Banana Cake with THE BEST Chocolate Frosting

Happy Spring-ish! Easter is this weekend so naturally it might snow today in Chicago. Sigh.

Moving right along...you must make this frosting. It's my go-to frosting for just about anything that needs to be frosted. It's also excellent left over and smeared on graham crackers or spoons. :)

And because making an entire batch of frosting for only a spoon is not socially acceptable, I give you a delicious vehicle! Banana cake is a favorite in our house. My oldest requests it every year for his birthday. I have made A LOT of banana cake recipes. While I'm not married to any of them, I come back to the one from my Gourmet cook book most often. I always make it in a 9x13 pan so they turn out like more of a banana bar, but they are quick and easy for a weekday treat.

~Erin

Banana Cake with THE BEST Chocolate Frosting

Author: Erin (adapted from Gourmet and Cake Central)

Ingredients

• Cake


• 1 c. ripe bananas, mashed


• 2 1/4 c. flour


• 3/4 tsp. baking soda


• 1/2 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1/4 plain yogurt


• 1/2 c. butter, softened


• 1 c. sugar


• 2 eggs


• 2 tsp. vanilla


• Frosting


• 1/2 c. butter softened


• 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey's)


• 1/2 c. chocolate syrup (again, such as Hershey's)


• 3 c. powdered sugar


• 1 Tbs. milk


• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350.


2. Spray or butter and flour a 9x13 pan.


3. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.


4. Beat butter and sugar together on medium-high speed till light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.


5. In a separate bowl, mix together bananas, yogurt, and vanilla.


6. Gradually add flour mixture to butter and sugar, alternating with banana mixture. End with flour mixture and mix only till just combined.


7. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top.


8. Bake on middle rack until top is springy and toothpick comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting

1. Combine butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate syrup in mixer on low speed till combined.


2. Gradually add powdered sugar on low speed till combined. Add milk and vanilla.


3. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix till frosting is smooth. Add a little more milk or sugar if needed to get a nice spreadable consistency.


4. Apply generously to cooled cake. Or to whatever else your heart desires!

Notes

Here's the deal...both the cake recipe and the frosting recipe call for sifting your dry ingredients (before measuring). I am lazy when it comes to this extra step. So unless I'm making it for people I'm not related to, I don't sift. Perhaps my cake is a little denser but otherwise I can't tell the difference. Either way people will love it. :)

3.2.1284

 

Key Lime Pound Cake

I promise we'll get back to giving you some great dinner recipes soon, but I have to share one more dessert! I have to get this one in there before the summer passes us by. My son starts Kindergarten next week. Doesn't August 14th sound too early for school to start? It does to me. It means summer is almost over, which seems CRAZY. It just started!! Here in Chicago-land the weather is likely to only stay warm for another few weeks. So if you have another BBQ, potluck or family party- try baking and taking this cake. The recipe originally came from Southern Living- a place I typically find can do no wrong.

Its a pound cake...by definition its a heavy cake, but the lime taste in the cake and in the glaze make it taste light. Because the cake itself is heavy, you can get away with serving small slices so this recipe can feed a crowd. Its called a "Key Lime" cake, but I never buy key limes, I just use regular limes- either will work. The last time I made it I ended up cutting half of the cake up into chunks, wrapping them in plastic wrap and then putting them in freezer bags in the freezer. When I wanted to serve them I thawed them in the refrigerator and made a fresh glaze. They tasted great!

I hope you get a chance to give it a try!

~Wendy

 

Key Lime Pound Cake

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Wendy- Adapted from Southern Living

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 20 mins

Total time: 1 hour 40 mins

Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 1 c butter, softened


• 1/2 c shortening


• 2 c sugar


• 6 large eggs


• 3 c all-purpose flour


• 1/2 tsp baking powder


• 1/8 tsp salt


• 1 c milk


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 tsp lime zest


• 1/4 c fresh lime juice


• Key Lime Glaze


• 1 c powdered sugar


• 3 Tbsp lime juice


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°.


2. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy.


3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.


4. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.


5. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice.


6. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (12-cup) tube pan.


7. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.


8. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack


9. Prepare Key Lime Glaze by combining the three ingredients and stirring until smooth, and immediately brush over top and sides of cake. Cool completely (about 1 hour).

3.2.1255

 

Streusel Coffee Cake

I have managed (so far) to keep it out of the blog, but my life has been recently turned upside down. A few months ago we put our house on the market, in preparation for a move to a home with a little more space for our family of 5. 

The catch was we hadn't exactly FOUND that home yet.

So here was the plan.....get our house on the market and hopefully under contract, so we'd ready to jump on the perfect new place when it came along. Buyers in our neck of the woods have been in huge competition with each other over relatively low inventory. So houses go fast and are most likely to go to buyers who don't require a home sale contingency. Long story short? Our house sold in less then 18 hours, and we found ourselves living with my mom and dad.

And we are in a great spot, really. My parents have been so awesome opening their home to me, my husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a whole lot of stuff. My dad reads Hardy Boy books to my oldest son, and gets my little guy out of bed when he awakes pre-dawn. My mom does countless crafts and marathon coloring sessions with my daughter. As I keep reminding them when things do get a little chaotic, "we are making memories here, people!"

The other huge bonus to living here has been a chance to collaborate in the kitchen with my mom. It's way more fun to experiment with new recipes (and revisit childhood favorites) with a partner. Last weekend she made this coffee cake and I knew I had to share. Hands down, THE BEST after school snack I ever remember coming home to. It comes together very easily in a (larger sized) food processor. It's perfect for a breakfast or brunch....and a mid-afternoon snack.

~Erin

Streusel Coffee Cake

 

Author: Erin

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Cake


• 3 c. flour


• 4 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1 c. sugar


• 1 c. butter


• 2 eggs, lightly beaten


• 1 c. milk


• 2 tsp. vanilla


• Topping


• 1 c. brown sugar


• 4 T. flour


• 4 T. butter


• 4 tsp. cinnamon


• 1 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are great, but could be optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan.


2. For topping, in food processor, pulse together brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and nuts until crumbly. Transfer to another bowl.


3. Add to food processor flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Pulse 2-3 times. Cut in butter and pulse until you have a corn meal consistancy (2-4 times).


4. In a small mixing bowl, mix eggs, milk, and vanilla together well. Add to flour mixture in processor and pulse 2-3 times just to mix.


5. Put half of batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of topping. Add rest of batter and sprinkle with remaining topping.


6. Bake 35-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

 

Notes

The batter will be thick so spread it to corners of the pan with a scraper. I end up dolluping the second layer of batter into the pan, so as not to totally destroy that first sprinkle of topping. And I wouldn't judge if you decided to make double the streusel topping...I MAY have experimented pretty successfully with those proportions. :)

3.2.1230

Chocolate Cherry Bars

You'd better believe this will be making an appearance in the coming month. In my family at least, June is THE month to be born. Heck, don't limit it to family and I swear I know of someone celebrating every other day.

My mom has been making this super easy chocolate cherry cake as long as I can remember. It was automatically on my dad's birthday menu year after year. I will often keep a can of cherry pie filling and chocolate cake mix in the pantry so it won't require a trip to the store and dessert can be thrown together quickly. Best part is that it won't taste like it.

HEAVEN comes in a 9x13 pan.

And if you are a chocolate frosting fan, you're in luck. It's super fudgy in a Texas Sheet Cake kind of way, and there are no cake decorating skills required.

I guarantee all your June babies will be pleased.

 

Chocolate Cherry Bars

 

Author: Erin (adapted from a Pillsbury recipe)

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Cake


• 1 box of chocolate cake mix


• 1 can cherry pie filling (21 oz.)


• 1 tsp. vanilla extract


• 3 eggs, lightly beaten


• Frosting


• 1 c. sugar


• 1/3 c. milk


• 5 tsp. butter


• 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips (one 6 oz. package)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray a 9x13 pan.


2. Mix together all cake ingredients until well blended, and pour into prepared pan.


3. Bake 25-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.


4. In a saucepan, combine sugar, milk and butter.


5. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.


6. Remove from pan from heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth.


7. Pour frosting over warm bars, and spread to edges.


8. Allow to cool completely and cut into bars.

 

Notes

I have had good results with any kind of devil's food or fudge cake mix. You can definitely mix this cake by hand. A mixer works fine too but tends to crush the cherries, so they might not be as obvious in the finished product.

3.2.1230

Apple Cake

This past fall I had an abundance of apples to cook with. My mother-in-law has an apple tree that was on overload for some reason. She would go and pick the apples and then bring me a GIANT bucket to cook with. I think I tried every single apple recipe on the planet! I made applesauce, apple butter, apple pie, apple tarts, and this amazing apple cake- all in a 4 week time period. Looking back it seems like I was on a mission to make apples as unhealthy as possible. Even though this cake won't make it on any "diet" menus- it was my absolute favorite from the apple cooking bonanza.

This recipe came from the Taste of Home website. You can link to it here. My Mom had given me a magazine subscription from Taste of Home a while back and I loved it. I always find their recipes to be "normal", in a good way. Simple, down to earth, my-kids-will-actually-eat-this recipes. I would make this cake for any party, a birthday, or just because you have a ton of apples! Its very dense and very rich with a layer of cheesecake ribboned throughout and a brown sugar/praline frosting. Mmmmm.... I might need to go make this again.

~Wendy

Apple Cake

Author: Wendy

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Cake


• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened


• 2 cups sugar, divided


• 4 eggs


• 1 c. canola oil


• 2 c. all-purpose flour


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 2 tsp ground cinnamon


• 1 tsp salt


• 1/4 tsp baking soda


• 2 c. chopped peeled tart apples


• 1 c. shredded carrots


• 1/2 c. chopped pecans (or walnuts)


• Praline Icing


• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar


• 1/4 c. butter, cubed


• 2 Tbsp 2% milk


• 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


• 1/4 c. chopped pecans, toasted

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in 1 egg; set aside.


2. In a large bowl, beat oil with remaining sugar and eggs until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda; gradually beat into oil mixture until blended. Stir in the apples, carrots and pecans.


3. Transfer half of the apple batter to a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan; layer with cream cheese mixture and remaining apple batter.


4. Bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.


5. In a large saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter and milk to a boil. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with pecans.

Notes

If you don't have a bundt pan you can make this in an angel-food cake pan. Just be sure the sides are tight and won't leak. The first time I made this I used an angel-food cake pan and lined it with greased foil to be sure it wouldn't seep through the sides.

3.1.09

 

 

Almond Cake

In the interest of complete honesty on this blog, I have to say...I got nuthin'.

I don't know if it's the post-turkey, end-of- the-kids-being-home-all-week, ready-for-bed brain but I've been sitting here for 2 hours telling myself, "Alright! Pick up that netbook and write about that awesome almond cake for your post for tomorrow!" I knew that sometimes I'd struggle trying to figure out what to say about some recipes if I didn't have some personal anecdote about it, but I certainly did not think it would happen on my THIRD post! I even just asked my Lucky guy if he had any special memories about it (I got the recipe from his mom when we were dating) and he said, "No, I just remember that my mom would make it and I liked it."

Ok. Thanks. ;)

So, I can give you the facts. This cake is like pound cake on crack – if you like almond, you'll love this cake. It is a recipe from a SOLO cookbook from 1988 and is one of the easiest cakes I make. Always a crowd pleaser. Enjoy!

~Leah

AlmondCake

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Leah (adapted from Solo)

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients

• 1 c. butter, softened


• 1 c. sugar


• 3 eggs


• 1 can Solo almond filling


• 2 1/4 c flour


• 2 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1/4 c. milk


• Almond Glaze:


• 1 c confectioners/powdered sugar


• 2-3 Tbsp. whipping cream


• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour (I always cheat and use the baking spray with flour in it) a 12-cup Bundt pan.


2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.


3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after adding each one.


4. Beat in almond filling until blended.


5. In a separate bowl, stir flour, baking powder, and salt untli mixed.


6. Add to the almond mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.


7. Beat until blended.


8. Spread batter evenly in the prepared bundt pan.


9. Bake 50-55 minutes or until toothpick/skewer comes out clean.


10. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on the rack.


11. To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, cream, and almond extract in a small bowl and stir until blended and smooth. Spoon or drizzle over the top of the cake. Let stand until the glaze is set.

Notes

Make sure you either grease and flour or spray your pan really well! If you are using a dark bundt pan, reduce your oven temp to 325. Darker pans are supposed to bake faster, so I had set my timer for 40 minutes to check, but ended up baking the cake 55 minutes.
When making the glaze, start with 2 Tbsp of the cream and check the consisitency for how you like it. I feel like every time I make it, I use different proportions and I have no idea why...maybe different brands?
Also, if you're going to drizzle, I like to use a decorator icing bag or a ziploc with a small hole snipped in the bottom corner. I can never seem to drizzle nicely when I use a spoon.

3.1.09