Banana Split Cupcakes

With 3 birthdays in our family this month, there won't be any shortages of dessert. Next week my daughter turns 3 and she hasn't been able to stop talking about it for the last couple weeks. But first up was Landon's birthday. My baby boy turned 1 last Sunday! We took some of these to our class at church and I sit in the very back trying to keep Landon quiet.This week he had wandered up to the front where I couldn't really see him, but he was being quiet so I let him be. A few minutes later I discovered he had gotten someone's cupcake they had sitting by them on the floor. (Their fault, right?? ;) ) Let's just say he was shirtless for the rest of church, but i'm glad he liked it. 

I've been wanting to make these cupcakes for some time and this was the perfect occasion. I was actually surprised as how much they actually were like a banana split. The cupcake tastes exactely like banana bread and has strawberry and pineapple inside as a filling. Then it's topped with a whipped cream frosting, ganache, sprinkles and a cherry.

Banana Split Cupcakes 

Annie's Eats

Yield: 30+ cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

For the filling:
1 lb. strawberries, hulled and diced small
2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
12 oz. crushed pineapple, drained

For the frosting:
1½ cups heavy cream, chilled
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the ganache:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup

For garnish:
Multi-colored sprinkles
Maraschino cherries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F and line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the mashed banana until well combined. With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated.

Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the strawberry filling, combine the strawberries and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Toss well, smashing slightly with a fork. Allow the berries to macerate at least 20-30 minutes.

To fill the cupcakes, cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife or small biscuit cutter. (The excess cake can be discarded.) Add a teaspoon or two of the strawberry filling to the center of each cupcake. Top with a teaspoon or two of the crushed pineapple, filling to the top of the cupcake.

To make the frosting, add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-beat! Blend in the vanilla extract.

Add the whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe a swirl of the whipped cream onto each filled cupcake, covering the filling. Transfer the filled and frosted cupcakes to the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until a thick, smooth ganache forms. Blend in the corn syrup. Let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes so the ganache is not hot.

To finish the cupcakes, pour a spoonful of the ganache over the whipped cream topping of each cupcake. Garnish with sprinkles and maraschino cherries before the glaze sets. Chill the assembled cupcakes until ready to serve.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I know, it's almost summer time and i'm posting a soup recipe. I've had this one stashed away for a while and didn't even think to post it until this last time I made it. I couldn't NOT post it. It's so good! It's flavorful without being overly spicey. And don't skip making your own tortilla strips, it doesn't take that long and they're so much better than store bought ones.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

6 (6-inch) corn tortillas

1/4 cup grapeseed oil, peanut oil, other high smoke-point oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium Anaheim, poblano or jalapeño chile, seeded, veins removed, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained (recommended Muir Glen fire-roasted)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 ripe avocado, optional
1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese or mild cheddar
Chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions:
Cut tortillas in half, and then cut the halves into 1/4-inch wide strips. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a 3-quart pot. Working in three batches, fry the tortilla strips in the oil, until lightly browned and crisp. Remove the tortilla strips from the pan and let drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Add the chopped onions to the pan, cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chopped chile and cook for 2-3 minutes more, until the onions and chiles have softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the broth, tomatoes, and salt. Increase the heat to high, heat until the soup begins to boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and cook until heated through.

To serve, top soup with tortilla strips, cheese, cilantro and other desired garnishes (avacado, sour cream, lime wedges).

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

My computer has been out of operation this last week and a half, but in the meantime I was able to get some good stuff ready to share. For our sunday school class at church my husband teaches and I get to make treats. Pretty sweet deal, right? Oh yea, that and try to tame our crazy child which makes things fair. I've had this recipe bookmarked to make for a really long time now but never got around to it. I actually started out making something else but it was disasterous and I ended up tossing the whole pan, hate when that happens. After spending so much time on that I wanted something quick and easy, and this was just that. It really is like 2 cookies in 1 and they all got eaten so I guess that's a good sign!
Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

multiply Delicious

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3 ounces of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
1 cup of oreo cookie sandwich crumbs
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips, melted (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese using a hand mixer until they are well combined.
Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until ingredients are well combined. Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated. Stir in mini chocolate chips.
Scoop the dough into 1″ balls and roll in oreo cookie crumbs so cookie is covered. Place covered cookie balls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.
Cool on the pan for two minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Once cool, drizzle cookies with melted white chocolate.

Peanut Butter Smore's Bars

Summer is coming up. And if you've been reading this for a while, you know I love the smores combo. We've got smore's cookie bars, smores brownies, smore's pie, smore's marshmallows, smore's ice cream bars and smore's for kids. And the list continues to grow. Or you could add some nuts and do a rocky road version if that's your thing. These are a little different than the typical smores due to the addition of peanut butter and like most chocolate desserts, I found these very hard to resist. 

Peanut Butter Smore's Bars

Lea & Jay

Ingredients:
For Graham Cracker Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted

For Peanut Butter Chocolate Marshmallow Filling:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (lite is all right)
1 cup chocolate chips
250 grams mini marshmallows

Directions:
Line a 8 x 8″ square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt together.
Add the melted butter and stir until the graham cracker crumbs are thoroughly moistened. Press evenly into the prepared baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
In a medium-sized pot, melt the margarine and peanut butter together.
Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until they’ve completely melted into the peanut butter mixture. Allow the mixture to cool to the point where you can comfortably place your hand on the bottom of the pot .

Add marshmallows and stir to coat.
Spread evenly over the graham cracker crust and put the whole thing in the fridge until fully set. Lift out of the dish using the parchment paper, cut into squares. It’s best to keep these refrigerated.

yield: 16 squares

Bacon, Cheddar and Tomato Quiche

Did everyone have a good Mother's day?? Did you get a special breakfast? I hope so. Matt asked me what I wanted for breakfast and normally I would choose french toast, that's my favorite so naturally what I normally pick. Buuut we have SO many eggs and I don't want them to go bad. Enter the quiche. I helped Matt make it since I doubt he's ever made a quiche before and I don't mind helping. It comes together relatively quickly and all the steps are super simple. A great thing about a quiche is you can customize it to whatever vegetables/cheese/meet you have on hand or prefer. This is what I decided on and I don't think I would have changed a thing.

Bacon, Cheddar and Tomato Quiche
adapted from Picky Palate 

Ingredients:

8 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 cup cooked, chopped bacon pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 pie crust

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pie crust in round pie plate and partially bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven.

2. Place eggs, milk, salt and pepper into stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Whisk until well combined, about 20 seconds. Set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions for about 5 minutes then add tomatoes, stirring and cooking for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Pour egg mixture into crust and top evenly with onion and tomatoes, bacon and cheese. Bake until eggs are cooked through (I think mine took about 45 min. I forgot to time it to be exact though). Serve warm.

Birthday Cake

When it comes to birthday cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting is classic. The birthday girl I made the cake for is a chocolate fan, as am I, obviously. So I decided to change it up a little and did 1 layer of yellow cake and 1 layer of chocolate cake with buttercream frosting in between the layers and chocolate frosting on the outside covered in sprinkles. By the time I was done my kitchen was COVERED in frosting and sprinkles. But it was worth it because I loved how the cake turned out!! It sounds like a lot of steps/recipes, but it's really not that bad!

Birthday Cake

What you'll need:
1/2 recipe yellow cake (1- 9 inch cake), recipe below

1/2 recipe chocolate cake (1- 9 inch cake), recipe below
1 batch buttercream frosting, recipe below
1 batch chocolate frosting, recipe below
sprinkles, if desired

Directions:
Mix yellow cake and set aside (don't bake yet). Make chocolate cake according to directions. Place both cakes in oven at same time. Once done baking and cooling, invert chocolate cake and frost top with buttercream frosting. Stack yellow cake on top and frost the whole thing with chocolate frosting. Decorate with sprinkles. Store in refrigerator.

Yellow Cake
seen on Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing pans
1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
1½ cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1¼ cups milk

Directions:
To make the cakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.  Butter and flour the edges of the pans, tapping out the excess; set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt; whisk together to blend well and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.  Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk.  Beat each addition just until incorporated.
Divide the batter between the prepared baking pans.  Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until the cakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.  Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool 20 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the pans to help remove the cakes.  Invert the cakes onto the rack and peel off the parchment.  Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.  Level the cakes if necessary.

Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.  

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

 

Instructions:

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. Add more sugar to make stiffer, or more milk 1 TBLS at a time to thin out until desired consistency is reached.
 

Hershey's 'Perfectly Chocolate' Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Kit Kat Cake

I'm still here. First I was just really busy. We went out of town for a few days, then my mom came to visit for a week. Then I found out i'm pregnant. And although I can't stop eating, thinking too much about food isn't exactley something I want to be doing while 8 weeks pregnant. So it's been slow around here.
You may have noticed these kinds of cakes before. Usually the top is covered with m&ms, making it look somewhat like a bowl of m&ms. I made a chocolate cake from scratch and it was a little tall. Notice how it's taller than the kit kats? But that isn't why I chose not to "fill" it with m&ms. I figured with chocolate cake and kit kats, adding m&ms might be a little over kill. Since it was for my SIL's baby shower, I thought duckies would be fitting. My mom arrived at our house that morning so right away I put her to work to make the frosting. We've always called it "the white sticky frosting" in our house, but it's like a swiss meringe , made of egg whites, sugar, corn syrup (and whatever else might be in it) and cooked over the stove. It ends up tasting like marshmallows and it's really good. However i'm not sharing that recipe today. Today is just the cake idea, so you can go make your own creation!

Kit Kat Cake


Ingredients:
1 2-layer cake (homemade or box mix is fine)
frosting
kit kats
ribbon

Directions:
Make your cake layers and let cool. Once cool, frost both layers and stack. Press kit kats into side all the way around and decorate/garnish as desired. Tie a ribbon around the whole thing and you're done!