Banana Spice Cake

When I was a little girl, my favorite cake to bake was a Spice Cake. I thought it sounded so fancy, with lots of  exotic spices. Of course I baked a lot of cakes using cake mixes, it was easy for me to do by myself, add water, oil and an egg. 20 minutes later, you have a cake! Miracle of miracles. I haven't thought about spice cakes in years. But today, something just triggered that memory as I was looking at my very ripe bananas. BANANA SPICE CAKE....this tiny little girl's voice said to my brain! It has been rainy and cold and when it is rainy and cold, baking is my emotional therapy. It grounds me and makes me feel like all is well in my little world. The aroma of the spices bring me back 40 years. Wait 40 years? Yes, 40 years! It's time to make a Banana Spice Cake. This is long overdue. This cake is a tribute to the little girl who loved to bake cakes. This is a treat for me who loves to eat Banana Spice Cake! 

Cream butter and sugar with a hand mixer or a Kitchen Aid.

Mix dry ingredients and spices together.

Add mashed banana, milk,vanilla and eggs to butter sugar mixture.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until flour mixture is completely wet. Bake in a greased pan for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees . Let cake cool for 10 minutes before taking it out of the pan and placing it on a cooling rack. You can frost this cake if you like but I prefer to sift powdered sugar over the cake.

 

 

Banana Spice Cake

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 large egg
• 2 to 3 bananas, mashed, about 3/4 cup
• 1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour an 8- or 9-inch square pan. In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg, milk, vanilla, and mashed banana until blended. Combine remaining dry ingredients and spices. Stir the dry ingredients into the first mixture until moistened. Spread in prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched with finger. 

Frost with a cream cheese frosting or sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Chocolate Banana Birthday Cake

This is a very special birthday cake for a very special girl who turned 18 years old. It's not every day that you turn 18 years old, so you need to have a very special cake. Most kids that I know request chocolate as a main ingredient in cookies and cakes, but let me tell you this is a double chocolate cake, with extra chocolaty goodness. The birthday girl loved my Chocolate Macadamia Nut Banana Bread so much that she requested it for her birthday cake. Of course I was thrilled and honored to make whatever she requested, but a bread for your birthday? I wasn't sure, so I thought and I thought and I went through every recipe of every blogger that I know looking for the perfect Chocolate Banana Cake, and low and behold, I found Dragon's Kitchen Chocolate Banana Cake! It sounded absolutely delicious and perfect for the Birthday Girl. So on this special day I created an amazing cake, step by step, it came out like perfection. I was swimming in the scent of chocolate aromatherapy.......heavenly. I skipped around the kitchen so pleased with myself that she would love her cake. The Birthday Girl's  Nonna arrived with candles and delivered her cake right to her. The phone rang with a very excited young lady on the other end, exclaiming with glee that it was perfect and lots of thank yous.

One piece of advice: Allow Bundt Cake to cool completely before turning out of bundt pan.

Had a hard time deciding which side to frost.

I chose this side.

Chocolate Glaze dripping everywhere, I mean everywhere.....free tastes!!

I took this incredible picture of Nonna and myself, obviously,  I have to stick with food photos!!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup best-quality cocoa
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream
4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Glaze:
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Generously grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

2. In a bowl, sift flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa; set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light in color and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar. Add butter and vanilla. Beat until well blended.
4. With mixer at low speed, beat in the sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream. Fold bananas and melted chocolate into the cake batter; thoroughly combine.

5. Spoon cake batter into prepared Bundt pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

6. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool completely.

7. While the cake is cooling, prepare the chocolate glaze. Heat the cream until it just comes to a boil.

8. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Set aside until the cake is completely cooled.

9. When the cake is completely cooled, cover the top of the cake and sides with the glaze. Refrigerate the cake for at least an hour to set the glaze.   This recipe has been linked up to these wonderful blogs!
       

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Blueberry Smoothie

Smoothies are VERY popular in our home. Today we are making a Blueberry Smoothie.

If you have a blender, smoothies are very quick and easy to make. My kids love having a smoothie before school and for an after school snack. Use what ever berries are in season or which are frozen. The combinations are endless.

Ingredients
1 cup yogurt ( we like Stonyfield non- fat Vanilla)
1 banana
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup blueberries ( fresh or frozen)

Method

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. Serve right away.

Serves 2

Banana Chocolate Nut Bread

Banana Chocolate Nut Bread
You say Bananas- I say Bananas. Why is it? Sometimes the bananas get scarfed up, sometimes they are left to ripen? Well today I had very ripe bananas and on those days when there is a cool fall-ish summer breeze.... I hear the sound of the Banana fairies giggling for me to make banana bread with melting gooey chocolate, it is almost like a cake, but it is called bread. It's delicious cake bread- not to be confused with my favorite wine and much cheaper....

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas ( 3 large )
• 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/2 cup Ghiradelli 60% semisweet chocolate bar broken up
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 F.
2. Grease loaf pan, with shortening.
3. Mix sugar, bananas, oil and eggs with a wooden spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pan.
4. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, 60- 70 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then loosen sides of loaf pan and remove from pan. Let cool completely before slicing.
5. Makes 1 loaf.

Adapted from the Alpha Bakery, a Children's Cookbook

This post has been linked up to these fabulous blogs!