Friday, February 12, 2010

The best of two worlds!


PUMPKIN BANANA BREAD
I love pumpkin bread...I love banana bread...what's a girl to do? Oh, how will we choose?!
Don't have to. This recipe will give you the taste of both. Slice it thick, toast nice and warm and smear some cream cheese or butter on top...you'll be glad you did!
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Recipe adapted from Country Inns and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook
5 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 medium-sized bananas, mashed
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup oil
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 3 regular-sized loaf pans with vegetable cooking spray - or 6 mini pans - or can be done as muffins. (I do this in mini pans or as muffins. They freeze great.)
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat the bananas, pumpkin, and sugar. Beat in the eggs and oil. Stir in the flour mixture, JUST until moistened. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 45-50 minutes for the large pans, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with large moist crumbs.
Cool on a wire rack. Remove bread from pans and wrap tightly. This gets better the next day!!







Sunday, January 10, 2010

Dark and Lovely!


MOCHA CAKE with CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING

I can not get enough of this cake! Which isn't necessarily a good thing...

This is the cake that is requested most from my arsenal and for a reason. It's moist, dark, very chocolaty, and easy. It always turns out great, and gets better the next day.

I've used it for berry "shortcake", simply dusted with powdered sugar as a snack, and it will even make an appearance at my daughter's wedding. How special is that?!

I've paired it here with gorgeous whipped cream and cocoa powder - and no one would ever think it was anything less than gourmet!

(The photo is actually half a recipe - baked in two 8-inch rounds, and then split. It's tall like that...imagine what you could do with the whole batch!!)

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2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9 or 10-inch pans, or a 9x13-inch pan, with vegetable cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and sugar. Whisk in the eggs and then the oil, milk, hot coffee, and vanilla, until smooth. Batter will be thin.

Divide evenly between pans (they will be full...you could use twice as many pans!) and bake for 25-30 minutes or JUST until a toothpick comes out with large moist crumbs attached. DO NOT over bake, and don't wait till it starts to pull away from the pans. Remove to wire rack and cool completely, place plastic wrap over cake when it's still slightly warm - this will make it even more moist. Run a knife around the edge and invert to release cake. Frost as desired.

COCOA WHIPPED CREAM

2 cups heavy whipping cream
3-4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder - depending on how chocolaty you want it
1/3-1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl whip the cream until frothy and slightly thickened. Add in the cocoa powder, sugar, and vanilla. Beat until firm peaks form.

Store cake, covered, in the fridge.