Hummingbird Cake

This is similar to carrot cake only with pineapple & pecans.

For the cake batter:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees and prepare to round cake pans.  I like to butter and flour them, but a little non-stick spray will work too.

3 cups Cake Flour
2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon each of: baking soda, ground cinnamon (I like Saigon), & salt

1 cup Veggie Oil
3 Large Eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or 1 tablespoon of extract
6 ounces of crushed pineapple in it's juice
About 1 cup of chopped pecans depending on your taste
2 ripe bananas

In the bowl of a food processor pulse all the dry ingredients and the pecans to mix thoroughly.  In a large bowl mash the bananas and then add the wet ingredients. Beat with a fork to break up the eggs. Transfer the dry stuff to another large bowl and slowly mix in the wet stuff.  Don't over mix.  The batter will be a bit lumpy.  Transfer to the prepared cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes.

Cook the cakes on a wire rack.  When completely cooled cover with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:  2 sticks salted butter, about 3-4 cups of powdered sugar, two 8 ounce bricks of cream cheese and one teaspoon of vanilla paste or scrape down one vanilla pod.  I like the way the vanilla flecks look in the frosting.

Let the butter and cheese come to room temperature and then beat to light and fluffy with an electric mixer.  Add in the vanilla then slowly sift in the sugar until it's as sweet as you like it.

Don't be shy with the frosting. 

Chocolate Ice Cream

My new Cuisinart ice cream maker is my new favorite kitchen toy. My first batch of ice cream was a simple vanilla that turned out too fluffy.  The error in the recipe was not enough cream and too much churning.  The chocolate batch came out wonderful.

Ingredients: 1 cup heavy cream, 2 cups of half & half, 5 egg yolks, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 5 ounces semi sweet chocolate.

Chop up the chocolate and place into a sauce pan with the half & half.  Melt the chocolate into the half & half on low heat.  Whisk constantly to keep from scorching.  Once the chocolate in thoroughly incorporated turn off the heat.

In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the mix becomes  a pale yellow color.  Whisk in the heavy cream.   Slowly pour in 1 cup of the chocolate mixture (it should still be pretty warm at this point) and then slowly mix the egg mix back into the sauce pan.  Heat on low to cook the egg yolk through.  The ice cream base should coat the back of a wooden spoon when done.

Whisk in the vanilla extract at the very end with the heat off.

Transfer to container and refrigerate until cold. 

Process the base according to your ice cream makers instructions. I find that by shaving 5 mins off the recommended churn time and then freezing for at least 3 hours you get a denser ice cream.

Lemon Cream Pie

This pie is tart, creamy and full of fresh lemon flavor.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust (I used a homemade one using Crisco)
2-4 lemons
1/4 cup sugar
4 eggs - separated
1 teaspoon of salt
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of corn starch

The night before prepare the lemons:  Slice up 2 large or 4 small lemons into thin slices. I also cut off the zest for maximum flavor.  Sprinkle with the salt & sugar.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set on the counter over night.  The next morning strain the lemon juice out.  You should have about 1/2 a cup of yellow juice.

Bake your unfilled pie shell in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.  I cover my pie dough with parchment paper and then place uncooked rice on top to make sure that it stays in place.  Cool your pie shell before starting the rest of the pie.  You can use a pre-made crumb shell if you prefer and skip this step.

Make the meringue first:  Using an electric mixer beat the 4 egg whites, cream of tartar & powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.  Place the bowl of meringue in the fridge.

Preheat Oven to 350.

Set up a double boiler to cook the pie filling.  I just place a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Constantly whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, 4 egg yolks, 1/2 cup of strained lemon juice & 2 teaspoons of  corn starch together.  You want to whisk for about 10-15 minutes.  The goal is to cook the egg yolks and thicken the mixture until it starts to be a runny pudding consistency.

Pour the filling into the cooled pie shell and top with the meringue.  Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.  The meringue should start to brown a bit.  Chill in the ice box for at least 2 hours before serving so the pie can finish setting up.

Banana Buttermilk Mini Bundt's with Chocolate Chips

Aren't these the cutest little bundt cakes ever?

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 cups brown sugar
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup veggie oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon each: baking soda & baking powder
dash of ground allspice & nutmeg
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
pinch of salt
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 bag of chocolate chips

Cut up the banana into chunks and place in a large microwavable bowl.  Top with some plastic wrap and zap em for about 3 minutes.  (seriously, do this!).   After the bananas are cooked add in the stick of butter to the bowl.  Mash up the butter and bananas.  The butter will start to melt.  Keep mashing.  Add in the brown sugar and maple syrup.  Using an electric hand mix cream everything in the bowl together.  Add in the eggs one at a time.

In another bowl sift all the dry ingredients together.  Measure the buttermilk and oil in the same container for ease of pouring.

Slowly start adding about 1/3 of the flour to creamy goodness.  Mix.  Add in a 1/3 of th wet ingredients.  Then some more dry and then some more wet until everything is mix together except the chocolate chips.  Add those last.

Now you  want to bake this delicious mixture in a 350 degree oven.  I chose to use mini bundt pans.   You could use 1 regular bundt pan or 2 loaves or make some muffins.  Your make time will be about 20 minutes for mini bundts or muffins and closer to an hour for a loaf or full cake.

I plan on whipping up some cream to fill  the centers of my mini masterpieces.

Simple Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients: 1.5 cups of blueberries; 3 tablespoons of sugar or to taste; 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 cup of water.

Heat all the ingredients over medium low heat in a sauce pan until blueberries start to burst and give up their juice.  Mush them around a bit with a wooden spoon to help them along.   Simmer for a total of 15-20 minutes until the mixture thickens.

Strain through a fine mesh colander or sieve.   Let cool in the refridgerator and then pour over vanilla ice cream.  This would also be fantastic warm over buttermilk pancakes or stirred into plain yogurt.

Blueberry Bars

Easy and Delicious
Preheat Oven to 375
Pastry Mix:
1.5 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry  Flour
1/2 Cup Almonds, Walnuts or Pecans
1 Cup Sugar
2 Sticks Butter
Zest of One Lemon
1 Large Egg
Place all ingredients except the egg in the bowl of a food processor with the blade attachment and pulse to combine.  Add the egg.  Blend until well mixed.  Dough will be mealy.
Press 1/2 of the mix in a 16x9 greased pan.
Filling:
3 cups frozen thawed blueberries (or use fresh), juice of one lemon, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon corn starch.  Mix the filling in a large bowl and then spread evenly in the pan.   Crumble the other half of the pasty on top and bake for about 45-60 minutes until top is nice and golden brown.   Cool before slicing.  I get about 12 big squares.
These bars are great for breakfast or for dessert with a little whipped cream on top.
You could make them a bit healthier by decreasing some of the sugar and using all whole wheat pastry flour.  I like the texture of mixing the whole wheat and all purpose.

Lemon Bars

I attempted to emulate the wonderful world of Martha with this Lemon Bar Recipe.

I cheated, just a little bit.  I used jarred lemon curd from Trader Joe's.  It's delicious stuff that you should add to your pantry.  When making the bars I skewed slightly from the recipe and used a 16x9 pan and also lined it with a little parchment.   The parchment made sure they didn't stick.  I suggest using an extra egg white when making the meringue since I felt that the amount came out a little skimpy.