A yummy mouth full...Rum Honey Soaked Banana Walnut Cake

My youngest crumb snatcher is addicted to bananas. I have to make sure and buy at least two bunches at every shopping expedition. The last time the bananas were so green it made me pucker just looking at them. So I decided to be fun and buy the baby bananas. 

First I'll tell you one thing...HARD to peel...second, they looked great on the outside but mushy and over ripe on the inside. Mark wouldn't go near them. Who could blame him right. So sitting on my counter sat two large bunches of baby bananas...I just knew the gnats were going to move in within seconds and carry us all off. 

What do you do, you make banana bread right? Okay, I was a little bored with that idea...so this scrumptious cake was born.

Rum Honey Soaked Banana Walnut Cake

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon banana flavoring

1 1/3 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

5 bananas or 15 baby bananas (extremely ripe)

For glaze sauce

1/4 cup Dark Rum

1/8 cup water

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup honey

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease and flour a bunt or tube pan well. 

Peal and mash bananas until it looks like a paste.

In a large bowl dissolve baking soda in buttermilk and let sit for 2 minutes. Be careful of foam over flow. If it doesn't foam, its okay. Doesn't always foam for me either. 

Combine sugar, salt, flour, oil, eggs, vanilla, banana flavoring, nuts and bananas to buttermilk mixture. Mix by hand, careful not to over mix. 

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until tester stick comes out with a small amount of sticky batter. Do not bake until tester is completely clean or you will have a dry banana cake. 

The last 5 minutes of baking time for cake. Bring all ingredients for glaze/sauce to a boil in a small sauce pan. Let boil for 3 minutes. Once cake is removed from oven, pour sauce over hot cake, especially around the sides. Let cake sit for 20 minutes before removing from pan to completely cool. Sprinkle cake with powder sugar and ENJOY!

**Freezes well

Simplicity at its BEST... traditional chocolate cake

Don't you always just drool over the cakes you see on TV or in bakeries? They are always so beautifully decorated and look like mini sculptures. You just know they are a chocolate lovers equivalent to Red Bull...they come with 4o million fillings and twice as many frosting choices. You sink your teeth into them with relish...then discover...its not as good as grandmas. Then you regret selling your first born child to afford the upscale bakery cake. 

Let's head back to a simpler time. A time where good cake was just cake.  No sugar roses or raspberry cream filling. Where all cakes were just good ole fashioned goodness. 

This is one of those recipes. Traditional and just perfect. It's light and EXTREMELY moist. And OH so very RICH. It really is the perfect chocolate cake recipe. And guess what, its easy....no...I'm serious, it take just a few minutes longer than your average box mix. Make this and you will never buy a box mix again. 

Basic Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar

2  1/2 cups sifted CAKE flour*

3/4 sifted baking cocoa powder

1  1/2 baking powder

1  1/2 baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup boiling water

Note* Cake flour makes cakes light and fluffy. If you want a denser cake substitute all-purpose flour by subtracting 2 tablespoons per cup of cake flour. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour, two 9 inch cake pans or 13x9 inch pan. Do not use 8 inch pans. Cake will over flow. 

In a large mixing bowl shift combine all dry ingredients. 

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla and beat on medium for approx. 2 minutes and batter is well blended. Do not over beat. 

Gently fold in boiling water (batter will be thin). 

Transfer to prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes for 9 inch round pans or 40 minutes for 13x9 inch pan or until wooden pick comes out clean. 

Let cool 20 minutes before transferring to wire rack or cake plate. 

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting (VERY EASY)

This is a WONDERFUL frosting. Not the greatest for decorating, but I guarantee the taste will make you forgive its culinary fashion fau' paux. 

1/2 cup softened butter (real butter, no substitutions)

2 2/3 cups sifted confectioners sugar

1/3 cup milk 

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup sifted baking cocoa powder

In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream butter.

Blend in cocoa powder, vanilla, sugar and milk. 

Beat until desired texture is achieved. 

NOTE* freezes well 

Beware of the Pig-it

This morning our family made cookies for Santa. So much fun decorating and nibbling. No pictures of the older crumb snatchers eating theirs, I'm  pretty sure Hannah and Ryan inhaled their cookies. Mark however is a true classic foodie. He savors each bites as if it were his last meal. 

Later my Ryan mistook the day and took the tray and placed it on the table closest to the tree. As I was busy in the kitchen making pies, he ran in thinking Santa had been here but left nothing because the cookies were gone...I looked for the tray which of course was not in the kitchen...then followed my son to investigate. Low and behold, empty tray...guess Holly (super fab pooch) had herself a super fab snack. I guess another tray for Santa will be made sometime today and Holly's new nickname is Pig-it...coined by Ryan. 

Sugar cookie recipe will not be posted. Old family secret of course :) But the icing recipe is from Home Ec 101. My normal recipe doesn't allow you to leave out the vanilla extract which is impossible to get a pure white. This taste wonderful and is very simple. I'm tossing my  own and adopting a new. 

What to devour first... Husband or cookies?

Today was another day of testing my patience with Mr. Kendra. As much as I try to be understanding, it infuriates me when he makes large purchases without having a conversation with me first...or at least forewarn me. Although he swears he told me months ago he wanted a new truck...I for some reason didn't translate that to "Hey hun, I'm going to buy a truck today"...this morning he leaves to run errands and returns 5 hours later with a truck and nice new payment...ONE WEEK before Christmas. I wanted to pelt him with my waffle iron, but since I'm not a violent person by nature....I refrained from beating, choking, or throttling him with large kitchenware... and stepped away. This is TWICE he has come home with a new vehicle without so much as hint to me. I often wonder if this rash purchases aren't prelude to a premature midlife crisis. Or if this is it. Guess bringing home a truck is better than bringing home a cute little perky 20 year old. 

But yes, Mr. Kendra still lives. 

I decided to transfer my anger to my mixer and pounded out some cookies. These are our neighbor son's ULTIMATE favorite cookie. His mother bakes them every year to give as gifts. After years of devouring these perfect nibbles I finally stalked her enough where she relented and gave me the recipe. At first when I started making these I couldn't get them quite as nice and chewy as she does. It took me time to tweak them to perfection.

You really should try these cookies. They are so wonderful. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

1  1/2 cups flour 

1  1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup shortening

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp hot water

1 tsp vanilla

1  1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 (12 oz) package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups dry rolled oats

Shift together soda, flour and salt. I separate bowl, cream shortening and sugar (both brown and white). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in hot water, vanilla, and flour mixture. Add all remaining ingredients, mixing well. Let cookie dough rest for 5 minutes before dropping onto a well greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden in color. 

Love at first bite...

Truffles are another holiday favorite here. This is one I have yet let the kids help with. Well, for one they are for a Christmas party, and two, I always make a big enough mess by myself creating these. All are filled with chocolate ganache either dipped in dark, milk, and white chocolate or a mixture. I prefer to coat mine with a thin layer of tempered chocolate than rolling in coco powder, but they are fabulous either way. These little babies are so easy, yet look like you spent hours creating them. Honestly, the biggest challenge is trying not to dive into the bowl head first and eating your way to the surface.  Recipe

Brown Sugar Brick

Did you know that brown sugar can be registered as a deadly weapon? It can, especially if you don't transfer it to a tightly sealed container and just throw the bag into your refrigerator. I learned that the hard way after buying a new bag during the Thanksgiving holidays and in a rush of cooking got lazy. So during my day of Baking Bliss I found, kitchen laziness just means more work later. The old Kendra would have just chucked the bag into the trash and jumped into the grocery getter (a.k.a mini van~stop laughing) to purchase a new bag. BTW, that bag too would have ended in the refrig uncovered. Oh the Horror of it all. But in my new found frugality, I knew I had to save it. So how do you save a brown sugar brick, you say? Well, maybe you know the answer....but I didn't. Usually I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but I did know that the moisture had evaporated from the sugar. I needed to somehow replenish that moisture. But how? AHHH HAAA, I had it. The microwave. I didn't want it to melt however, so I sawed the brick in half. Yes, I said SAW....no I didn't actually use a saw, but I swear it would have been easier. So in the microwave the brick went...along with water in a separate cup. I started with a minute...hoping the vapor would moisten the sugar. It was extremely depleted of any H2O, that I had to go to three...Finally it worked! It became soft and crumbly once more. I love when I have these moments of brilliance :) Oh hush, I know its a secret that's probably been around since the dawn of microwaves...but at least I learned a few lessons, #1, there is a use for the microwave besides popcorn and heating cold coffee, #2 when somethings says store in a tightly sealed container, there is a reason why. 

Baking Bliss...

Don't get me wrong. I love baking with the kids. There is something about their drooly grins and sneaky fingers...but the mess and noise sometimes get to much when you have large projects. This afternoon I got a chance to bake all by my lonesome. Peace and quiet to test out new recipes, perfect the old standbys and play around with the camera...ahhhh...baking bliss.

Dark chocolate and french vanilla Pinwheels

Chocolate Sniderdoodle drops

Mint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Cranberry, orange and walnut scones

My Recipes

Stuffed Mushrooms

Parrot Bay Coconut Shrimp

(half recipe)

Cheese Straws

Goat Cheese Beer Biscuits 

Real Southern Cornbread

Hot Cocoa

Almond Pesto Chicken

Chicken Fried Chicken with Cracked Pepper Milk Gravy

Chicken Parmesan

Country Crab Cakes

Pan Broiled Ribeye Steak

Parrot Bay Coconut Shrimp

Maui Luau Salmon with Macadamia Coconut Crust

Shrimp 'n' Grits

Stuffed Pork Chops with Rosemary Grape Stuffing

Stuffed Shells

Taco Soup

Rocotillo Pasta Salad with White Baslamic Dressing

Blackberry Cobbler

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Icing

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Brittle

Rum Honey Soaked Banana Walnut Cake

Traditional Chocolate Cake

Spicy Chocolate Scuppernong Fudge

Magic Reindeer Food

Cheese Straws