Bake It til You Make It

Like everyone else, I’m sure, I usually have bananas for too long and some go bad before I eat them all.  Instead of throwing them away, I decided to make banana bread with them!  I was looking for an easy recipe, and boy- did I find one.

All you need for this recipe is:

2 - 3 bananas, brown and mashed; 1/3 cup melted butter; 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar (pending how sweet you want it to taste); 1 egg, whisked with a fork; 1 tsp of vanilla; 1 tsp of baking soda; a pinch of salt and 1 1/2 cups of flour

The first thing you’ll do is preheat the oven to 350* and then you’ll mix your dry ingredients.  I like to do this because I’m a messy baker, so I gently blend them together before adding anything else.  I used a whisk for this step.

Once that’s blended well, you’ll add in the melted butter, vanilla and whisked egg.  You can definitely throw everything in the bowl at once and mix it up, but doing it separately ensures it all merges together.  I used my hands for this part so I could feel it coming together.

The final step is adding in the mashed bananas.  Again, I used my hands for this part so I could feel when the bananas fused with the rest of the ingredients.  It’s super mushy and squishy and I have to admit, I had a lot of fun with this part.  :)

Since we’re making bread, I used a loaf pan, but you could also use a square pan if you wanted to change it up.  Whatever you decide to use, make sure you grease it with oil or butter before pouring the mixture in.

This is going to bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until it’s browned and a toothpick comes out clean.  I chose to leave it in the pan to cool, but you can also transfer it to a cooling rack.

I’ve finally made another cake from my #100cupcakesandcakes recipe book.  The vanilla sponge layer cake was as easy as it was delicious.  Mark and I did not waste too much time before eating this dessert.

This is a pretty basic recipe made with ingredients from things you probably already have in your house, especially if you cook/bake on the regular.  For this recipe you will need:

Cake: Oil or melted butter to grease the pan; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tbsp baking powder; 3/4 cup of softened, unsalted butter; 3/4 cup superfine sugar; 3 eggs, beaten; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 tbsp of milk.

Filling: 1/4 cup softened, unsalted butter; 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (plus more for dusting); 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 3 tbsp strawberry jelly.

You’ll start be preheating the oven to 350* and grease the bottom of two 8-inch layer cakes.

Then, you’ll sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl; adding the butter, superfine sugar, eggs and vanilla after that.

Make sure you beat that together until it’s smooth, then stir in the milk.

Once it’s all stirred together, you’ll divide the mixture evenly between the two greased pans.

These are going to bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown and the centers are firm.  Let them cool for 2 - 3 minutes and then turn out and let them finish cooling on a wire rack.

To make the filling: beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.  When that’s done, you’ll spread that on top of one of the cakes and the bottom of the other with the jelly.  Sandwich the two together to enclose the filling, pressing down lightly.

The final step is dusting the cake with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Chocolate chip cookies are such a classic.  I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like them- they’re delicious and so easy to make.  This is definitely my go-to recipe, and I’ve been using this specific one for a long time now.

Preheat your oven to 350*.  Then the first thing you want to do is blend together the butter, sugar and brown sugar.

After that, beat in the eggs (one at a time) ; then mix in the Vanilla.  Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and add that to the batter, with the salt.

The last thing you’ll do is stir in the flour.  I usually pour in a cup at a time so I can mix it all together really good.  Once that’s done, you’ll add in your chocolate chips (or you can sub in m&ms, peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips).

As I mentioned, I love to bake.  I love seeing the finished product and, of course- enjoying it too.  After showing my #hubs the blog and where the dessert recipe came from, he pointed out that there are #100cakesandcupcakes to make, and asked if that was what I’d be doing.  My response- well now it is!!  :)

This #chocolatelayercake is super easy to make and ridiculously delicious.  It also inspired me to buy cute new #bakingequipment , so I’m pumped to make more!

After preheating your oven to 350*, there’s really only three steps to making this cake: add your dry ingredients, then beat in the liquids until smooth, stirring in the milk.  

Divide the mixture into two round pans and cook in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes (I cooked mine for about 25 minutes, and it was perfect).

                                *turn over and let cook on wire racks*  

After they’ve cooled, use a chocolate spread to sandwich together them and finish it off with a powdered sugar dusting (I used Nutella for mine).  Enjoy!!  :)

The First of Many

New years are all about new beginnings.  And even though we’re almost into February, it’s better to start late than never...right?

I’m not working right now, but I’ve kept myself busy baking.  So what happens when I combine two of my passions (writing and baking) - #ablogisborn

Baking has never let me down.  Even if what I make turns out to be a horrible disaster, having something to show for the mess I made in the kitchen is still satisfying.  It also helps that I have the best taste-tester in all the world- who will say he likes anything I make.  ;)

I enjoy making many desserts, but cupcakes and I have always had a love/hate relationship.  I’ve already mentioned that I’m a messy baker, and for some reason whenever I attempt cupcakes, it doesn’t usually end well.  But I have to say- these not only look pretty damn good, they tasted pretty awesome too.