Banana Gateau

This is from the Joy of Cooking and it's pretty spectacular.  You can make it super glam like I did or in a single layer in a 9X13 pan with the caramel on top.

Banana Cake

Whisk together:

2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Blitz in a food processor:

2 large ripe bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Cream in a mixer:

1 stick butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar

Add:

2 eggs(one at a time)

Add the wet and dry mixture, alternating some of each until combined.  Spoon into a greased and papered 10X15 jellyroll pan and bake at  350 for 25 minutes.  Let cool.

Caramel Frosting

Combine in a saucepan:

4 cups brown sugar
2 sticks butter
1 cup cream
2 tbsp corn syrup

Cook to the soft ball stage.  Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl.  Float

6 tbsp butter

Let cool to 140 and start beating.  Add:

2 tsp vanilla

Beat until spreadable.  Don't let this get too cold or it will be hard to work with.


Assembly

Cut the cake in half and then split each of the layers to make four long thin layers.  Assemble the cake with caramel between three of the layers and nothing on top.  Refrigerate to firm it up.  Then trim the edges and dust with powdered sugar.  Bon appetit!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buddy Bars

These are super easy to make and I can't stop saying the name.

Combine in a  mixer:

1 cup peanut butter (9 1/2 oz)
6 tbsp butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vnilla
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 cup flour

Pat dough into a greased 9X13 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.  When it comes out of the oven sprinkle over the top:

1 bag (11 oz) chocolate chips

Concentrate on the borders because it's easier to pull the melted chocolate in than out.  Let it sit for 10 minutes to soften, and then smooth the melted chocolate with a palette knife.  Let cool and serve.  Bon appetit!

Bombe Royale

This show stopping dessert isn't hard at all and is lots of fun to make and assemble.  The Jelly Roll recipe is from Joy of Cooking.

Jelly Roll

Whisk together in a bowl:

3/4 cup sifted cake flour
3.4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Beat in a mixer

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar

Beat until pale and yellow.  Slowly incorporate the dry mixture.  Set aside.  Beat in a mixer:

4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp tartar

slowly add:

1/4 cup sugar

Beat until stiff peaks form.  Add some of the egg whites to the yolk mixture and stir to lighten the batter.  Then slowly fold the rest of the egg whites in.  Spread into a 10X15 greased, papered jelly roll pan 20-25 minutes.  When done, let cool for a minute than invert onto a towel.  Roll the cake up tightly and set aside to cool.  When cool, carefully unroll and spread:

3/4 cup strawberry jam

Roll the cake back up and then roll in parchment paper to hole it until it sets.

Honey Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups cream
8 oz honey
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

175

2 cups cream

Strawberry Ice Cream

2 cups cream
18 oz strawberry preserves
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla


175

2 cups cream


Praline Paste

1 cup cream
2 cups brown sugar
2 cup granulated sugar
1 stick of butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
3 pounds pecans

cook cream and sugar to 232
add [pecans and bitter and swirl to combine
and vanilla and salt and stir to cool and thicken
pour into greased pan or by spoons onto greased pan.
Grind 1 pound of it in the food processor

Beat 1 stick of butter and then add the nuts beat into a paste

Assembly:

Make the Jelly Roll, fill it and roll it up in parchment paper.  Make the ice cream custards.  Put everything in the refrigerator for at least eight hours or overnight.  Put the honey ice cream custard in the ice cream machine.  While it freezes, line a large bowl that you're using as a mold with plastic wrap.  Slice the jelly roll--  you need to either slice it very thinly or make two of them.  Arrange the jelly roll slices very tightly at the bottom of the lined bowl.  Position a plastic container trimmed of rims in the bowl so that when the second flavor goes in it makes a pattern.  Pour the first ice cream in when it's at soft serve consistency and freeze the mold overnight.  Then make second flavor, remove the mold and pour the ice cream in.  Freeze that overnight.  Spread the praline paste on the base and freeze again.  A couple of hours before serving, unmold and put in the refrigerator to enjoy.  Slice with a sharp knife.  Bon Appetit!

This would have been so much easier to remove had it been upside down.  Note to self:

Creamy Chocolate Gateau

This is a Bailey's flavored chocolate cake filled with chocolate pastry cream and frosted with an interesting evaporated milk based frosting that is rich, sweet and creamy.  The cake is a variation on Texas Chocolate Cake that I've been making forever.  The pastry cream and satin frosting came from the Joy of Cooking.  Make the cake and the pastry cream one day and then assemble the cake, make the satin frosting and frost the cake the next. It's so much easier to deal with cold cake and pastry cream.

Chocolate cake

Whisk together in a bowl:

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda

Combine in a saucepan and heat until simmering:

1 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup cream
3/4 cup Bailey's

Let cool.  Combine in a mixing bowl:

2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

Slowly add the chocolate mixture and then the dry mixture.  Pour into a 10X15 pan.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Let cool.

Chocolate Pastry Cream

Combine in a pan:

2 1/2 cups cream
4 oz unsweetened choc

Melt the chocolate and stir until combined.  Combine in a mixer:

2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp flour
4 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Beat until light and smooth.  Slowly add the chocolate cream mixture into the eggs mixture and then put back on the heat.  Stir constantly until it begins to thicken.  Then pour it in a bowl. cover the surface with plastic wrap to keep a skin from forming and cool.  Refrigerate when cooled.

Chocolate Satin Frosting

Melt in a small pot:

6 oz unsweeted chocolate
1 cup evaporated milk

Once the chocolate is melted, put a lid on the pot and let sit for 10 minutes.  Add to the mixing bowl of a food processor:

1 1/2 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

Add the cooled chocolate mixture and blitz to incorporate.  This needs to sit for 30-60 minutes before it's thick enough to spread.

Assembly:

Cut the cake in half and then split each of the resulting layers to get four thin, long layers.  Put one of the bottom layers down and then add a layer of pastry cream.  Repeat for the second and third layers. Make the last layer one of two bottom layers and put it down upside down to get a smooth top.  Put it in the refrigerator to firm up for an hour.  Trim the edges and frost liberally with Chocolate Satin frosting.  Clean up the plate and serve.  Bon appetit!

Macaroni and Cheese

This version of macaroni and cheese, although certainly neither low in fat nor calories, both freezes and microwaves well.  A variety of flavors and cheeses go well with this recipe.

Sautee:

6 tbsp butter
1 finely diced medium onion
1 tsp salt

Cook until the onions are translucent but have not begun to brown.  Then add:

1/4 cup flour

Stir constantly until the flour has coated the onions, cooked through, and barely started to brown.  Then add:

1 cup wine

Cook until the alcohol has burned off and the liquid has somewhat reduced.  Then add:

3 pounds sour cream (!)
1 egg
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp Tony Chachere
lots of black pepper
more salt to taste

Incorporate the egg very quickly into the sour cream and then the rest of the sauce before it can cook. You don't want to get the sour cream too hot so cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to sputter.  Then add:

12 oz grated cheddar cheese

Stir until the cheese has melted.  If the pasta isn't ready, turn off the heat until it is.   You may have to warm it up again if it gets too cool.  Add:

1 pound pasta, cooked to the minimum recommended cooking time.  It should be a little crunchy.

Stir combined and then put into a greased 9X13 pan.  Sprinkle over the top:

3 oz grated cheddar cheese

Sprinkle over that:

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

This can sit for a while on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator.  If chilled, bring back to room temperature before baking.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly.  Bon appetit!

Pecan-Butterscotch-Calvados Pound Cake

I've made this pound cake based one one from 'Bundt Cake Classics' a bunch of times and I'm pleased with the way it turns out and also with its longevity.   Mr. Poe liked this a lot.  The calvados gives it an interesting apple flavor without actually having apple in it.

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
6 eggs
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cups Calvados
3/4 cups pecans
5 1/2 oz butterscotch chips (half of a bag)

Whisk flour and baking powder and set aside
Carefully cream the sugar and butter together
Add eggs(one at a time), nutmeg, salt and Calvados
Put into bundt pan sprayed with Pam with flour added
Bake 60-70 minutes or much longer until toothpick comes out clean
Let cool for 10 minutes and then unmold on to serving plate
Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
 

Frangelico pound cake

Frangelico has such a delicate flavor and is lovely in this pound cake.  I have very mixed results with bundt cakes unless I use Pam with flour in it or its generic equivalent.  I don't make bundt cakes without it. 

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
6 eggs
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt


2/3 cups Frangelico

Whisk flour and baking powder and set aside
Carefully cream the sugar and butter together
Add eggs(one at a time), nutmeg, salt and Frangelico
Put into bundt pan sprayed with Pam with flour added
Bake 60-70 minutes or much longer until toothpick comes out clean
Let cool for 10 minutes and then unmold on to serving plate
Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Chocolate Marashino Cake

I've been making this cake based on one from this cookbook with a bunch of variations for years.  I've flavored it with a variety of liquors with fantastic results.  These are flavored with Maraschino liquor which is a cherry liquor that has a very interesting flavor.  I've had very mixed results with bundt cakes unless I use Pam with flour added.  I haven't had as good of results with regular Pam.  It's to the point that I don't make bundt cakes unless I have Pam with flour or its generic equivalent.

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tbsp baking soda
1 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup marashino liquor
2 tsp vanilla

Oven to 325

Whisk the flour, cocoa and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside

Cream the butter,  sugar and salt very carefully
Add eggs (one at a time), buttermilk, liquor and vanilla
Mix in the dry ingredients
Bake 60-70 minutes or much longer until toothpick comes out clean.
Let sit for ten minutes and then invert on to a serving plate
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve

Bon appetit!

Walnut-Bourbon Pound Cake

This cake contains an eyebrow raising 1/2 of a fifth of whiskey.  I used Makers Mark.  My recipe is heavily based on one in the 'Bundt Classics' cookbook which I recommend even though a bunch of the recipes call for boxed cake mix which is where I draw the line when it comes to baking.  Here's the link.  I seem to only get reliable bundt cakes when I use nonstick spray with flour in it and I'm pretty much to the point that I'm going to make something else if I don't have that.  My bundt cakes always take a lot longer than the recipes indicate--  I think it's my oven--  so keep an eye on yours and make sure you don't take it out to early because then it'll be raw in the middle and it will never unmold.

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt

8 eggs
1 cup bourbon + 1/2 cup for drizzling

1 tsp vanilla

1 8oz bag chopped walnuts

Oven to 325


Whisk flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves together in a bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar carefully
Add eggs (1 at a time) and salt
Slowly add 1 cup bourbon and vanilla
Add walnuts
Put into greased and floured bundt pan
Bake 65-75 minutes or much longer.
Let cool for ten minutes and unmold
Slowly brush or spoon reserved 1/2 cup of bourbon onto cake.
Wrap carefully and set in a cool dark place for at least a couple of days but better yet a week.