022: banana bread with streusel topping

so my roommate bought bananas for her sick boyfriend, but somehow none of us ended up eating them.  so what better to do with a bunch of overripe bananas than make banana bread??  so that is exactly what i did :o)  prep time was about 20 minutes, and bake time is around an hour.

equipment:
measuring cups and spoons
3 mixing bowls (1 larger, 2 medium)
loaf pans (i used 3 of the little guys, but you could use one standard sized one, too)


ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
3 overripe bananas, smashed
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. softened margarine (1 stick)
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1 T. sugar
1 T. brown sugar
1 T. softened butter


steps:
1.) preheat oven to 350F.  grease your loaf pan(s)

2.) mix flour, baking soda, and baking soda in the largest of the mixing bowls.

3.) in one of the smaller mixing bowls, smash your bananas.  i used a potato smasher, but you could easily use even just a fork

4.) in your third bowl, cream together your margarine and brown sugar.  add the eggs and beat them in.  add this mixture to the smashed bananas and mix well.  add vanilla to this mix.

5.) add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until moistened.

6.) pour evenly into the loaf pans.

7.) mix together the streusel topping, by creaming together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and sugar with the butter.  sprinkle over the top of the loaves.

8.) bake at 350F for about an hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out cleanly.  let cool before eating.


time: 20 minuets prep, 60 minutes bake
difficulty: 2 (1 being easiest, 5 being hardest)
rating: ♦♦♦1/2◊◊ (3.5 out of 5 stars)
suggestions for variation:  i am not a big fan of crunchy surprises in my breads, but if you want to add crushed walnuts or something, i'm sure that would be an ok addition.


enjoy :o)
-kl

021: birthday fun!

so today is my friend tyler's 20th birthday, and tyler is absolutely obsessed with all apple products. so what better way to celebrate his birthday than to make him an apple [logo shaped] cake?? well, maybe throw in a taco bar, playing super mario (super nes, of course) projected to take up an entire wall, some fantastic party games, and awesome friends and you've got yourself a party! happy 20th, bud :o) anyway, back to the CAKE!


now this baby was a double layered cake and took a 3 day process to make. despite that, it was not difficult at all, only time-consuming. i guess i cheated, because i used cake mixes and store-bought frosting. you are allowed to give up now and call me a fraud, but i hope you'll stick it out.


equipment:
9x13 pan
cooling rack
cutting boards
sharp knife
frosting (butter) knife
cup of HOT water


ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix (i used one chocolate and one yellow)and their respective mixing ingredients
3 cans of frosting (white)
food coloring


steps:

the reason needed 2 boxes of cake mix is that tyler's favorite is marble cake. it is almost impossible to shape a marble cake, so to get the same marble taste, we went for 2 layered cake. i began with the chocolate on the bottom and added yellow cake to the top so as to mess up the coloring of the frosting less (yellow cake offers a more blank palate than does chocolate).

i began by making a 9x13 pan of chocolate and greased the WHOLE pan and sides really well. i baked it according to the instructions on the box, and let it cool for about an hour. i then put a cooling rack on top of the 9x13 pan, held it in place and flipped the whole cake pan over onto the cooling rack without the 2 ever losing contact. this makes it easier to flip onto another surface later, as well as serving to let it squash down a little bit so your cake isn't quite so tall. after this fully cooled, i used the same process to flip it back into the 9X13, and then again into a cutting board (i used white to be a blank palate). i just cut the cake to fit onto the cutting board without discarding too much cake. after this, i wrapped the cake and cutting board in saran wrap and refrigerated it overnight.

the exact same process was used for the yellow cake, and this went onto a second cutting board, though this one doesn't matter regarding color or material, as the cake will eventually get transferred on top of the chocolate one.

i then took both cakes out of the fridge and frosted the chocolate one (i just kept this frosting white) on top to act as the congealing layer between the two cakes. transferring the yellow cake on top of the chocolate one was probably the hardest part of the whole process, and i ended up using a slow slide and transfer process, though i think freezing the yellow cake might work better so as to be able to get a firm grip on it without fear of it breaking or crumbling apart, which is the trouble i was facing.

the final product, but for an idea of the layering involved

then i made a rough outline on the cake of an apple and mostly carved the corners away with a sharp knife, soaking it in a cup of HOT water in between every cut. this is a classic wedding cake trick to get the cleanest cut and get rid of any cake or frosting particles that you don't want in another area of your cake. so the apple shape was cut and all that remained was the leaf. i used the "bite" piece (cut after the whole apple shape was cut) as the leaf, as they are essentially the same shape. this i had to prop up with toothpicks, but i later frosted over them and warned the person who ate the leaf about them so they wouldn't choke and die, haha.

then it was time to frost. i did this in two layers--one as a rough covering and one as a finished layer. looking back on it, i could have done the first layer in white and not worried about the coloring yet, but i did not know at the time that it would take two layers to look good. so i just used food coloring to dye my white frosting and put it in the proper locations to cover both the sides and the top of the cake. *TIP: put the cake in the freezer for a few minutes (20 or so) before you start this process, as it will be much easier to frost, and also do this (10 minutes or so) in between every color change.* i also froze it for about half an hour before starting the second layer, and then kept it refrigerated until it was served. this was the time consuming part, but none of it was hard.

anyway, it was a major hit at the party. to cut it i again used my sharp knife and hot water and cut it like a wedding cake. everyone seemed to enjoy it, and the reaction was more than worth the tediousness of the effort!