guy's birthday tiramisu as well as some vanilla wafers in my favorite round cake pan with a removable bottom instead of putting the whole thing in a 9 by 13 pan. It's a lot prettier that way! Oh I added rum too - a lot of it because I figured Big Guy'd need a little fortifying if you know what I mean. Check out Paula's version by hitting the link here to Food Network and see my version below. 

This is one extremely rich and fabulous calorie laden glory and while it was delicious last night, it's gonna' be stellar today or even tomorrow because it's the kind of thing that just gets better and better with time.  That's providing you ignore the siren call coming from the refrigerator and give it time to ruminate. Truthfully, it's kind of hard to resist. 

JBug’s Version of Not Yo’ Mama’s Banana Pudding (adapted from Paula Deen, Foodnetwork.com)

1 package ladyfingers

Approximately 10 to 15 vanilla wafers

1/2 cup white rum

3 large bananas

1-3/4 cups milk

1 – 5 ounce box instant vanilla pudding

1 – 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1  small container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Dip flat side of ladyfingers into rum for approximately 1 second each and line outside of  8 inch round cake pan with removable bottom. Line bottom with vanilla wafer cookies and sprinkle them with rum.

Beat together milk and vanilla pudding mix.  In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and condensed milk together until smooth. Mix pudding into cream cheese mixture and beat until well combined. Fold in whipped topping.

Place one third of cream mixture on top of vanilla wafers. Add banana slices and top with vanilla wafers. Sprinkle vanilla wafers with rum. Repeat layers ending with cream mixture – fold any remaining rum into cream mixture for the top of the cake. Sprinkle top with vanilla wafer crumbs. Refrigerate for minimum 5 hours before serving.  

A year ago - Orange Soy Glazed Ribs 

Two year's ago - Roast Chicken with Pancetta

Sweet Treats - Cheesecake in a Jar and More

For those of us with a sweet tooth or several, dessert is the most important part of the meal. Fortunately we don't have it very often or we'd be hard pressed to fit through the door; however, Monday night's party was a great reason to celebrate with more than one sweet ending for the meal.

The first and dare I say most popular dessert choice was an idea borrowed from a favorite Canadian blog I follow called Dinner with Julie. Hit the link and it'll take you directly to her site to see her version of these lovely little cheesecakes in a jar. After seeing it on her site, I did a little exploring and found another version thanks to Martha Stewart Living which showcases a baked cheesecake that turned out to be light and fluffy with a very smooth texture thanks in no small part to the fact it bakes at a fairly low temperature in a water bath.

Topped with cherries and buttered graham wafer crumbs, it tastes like a mini version of the real McCoy only better because it is totally portable.

Second choice was a mini size version of the Pina Colada cupcakes we've enjoyed here before. Loaded with rummy goodness, they're a simple cake made from a mix and jazzed up with booze and butter and cooked up in 24 medium sized muffin cups. After baking they're bathed in a mixture of Coco Lopez cream of coconut and more rum of course, and then "marinate" for a day in the refrigerator. Before serving, top 'em with crushed pineapple, whipped cream and toasted coconut and you'll be sure to impress even the most hard core dessert officiandos. Be sure to limit consumption though or you'll have to send the over imbibers home in a cab (plus you'll want to hide a few to keep for a midnight refrigerator raid).

Last but definitely not least are little chocolate cupcakes we normally make in a large cake pan and call 'em "Sex in a Pan". Once again made from a mix using the same method as with the Pina Colada version above, the still warm cupcakes are filled with an ooey gooey sweet mixture of caramel ice cream topping and sweetened condensed milk before they hit the fridge to ruminate. Best ignored for at least a day, they're topped with freshy whipped cream and pieces of a Heath or Score bar before serving. Suffice to say, they're a chocolate/caramel lover's version of nirvana and just so flippin' easy to make it's ridiculous. 

That's it people. Bet you all thought I really fussed, didn't ya? All the desserts were made the day before the party, decorated long before the guests arrived and kept in the refrigerator until serving time. In case you're wondering, my secret to keeping the whipped cream intact is to freeze the bowl and beater to make sure it's really, really cold before you whip the cream. As well, be sure to use powdered confectioner's sugar (a heaping tablespoon per cup of cream) rather than granulated because the cornstarch in the sugar will help stabilize the cream. 

Pina Colada Cupcakes (adapted from Gulfshore Delights, The Junior League of Ft. Myers) 

1 package yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines ..is there any other kind?)

2/3 cup light rum

3 large eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 – 15 ounce can Coco Lopez (cream of coconut)

1/3 cup light rum

 1 – 8 ounce can crushed pineapple well drained

Whipped Topping or Whipped Cream

1 cup coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with aluminum foil liners and set aside. Using an electric mixer, combine cake mix, rum, eggs and softened butter. Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Distribute evenly between muffin cups and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (The cakes may fall but don’t worry – they’ll be fine). Leave cakes in pan and cool on wire rack. Meanwhile combine cream of coconut and rum together. Using a melon baller or small spoon, remove a scoop of cake from center of each cupcake, leaving sides and bottom of cake intact. Pour rum/cream of coconut mixture slowly into the hole created in each cake, distributing evenly between the 24 cupcakes. Repeat this several times until all of the mixture has been used. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Before serving, top each cake with a spoonful of crushed pineapple, followed by a mound of whipped cream. Garnish with more toasted coconut. Makes 24 servings.

Note – may be made in a 9 x 13 inch pan (bake for 35 minutes). When cake has cooled slightly poke holes in top with a skewer, then pour cream of coconut rum mixture over top of warm cake, then cover and refrigerate. Top cake with crushed pineapple, followed by whipped topping and garnish with toasted coconut.   Keeps well in refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.

Sex In A Pan (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from Best of the Best from Iowa)

1 dark chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

1 – 12 ounce jar caramel ice cream topping

1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

Whipped cream or whipped topping

2 Heath (or Skor) bars, broken into pieces

Make cake mix according to package directions and bake in 24 aluminum foil lined muffin cups. Cool on wire racks. Meanwhile combine caramel topping and sweetened condensed milk and heat until warm. When cupcakes are still slightly warm, using a melon baller or small spoon, remove a small portion of cake from the center of the cup leaving bottom and sides intact. Pour heated topping into indentation and repeat process several times. There may be some caramel mixture left over but it’s great on ice cream or crepes (or both). Cover and refrigerate cupcakes overnight. Before serving top each cupcake with whipped cream and garnish with a piece of Heath or Skor bar. Makes 24.

A year ago - Pasta with Bacon, Clams and Mushrooms

Two year's ago - Baked Huevos Rancheros

Tiramisu

I truly believe Tiramisu is one of the better desserts (as if there are any bad ones), so I wasn't complaining when Big Guy asked for one instead of his usual birthday pie. Who doesn't enjoy the creamy, boozy, coffee flavored combination in this fabulous Italian dessert?

There's certainly a lot of ways of making a tiramisu, but one thing they all have in common are Italian ladyfingers known as Savoiardi so I'm thinking when we spotted a big display of them at Sprouts last weekend, it might have been the reason for Big Guy's choice. 

This particular version makes use of egg yolks whipped to a lemon colored frothy frenzy along with a fairly small amount of sugar as well as mascarpone and cream cheese. I know a lot of you worry about eating raw eggs because of the threat of samlonella but if you're careful how you handle them including picking the the freshest cleanest highest quality eggs you can find, there shouldn't be a problem. Just remember - throw any cracked or broken eggs out, don't leave the finished cake out of the refrigerator too long and warn anyone with a compromised immune system they  shouldn't be eating it. I figure with the amount of liquor in it, you won't be serving it to children so we don't have to go there. Right?

Incidentally, as you can see tiramisu doesn't have to be relegated to a 9 x 12 pan or made in a trifle bowl. It can be a beautiful cake and stands up perfectly well to being made in a cake pan with a removable bottom or springform pan. As well, you know I'm pretty anal about telling you all the sources of my recipes, but this time I have to admit I'm stumped because it's a compilation of the best of many versions I've made over the years and hand written in the back of one of my oldest cookbooks.

I've always loved it because it's not too sweet, definitely boozy and has just the right hint of coffee/chocolate flavors, at least in my opinion. We should know because we finished the darn thing yesterday and if anything, it gets better with time. What can I say...we're gluttons for the good stuff. 

Tiramisu from JBug’s Kitchen

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup granulated sugar

8 ounces mascarpone

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large package ladyfingers, approximately 30

3 tablespoons extra dark cocoa powder

3 teaspoons Espresso powder

1/2 cup hot water

1/3 cup dark rum

 

2/3 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks (optional)

Cocoa powder or chocolate shavings as garnish

In a small bowl, mix espresso powder with hot water, stirring until granules are dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Add rum and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and light lemon in color – about 5 minutes. Mix in mascarpone, cream cheese, heavy cream and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.

One at a time, quickly dip both sides of ladyfingers into coffee/rum mixture and arrange on bottom of a spring form pan or cake pan with removable bottom. I used an 8 inch cake pan with 2.5 inch sides and a removable bottom. For outside of pan, cut off bottom tip of ladyfingers and dip flat side only of ladyfingers. Stand them up around the pan, with the flat side facing inward. Pour half the filling over the bottom layer of ladyfingers, spreading evenly in pan. Place cocoa powder into small mesh sieve and tap to sprinkle cocoa evenly on top of filling. Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers, dipping both sides quickly into coffee/run mixture. Finish with remaining filling, spreading evenly to cover ladyfinger layer. Sprinkle with remaining cocoa powder. Cover well and refrigerate for a minimum 8 hours, or preferably overnight.

To serve, remove tiramisu from cake pan and place onto serving plate. Garnish with whipped cream and sprinkle with cocoa powder or chocolate shavings. Refrigerate any leftovers promptly.

A year ago - Chocolate Banana Cake 

Two year's ago - Short Ribs Provencal

Old Fashioned Apple Cake

It's a pretty rare day that you won't find apples in the fruit drawer of our refrigerator. They're one of the favorites around here as they're not limited to snacks, but great in salads, or panini's, or rice pilaf like we had the other night, never mind some pretty awesome sweet treats.

This old fashioned apple dessert has a moist cake like base that gets its leavening from beaten eggs, and shines with apples decorating the top in a pinwheel shape. Finished with cinnamon sugar, it comes out of the oven 40 minutes later looking like something straight out of Granny's kitchen. 

Not super sweet, it's darn near perfect served warm from the oven with a scoop of ice cream, or a chunk of sharp cheddar cheese or both and deserves a place on the list along with some of our other favorite apple desserts.

Shredded Apple Pie   Dorie's Apple Cake   Rhubarb Apple Diddle Dumplings    

      

Apple Fritters            Apple Pear Cake      Apple Dumplings 

      
Old Fashioned Apple Cake (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from The Wall Drug Cookbook, 2^nd Edition)

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 large apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges (I used 1 Granny Smith and 1 Golden Delicious)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Grease an 8 inch cake pan with removable bottom and line bottom with parchment. Set aside. In bowl of electric mixer, beat together butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fully. Add eggs and beat until light and a pale lemon color (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add vanilla and flour and mix just until combined. Place in bottom of prepared pan and layer apple pieces on top in a pinwheel fashion. Mix together cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top of apples. Bake at 375 for 40 to 45 minutes or until tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool briefly, and then remove cake from pan and place on a serving plate. Serve warm with whipped or ice cream. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

A year ago - Cheater Lasagne 

Two year's ago - Corn Meal Pancakes

 

Cinnamon Pear Walnut Cake with Toffee Sauce

Are you wondering what to do with 3 very ripe pears in your fruit drawer that you hate to part with? Well that's what moved me to bake this cake and it's a real keeper. 

Adapted from Southern Living via myrecipes.com, I used my big beautiful soft juicy and somewhat over-ripe pears and changed up the recipe by exchanging walnuts for pecans (have you seen the price of pecans lately?) and added some cinnamon to the mix. The cake also took considerably longer to bake than they indicated and I've adjusted my version to reflect the additional time. Also, if you're really smart (I wasn't), give your pan a good coating with shortening and flour it well too. I have a fluted "non-stick" bundt pan that's usually fine with a good shot of cooking spray but unfortunately it really wanted to hold onto half the cake so next time I may even use a parchment lined spring form pan to bake this one up. 

Also, while Southern Living recommended a caramel glaze in their recipe, I just happened to have some toffee sauce on hand from making Sticky Toffee Puddings for my great white hunters, so I warmed a little of it in the microwave and drizzled it on top of the cake. It really doesn't need a darn thing to make it delicious but I have to admit, the sauce kind of puts it over the top.

It's a very moist dense cake that just gets better and better with time. Served with a cup of Twining's finest, it makes for a grand afternoon pick me up, if you can wait that long!

Cinnamon Pear Walnut Cake with Toffee Sauce (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from myrecipes.com)

3 cups peeled and diced very ripe pears (I used 3 Riviera pears)

1 tablespoon sugar

3 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1-1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Combine pears with 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl and toss well. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and set aside. Grease and flour a Bundt pan very well and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

In bowl of stand mixer, beat together eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until lightly colored and well mixed. At low speed, add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in pears and walnuts. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check with a toothpick and cake is done when toothpick comes out clean. Baking time will vary depending on the amount of moisture in the pears so start checking cake after 1 hour.

Remove from pan and cool. Serve with sauce drizzled over top.

Toffee Sauce:

3/4 cup butter

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add brown sugar and stir well to combine. Add cream. Bring to a boil stirring constantly, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Cool slightly and stir in vanilla. Serve warm. Store leftovers in refrigerator and reheat as needed in the microwave. 

A year ago - Sticky Chicky     Two year's ago - Coquille St Jacques

 

Flourless Kumquat Cake

I know this site is all about every day cooking and every day for some of you means gluten free. I've been thinking about the people close to my heart that have had to drop gluten from their diets so Linda, Lea, Whitney, Scott and Susan this creation's for you!

I think most of us of are aware of flourless chocolate cake as a pretty good candidate for a gluten free diet, but with mountains of kumquats to deal with and limited shelf space for marmalade I've been on the lookout for something different to make. I found this on the Joy of Baking so hit the link and go there to see the original. 

Their version makes use of clementines rather than the little citrus gems I have available by the boatload so some changes were necessary. No matter - I simply cut a pound of kumquats in half, seeded and covered them in water and simmered for 45 minutes until they were tender and the peels transparent. Drained and cooled, they hit a food processor along with eggs before mixing with the dry ingredients. After it baked, I brushed the cake with triple sec as it cooled to give the end result a healthy glow - oh I do mean the cake, ya' know. 

By the way, be sure to check the label of your baking powder to make sure it's gluten free but if you'd rather make it yourself, you can find the recipe on this link. Also, in case you're wondering almond meal is simply ground up almonds, with or without the skins and it's perfect for baking cookies, cakes or muffins.  If you can't find it on the shelf, you can always make it yourself by grinding almonds in a food processor or blender but be careful because if you're over eager, you'll have butter instead of "flour". 

We had our cake with a yogurt mascarpone cream mixed with some kumquat marmalade because heaven knows we needed a little more calories - just kidding, but honestly the cake would be fine simply dusted with a little confectioners sugar. It has a fine light crumb and intensely orange almond flavor. Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy the intensified flavors and moist dense texture after it sits for a few days - if you can hold off that is. We couldn't.

Flourless Kumquat Cake (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from Joy of Baking)

1 pound fresh kumquats

6 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2-3/4 cups almond meal

2 ounces triple sec or other orange flavored liqueur (optional)

Wash kumquats well then cut in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Place into a medium sized pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook uncovered for 45 minutes or until kumquats are tender and peel is becoming transparent. Drain in a colander and cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 375. Spray an 8 inch pan with removable bottom with cooking spray and line bottom and sides with parchment. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and almond meal. Place cooked kumquats into a food processor and pulse until ground up. Add eggs and vanilla and pulse processor until mixture is fairly smooth – about 30 seconds. Pour egg/kumquat mixture into dry ingredients and whisk together until mixed. Move to prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tester inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle, remove cake from pan. Brush with triple sec as cake is cooling.

Store in an airtight container in refrigerator. Flavor intensifies as cake sits, but it is still delicious served on the day it is baked.  Serve with whipped cream or equal parts of mascarpone and yogurt mixed together and sweetened with sugar or orange marmalade.

Oh, in case you're wondering what we had for dinner before our fabulously delicious dessert, I pulled another recipe out of the archives from 2010 and honestly, I'm not quite sure why we don't include this one in a regular rotation. Spicy, sweet roasted manchurian cauliflower on a bed of crunchy chicken fillets - well, it's about the best way to cook cauliflower there is! Honest! Hit the link and check it out for yourself. You won't be sorry - not one bit!

New England Style Clam Chowder and a Caramelized Pear Gingerbread Upsidedown Cake

Sorry I'm  late this morning! It's raining here ...finally, a beautiful steady downpour on a very cool autumn Tucson day. It is without question a perfect Monday and to take advantage of it, I just had to go run with the dogs in the back yard and catch raindrops. Needless to say we were all soaked to the skin and cold so it took us a little longer to dry off and warm up than anticipated but boy did we have fun!

Not only that, I had to make a quick run to the Veterinarian for some medication for Finnigan. You see not only did he come to us with a smashing personality and a cute face but he also arrived with coccidia, a parasite that is incurable and rears its ugly head from time to time especially when he gets over excited. We took the boys to the dog park yesterday and he had a blast trying to "make love" to a rather large golden retriever. Talk about huge aspirations - I mean there's only about a 60 pound difference in their weights. To appease his little neutered ego he tried the same trick on the cat later in the afternoon. It wasn't pretty!

Last night's Sunday Soup Supper was my version of a New England Clam Chowder and actually the first recipe I ever posted way back in April 2009. I've certainly made it many times since and haven't changed it a bit which is a miracle around here.We've created quite the selection of chowder's on this site, but this one remains one of our favorites, likely due to the fact that it is loaded with some of our homemade maple smoked bacon and includes clams the Big Guy harvested from Waldport Bay in Oregon.

The recipe may be a little different than the one you make, and likely different from one a tried and true born and bred New Englander would make but isn't that what cookin's all about. Different doesn't make it wrong - just different and this version involves making a buttery golden flour roux to enhance the flavors and thicken the chowder because we prefer it that way.

To top off our comforting Sunday dinner and celebrate a perfect autumn day in Tucson, I whipped up a tasty caramelized pear gingerbread upside down cake. Created from perfectly ripe but firm Bosc pears, peeled, sliced and placed atop a buttery sugary caramel in my favorite cast iron pan and topped with an old fashioned spicy sour milk gingerbread it smelled glorious as it was baking and tasted even better with a touch of Bourbon flavored whipped cream.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret - because we're into extra flavor around here, I added cinnamon, cloves and allspice to the gingerbread and dusted the top of the pears with some coarse ground black pepper as well. Pepper goes very well with gingerbread and the added flavor is very subtle but incredibly delicious.

By the way, if you're in need of a little edumacatin' on the different types of pears and what's best for baking, head on over to Epicurious' Visual Guide to Pears.

Clam Chowder – New England Style (a JBug’s Kitchen original inspired by the New Basics Cookbook)

2 cups steamed, prepared clam meat coarsely chopped *

1/2 lb. bacon, cut into small dice

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

4 cups chopped onion (1/4” dice)

3/4 cup flour

4 cups red potatoes, peeled & cut into ½” dice

2 Tablespoons old bay seasoning

1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme

fresh ground black pepper, to taste

2 bottles clam juice, or reserved juice from cooked clams

2 cups whole milk (or more depending on how thick you like your chowder)

2 cups heavy cream (didn’t say it was diet chowder)

1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

 (20 cockles, or 2-1/2 dozen cherry stone clams, scrubbed & steamed in 2 cups of water. Reserve juice & strain. Discard any clams that do not open. Clean & chop meat.)  Cook bacon over low heat, until fat is rendered and bacon is lightly browned. Remove from pan.Add butter to fat remaining in pan. Add flour. Cook & stir until roux becomes a light yellow color – approximately 10 minutes. Add chopped onion. Cook until onion is transparent (approx. 10 minutes). Add seasonings & cook for 2 minutes before adding potatoes and clam juice. Cook stirring often until potatoes are al dente’ (approx. 12-15 minutes). Mixture will be very thick!  Add milk and cream. Cook until potatoes are completely cooked through & soup is smooth & thick. Do not let boil.  Add clams & heat for 5 more minutes.  Check for seasonings.Garnish with parsley, & serve with oyster crackers.  Makes 10 to 12 portions. Download Clam Chowder - New England Style

Caramelized Pear Gingerbread Upside Down Cake  (inspired by Purity Cookbook)

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 firm but ripe pears, peeled cored and sliced

1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup shortening

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup sour milk or buttermilk

Using a 9 inch cast iron pan, melt butter over low heat. Add sugar and cook, stirring occasionally until sugar melts and turns golden in color – 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Carefully place pear slices on top of caramelized sugar/butter mixture. Sprinkle with coarse ground black pepper and set aside. Preheat oven to 325.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices until well combined. Using a medium bowl and electric mixer, cream shortening and brown sugar until light. Add egg and molasses, mixing until well combined and light in texture. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix only until combined. Pour on top of pears in prepared pan and spread to level. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and rest for a few minutes, then carefully flip upside down onto a plate. Remove cast iron pan. Serve gingerbread with sweetened whipped cream. Download Caramelized Pear Gingerbread Upside Down Cake

A year ago -  Lemon Chicken Wings

A Perfect Menu for Entertaining

We love to entertain although I admit we're a tad out of practice because we just don't do it often enough. If you find yourself in the same boat, the wisest thing you can do is to "go with what you know". That's what we did last night. Dinner included:

• Sundried Tomato and Spinach Parmieres (served with pre-dinner drinks)

• Asian Glazed Sockeye Salmon

• Soba Noodle Salad with Fresh Vegetables

• Vegetarian Pot Stickers with Sweet Chile Sauce

• Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

Our menu was made up of some tried and true favorites, but as usual, we neglected to take pictures of everything so I'll tell you about what I can show you, but I'll have to tell you about the parmieres some other time. Too bad, because they're really easy to make and rather impressive too. Sorry about that!

As for the main course, we've had the Asian glaze before on steelhead, but this time I used sockeye salmon. I prepped the glaze in advance so I wouldn't have to worry about it after our guest arrived which made cooking the main course a breeze. I can say that because the Big Guy grilled the salmon which took a grand total of about 6 minutes from start to finish - just enough time for me to cook up some purchased pot stickers and put the finishing touches on our soba noodle salad.

The salad's a breeze to throw together with julienned red pepper, grated carrot and sliced green onions along with lovely Japanese buckwheat noodles (soba) in a sweet spicy Asian vinaigrette. Although the whole thing can be put together in advance, yesterday afternoon I prepped the ingredients separately and had 'em all ready to toss together at the last minute so the vegetables would maintain their color. The salad is an interesting and fresh tasting accompaniment to any grilled entree, but particularly delicious with salmon.

It's hard to come up with an Asian style dessert so I went a different route and picked an autumny one instead. Dorie Greenspan's version of an Apple Cake is absolutely without question the best cake you'll ever make. It's rummy flavor really showcases the apple in all its glory. This time I used 3 different kinds of apples (Granny Smith, Red Rome, Gala) and served the cake with a homemade caramel sauce at the Big Guy's request. He can take some bows for his ingenuity because it tasted just like a caramel apple only much, much better.

Asian Glazed Salmon with Soba Noodle Salad

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 Tablespoons peeled and minced ginger

1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic

Dried red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice

 

1-1/2 pounds sockeye salmon, (skin on) cut into serving pieces

Place sugar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes and lime juice in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 9 minutes, or until sauce forms a glaze. Watch closely to prevent burning.

Clean salmon well under running water and pat dry. Leave skin on but check fish for pin bones and remove as needed. Dry fillet well. Baste with some of the glaze and let sit for 15 minutes.  Grill for 6 minutes or until cooked through. Baste once more with glaze before serving.

Soba Noodle Salad:

 4 ounces soba noodles cooked per package directions and well drained

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 small zucchini, cut into julienne strips

2 green onions, sliced

Combine ingredients below in a screw top jar and shake until well mixed.

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1-1/2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Asian chili sauce (sambel olek) optional

Toss soba and vegetables together with dressing and serve.  Serves 4 Download Asian Glazed Salmon with Soba Noodle Salad

 

Apple Cake (adapted from Dorie Greenspan) 

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 Granny Smith apples

1 Red Rome apple

1 Gala apple

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8 inch spring form pan with cooking spray and line sides and  bottom with parchment. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Peel and core apples and cut into one inch chunk. Set aside.

In medium sized bowl whisk eggs until light and frothy. Add sugar and whisk for 1 minute until well combined. Add rum and vanilla and mix well to combine. Stir in half the dry ingredients then add half the melted butter. Mix until combined, then finish with remaining flour and butter. Fold in apple pieces until they’re well coated with batter and turn into prepared pan. Level top with spatula. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until golden brown on top and knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Turn onto serving plate when cool enough to handle and remove parchment. Serve with caramel sauce. (Store cake at room temperature, lightly covered).

Caramel Sauce:

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons water

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Place sugar in a medium sized saucepan with a wide heavy bottom. Add water but do not mix together. Place pot on medium high heat and cook without moving or stirring until sugar is amber colored. Watch carefully so it doesn’t burn and it is important not to move the pot. When sugar is caramelized and amber, carefully stir in butter (it will foam up, so be careful). Stir until butter is melted, then remove pot from heat. Carefully stir in heavy cream. When mixture stops foaming, add vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Download Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

 

Pumpkin Cake with Rummy Cream Cheese Frosting

Well here we are at the crack before dawn and I can honestly say I cooked not one thing yesterday. That's 2 days off from the kitchen. What do I think this is - a vacation?

The Big Guy's off in Phoenix at a convention so I took the opportunity to take it easy. It's not that I've entirely forsaken all of you - I'm still working on that index I promised everyone although goodness knows it would have been a lot easier had I started it 900 odd posts ago. Anyway to reward myself for all my hard labor I was able to enjoy a piece of this fabulous pumpkin cake I've hiding in the freezer. After all it is the time of year we celebrate the great pumpkin and buy up every tin of the stuff we can get our hands on.

As you can see, I wasn't sure whether to call it a cake with cream cheese frosting or a rummy frosting with a touch of pumpkin cake. For certain this dense, extremely moist cake could have definitely stood on its own without the excesses on top, in fact it would have been better, but this after all is a sweet treat for the week. Right?

From Pioneer Woman, I took the liberty of changing her recipe up a tad by reducing the amount of booze soaking the raisins (they were very fresh and really didn't need it anyway) and I upped the spice quotient by adding more cinnamon and nutmeg in addition to ginger and a touch of cloves. It's a wonderful cake and freezes beautifully, frosting and all. Hit this link to check out Ree's recipe right from the source and give either version a try if you've a minute.

Pumpkin Cake with Rummy Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:  (adapted from Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond)

1 cup golden raisins

2 tablespoons dark rum

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons dried ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1-1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1-1/4 cups plain unflavored yogurt

1 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 325. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Combine raisins with rum in a small bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves until well combined. Set aside.

Using electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add eggs one at a time, followed by yogurt and pumpkin puree. Add flour mixture in thirds, mixing until just combined. Do not over mix. Fold in raisins. Pour into prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean. Cool of a wire rack.

Rummy Cream Cheese Frosting: (from JBug’s Kitchen)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 – 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

1 tablespoon dark rum

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 pound powdered sugar (or more as needed)

Ground Cinnamon as garnish

Using electric mixer beat together butter and cream cheese until light. Beat in rum and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until light, fluffy and of spreading consistency. May need to add more sugar to achieve desired consistency. Spread on top of cooled cake and sprinkle with ground cinnamon if desired.  Makes 12 servings (freezes very well). Download Pumpkin Cake with Rummy Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh, here's a few other ways to use up your pumpkin stash so you can hit the stores for more.

 Pumpkin Charlotte                               Pumpkin Bread Pudding 

 

 Pumpkin Pie Cake                    A year ago - Brats with Apples, Onion et al

 

Ina's Plum Cake Tatin

I saw Ina bake this on television a couple of weeks ago and just knew it was going to be in our future and obviously it didn't take long to become part of our past either. We all know that Ina's dishes are inevitably fabulous and this cake from her book, Barefoot in Paris is absolutely sublime.

This incredible tatin is a take on apple tart tatin only made with plums and without the usual pastry but a light and moist cake instead. With blue plums holding court on the bottom of a pie dish, a simple caramel  poured over top, when baked becomes the top of the dessert in the usual upside down cake manner. After the cake cools a tad and is flipped over, the caramel saturates the cake and hardens too which presents you with a cake soaked in tart plum juices and sweet caramel with delicious crunchy edges. It is very simple to make and absolutely stellar.

It would be wonderful made with any stone fruit including apricots, nectarines or peaches and even apples or pears too, although you'd need to give the apples and pears a quick saute to partially cook them before placing them in the bottom of the pan. Oh by the way, when you've started your sugar and water caramelizing, don't stir it or move the pot and give it time to percolate. You'll have absolutely no problem with crystallization and you won't have to bother with washing the sides of the pot down as its cooking because you haven't disturbed the granules of sugar. So there!

Enjoy people. This is one dessert really worth making again and again!

Ina’s Plum Cake Tatin (adapted from Barefoot in Paris)

Caramel:

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup water

Cake:

8 blue plums, cut in half and pits removed

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

1/3 cup sour cream

Rind of half a lemon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Place a medium saucepan on stove burner and put sugar and water into pot. Cook over medium high heat without stirring or moving pot until caramel reaches an amber color. Meanwhile grease a 9 inch glass pie pan liberally with butter and place on a sheet pan to catch any drips. Place plums, cut side down into pie pan crowding them in so they’ll fit. When caramel is an amber color, immediately pour over plums in dish. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time followed by sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl with a spatula to make sure ingredients are evenly mixed. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and add to butter mixture, mixing briefly just until flour is barely incorporated into butter mixture. Do not over mix. Remove bowl from mixer and finish mixing batter together using a spatula. Pour over plums and spread evenly. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until cake is done. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack then invert carefully onto a plate. Serve warm or cold.

A year ago - Sole Almondine

Pina Colada Cupcakes

I swear by the time dessert time rolled around last night I was plum happy to bury my face in this little coconut pineapple rum ball and I enjoyed every alcoholic crumb full of it too. In fact eating more than one at a sitting might nix driving or operating any kind of machinery because for certain you'll blow more than a point 08. Geez, may I shoulda' had 2 and it would have got me out of operating the dishwasher. LOL

For someone who cooks as much as I do and who's spent the better part of her life in the kitchen, failures still occur from time to time and they're not taken lightly. I mean, you'd think someone that's been cooking in some form or another since she could reach the kitchen counter with the help of a chair would know a thing or two about what's going to be good and what isn't. I love trying new recipes and since yesterday was our anniversary, I planned something that I thought we'd enjoy and was original to both of us. Of course I had every intention of posting it and can give you a preview of the plate, but you'll not be finding the recipe on this site anytime soon.

Described as one of the national dishes of Germany, Sauerbraten is a roast marinated in a mixture of wine, vinegar, onions, herbs and spices for 3 whole days, before it hits a braising pot. After braising in the same mixture for many hours, the tender rump roast is removed and ginger snaps, and more sugar added to the marinade as it is made into a thick rich gravy. Sounds kinda' good right? Ya, that's what I thought too but alas I hated the taste.

The Big Guy, however, will eat anything but peas so he gamely had 2 helpings and made the rest of it into 2 crammed full containers for his lunch the next couple of days. What can I say, but this is the lovely man I married who also enjoys a big bowl of menudo every Saturday morning for breakfast as well as beef cheeks, heart, tongue and liver of any kind. Baaaahhh.

Now, if you're still with me, I mentioned way back at the start of this post the saving grace of our celebratory dinner was this wonderfully easy to prepare and incredibly tasty take on Pina Colada cake; however, instead of making one large cake, I constructed 12 individual taste bombs instead. 

The cake is a mere mix that uses light rum instead of water as the liquid. Baked in jumbo muffin pans or in my case individual 8 ounce aluminum foil cups, when the cakes have cooled they remain in the pans and are soaked in a mixture of rum and Coco Lopez cream of coconut. Refrigerated for several hours or even overnight, they're removed from their pans, rolled in toasted coconut then each topped with a spoonful of crushed pineapple and crowned with whipped cream garnished with a touch more toasted coconut.

They're mind blowing incredibly delicious rummy yummies for your tummy and certainly saved my bacon. Oh, speaking of saving bacon, a person who shall remain nameless forgot about said 11th anniversary but redeemed himself big time last night. He came home with not one, but two lovely little boxes of truffles, that's a whole dozen of 'em people, along with a gushy card and 2 tickets for an upcoming KD Lang concert at the University. Sweet eh?

Pina Colada Cupcakes (adapted from Gulfshore Delights, The Junior League of Ft. Myers)

1 package yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines ..is there any other kind?)

2/3 cup light rum

3 large eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 – 15 ounce can Coco Lopez (cream of coconut)

1/3 cup light rum

 1 – 8 ounce can crushed pineapple well drained

Whipped Topping or Whipped Cream

1 cup coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 12 jumbo muffin cups with cooking spray and set aside. Using an electric mixer, combine cake mix, rum, eggs and softened butter. Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Distribute evenly between muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (The cakes may fall but don’t worry – they’ll be fine). Leave cakes in pan and cool on wire rack. Meanwhile combine cream of coconut and rum together. Poke a few small holes into each cake with a skewer, then pour rum/cream of coconut mixture slowly on top of each cake, distributing evenly between the 12 cupcakes. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Before serving, carefully remove chilled cakes from muffin tins and roll sides of cupcakes into toasted coconut. Top each cake with a spoonful of crushed pineapple, followed by a mound of whipped cream. Garnish with more toasted coconut. Makes 12 servings.

Note – may be made in a 9 x 13 inch pan (bake for 35 minutes). When cake has cooled slightly poke holes in top with a skewer, then pour cream of coconut rum mixture over top of warm cake, then cover and refrigerate. Top cake with crushed pineapple, followed by whipped topping and garnish with toasted coconut.   Keeps well in refrigerator for 3 or 4 days. Download Pina Colada Cupcakes

Strawberry Rhubarb Upsidedown Cake

We're back at the beach after our long weekend in Pendleton and even the dog is happy to be back. I haven't broken the news to him yet that he'll be back in the Jeep and heading south early Friday morning. This is the week I dread the most - our last one at the beach for another year. Boy it goes fast but we're determined to make the most of our 4 remaining days.

The first week we were here I managed to find some fresh rhubarb and baked this lovely cake. Amazingly enough it is the only sweet treat I've made during our vacation which is so unlike me. We usually chow down on a bunch of pies, crisps and various and sundry berry items, but not so this year.

A perfect "made for the beach" dessert, along with rhubarb this cake has very few ingredients and includes a couple of convenience items, namely strawberry jello and a cake mix. Along with a dollop of whipped cream it is just plum tasty and even gets better with time. Bonus!

By the way, you already know I haven't exactly been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, but then again there's not much kitchen to spend time in which is all fine and dandy as far as efficiency goes. As you can see in the size department this kitchen is plenty efficient and in no way is it a "two butt" kitchen. Heck, at the rate I'm going given a little more time it would barely be a "one butt" kitchen.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for small kitchens - I mean when you look at the size of the average restaurant kitchen it's usually very tiny. I mean why take up valuable real estate when you could have more paying tables in the dining room. Right?

The only real issue is a vintage electric stove made by General Motors way back in the day (approximately 1964), although its striking avocado color may have been manufactured as late as the early 70's. It is definitely a "gem" aka dinosaur of the best kind and holy cow, it takes a lot of patience to cook on. Slow to heat up and long to cool down, it's been the bane of my existence. So now you know the rest of the story.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake (adapted  from Wall Drug Cookbook)

1 cake mix, either white or golden yellow

4 cups sliced fresh rhubarb

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 small box strawberry jello

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix together rhubarb, sugar, flour, jello and melted butter and arrange evenly in bottom of prepared pan. Prepare cake mix according to package directions and pour over rhubarb sugar mixture. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until cake tests done. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto a platter. Serve warm or cold which whipped cream. Store leftovers well covered in refrigerator.   Download Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Spicy Bean Snackin' Cake

Beans, beans, beans. You can boil em, bake em, fry em and re-fry em. They make a mean salad, casserole or burrito too but I bet you didn't know you could make a spice cake out of the oh so healthy musical little things, did ya?

The Big Guy and yours truly are hitting the road in a few days for a long drive to the Oregon Coast and we pack most of our meals along with us because it's impossible to stop at a restaurant when it is stinkin' hot and you've a dog in the car. We all know what 3 days worth of very little exercise and too much food can do to the "morning constitutional", so I thought some fiber might be a good thing to include in our diets.

The only thing is I need to be subtle about adding it, since a couple of years ago we brought along some big beautiful bran muffins and someone who shall remain nameless ate a few too many of the things and darn near put us in the ditch trying to find a rest stop. It was so traumatic it almost put him off fiber for life. Enter this snackin' cake.

Loaded with chopped apples, raisins, pecans, very little butter and moderate sugar, the pinto beans are mashed and hidden in the mix disguised with lots of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Topped with a fluffy cap of cream cheese frosting the cake is oh so moist, tender and perfect for taking on the road to enjoy with our morning coffee. It might smell like beans when it's in the oven, but certainly in no way, shape or form resembles the original thing except maybe for the color. Course if you want to change that, add a little cocoa and you've got the problem solved.

I only have one fear and it's a rather serious concern. Since we're gonna' be together in such close quarters, I'm hoping my plan doesn't backfire - if you get my drift.

Spicy Bean Snackin’ Cake (adapted from Idaho a la CArte)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 eggs

2 cups cooked pinto beans, mashed (2 cans rinsed and drained)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups chopped apples (peeled and cored)

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside. In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa if using, salt, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Whisk to lighten. Set aside. Using an electric mixer in a large bowl beat butter until light. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Beat in mashed beans. Add dry ingredients and blend well. Fold in apples, raisins, pecans and vanilla. Pour into cake pan (batter will be very stiff) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.  Top with cream cheese frosting. Makes 12 servings.

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup softened butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 to 4 cups powdered sugar

Beat together cream cheese and softened butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Slowly add icing sugar, beating until mixture is light and creamy. Download Spicy Bean Snackin' Cake

A year ago - Roasted Corn Chowder

Chocolate Banana Cake

As you've no doubt noticed, for the most part this has been a week of repeats in our household because it's Birthday week, thus a week of favorites. Last night's dinner included these Clam, Corn and Basil Cakes that we've shared with you before. Loaded with the obvious along with fresh basil and sundried tomatoes, they make a fabulous light dinner along with fresh crunchy veggies - in our case a JBug version of Greek salad made of vibrant red and green peppers, sweet onion, little persian cucumbers, pearl tomatoes and feta on a bed of fresh spinach.

Since I had some bananas left over from the Big Guy's Birthday pie earlier in the week, I figured I'd best make use of them before they turned into a stinky black mess. With the heat back on here in Tucson and a string of 90 degree days, things don't last long if you know what I mean. For some bizzare reason, bananas in their natural state last a lot longer in this house, than a cake made from said bananas ever will. Is it like that at your place too?

The Big Guy's quite partial to chocolate so a little research yielded a recipe for Chocolate Banana Cake that quite honestly is out of this world. It whipped up in no time flat and baked in a sweet round cake pan with 3 inch sides that was part of my birthday loot from Home Goods. The glory of this cake is that it is incredibly moist but not too sweet, even with the mound of buttery chocolate frosting on top. It really doesn't require frosting and would be fabulous with just a dusting of powdered sugar on top but we're kind of into excesses around here.

Chocolate Banana Cake (adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

1-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Trader Joe’s)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/3 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of 9 inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Set aside. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat butter until creamy – about 1 minute. Add sugar slowly and beat until mixture is light and fluffy – about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Scrape sides of bowl down and beat on high for additional 2 minutes. Slowly add mashed bananas and vanilla, beating just until combined. Add flour mixture in thirds alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until blended. Fold in chopped chocolate and turn batter into prepared pan. Make sure top is even.

Bake for 45 to 40 minutes in middle of the oven, or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pan, then turn out on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Butter Frosting (adapted from Purity Cookbook)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups sifted powdered sugar

Dash of salt

2 to 2-1/2 tablespoons warm half and half

In bowl of electric mixer, beat together butter, vanilla, salt and cocoa powder until butter is light and creamy and mixture is well combined. With mixer on low, slowly beat in powdered sugar, adding cream as needed to make frosting spreading consistency. Increase mixer speed to high and beat for 2 minutes until frosting is light. Spread frosting on top of cooled cake. Download Chocolate Banana Cake

Powerful Pucker Power

Is there anything that wakes the taste buds up quite like lemon?  Our citrus trees have once again produced healthy crops and for one, our "Improved Meyer Lemon Tree" is filled with yellow orbs of sunshine. The plus side is that it's highly unlikely we'll suffer from scurvy anytime in the future.

Of course we've been busy making good use of them - we've already got a double batch of limoncello brewing, and with the big guy away for dinner most of the week, I thought I'd take the opportunity to try some new recipes - new to me at least. My experimentation made use of a full dozen and I'm left with about 2 cups of juice to use or freeze in the next couple of days. That's on top of the two gallon bags of lemon juice cubes I have in the freezer already from making a double batch of limoncello. Not to brag, there's still at least 40 lemons left on the tree. Do we hear a cheer for another batch of booze?

By the way, Meyer Lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. "The fruit is yellow and rounder than a true lemon. The skin is fragrant and thin, coloured a deep yellow with a slight orange tint when ripe. Meyer lemon fruits have a sweeter, less acidic flavor than the more common lemon Lisbon or Eureka grocery store varieties. The pulp is a dark yellow..." As you can see from this photo, the rind of a really ripe Meyer is quite orange in color, but it does taste like lemon. Honestly ...am I making any sense?

Anyway, I digress. Mary at One Perfect Bite posted a gorgeous lemon pound cake the other day that I just had to try. To say that it has a "hint" of lemon flavor is putting it mildly because it makes use of a quarter cup of grated rind and juice and it has a lovely dense but tender crumb. It's also moist as all get out. I won't go into it because I didn't change one thing so instead I'll send you directly to her site so you can print off the recipe (see link above). It is more than worth making as is everything the talented lady posts on her blog.

While the cake would be lovely with blueberries or another fruit we all know I have a fondness for ice cream. After all, I've got to make good use of my new ice cream maker, don't I? I did some searching and found a recipe on-line for a Lemon Gelato that as luck would have it, made use of a full 3/4 cup of juice and a 1/4 cup of grated rind. Of course I made a couple of adjustments to it, enough that I feel confident the cyber police won't shut me down if I share it so here you go.

You may want to note that it's absolutely perfectly creamy and wonderful about 2 hours after it comes out of the ice cream maker and hits the freezer, but gets quite hard and a little grainy after that which is all good because it means you don't have to wait too long to have a taste. OK, I admit I've had more than two bowls!  It has some powerful pucker power, enough that you might be uncomfortable whistling Dixie after eating it, but is it rich and tasty? You betcher lemon yellow boots it is!

Lemon Gelato (adapted from Taste of Home)

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 eggs plus 1 yolk, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated lemon rind

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons Limoncello (optional)

Combine milk and sugar in a small pot and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Do not allow to boil. Whisk slowly into egg yolks, and then return the mixture to the pan. Add lemon rind and cook stirring constantly over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees and coats the back of a metal spoon. Stir in lemon juice. Put custard mixture through a wire mesh strainer into a metal bowl and place in freezer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or until cool. Remove from freezer, stir in whipping cream and Limoncello. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Transfer to an ice cream maker and process per manufacturers directions (mine took 17 minutes). Transfer to an air tight container and freeze for 2 hours before serving. Makes 1-1/2 quarts. Download Lemon Gelato