Last week I finally treated myself to cake. Yes, cake! I have been avoiding the Cakes chapter of the Magnolia Bakery cookbook for a couple months. But I finally decided to make the cake that most intrigued me: the Hummingbird Cake.
Continue reading “Move Over Carrot Cake, I’m Coming For You! MB Recipe 34”
Over the Labor Day holiday, we had some people over the house. It was mainly just family, but, as you could have guessed, I had to make the dessert. I was really in the mood for banana pudding but I also wanted to make something beyond the traditional vanilla –especially since most of the people who came to the little get-together are chocolate-lovers.
It took me almost no time at all to realize that the Magnolia Bakery Handbook had a recipe for chocolate banana pudding and I was sold! Simple and delicious, but also something a little different than the regular banana pudding.
In the recipe, it asks you to use the chocolate Nilla wafers, but I wasn’t able to find them, so I used the regular vanilla and it worked just fine. Plus I find that store-bought, chocolate cookies are not really chocolate-tasting. So, for me, personally, the vanilla Nilla wafers probably were for the best. Since the chocolate Nilla wafers would have added a bit more chocolate flavor, I did use extra mini chocolate chips.
Also to bring out the flavor of the chocolate, I took a page out of Ina Garten’s cookbook and added about a half teaspoon of espresso powder to the whipped cream. This provided a subtle hint of coffee-flavor, but not too much to overwhelm the flavor of the chocolate. And better still, the caffeine didn’t keep anyone awake past their bedtime!
Since I’ve made banana puddings a couple of times before, Ina’s recipe and one from the Magnolia Bakery Handbook, I didn’t take too many pictures. But, I do highly recommend this dessert. It’s the perfect twist on the classic, but without changing too much or making you go crazy. As usual though, banana pudding won’t keep in the fridge for more than 2 days. After that the wafer cookies become too soggy — but, to be honest, I’ve never had my puddings last longer than a day after being served!
Over the weekend, I was finally able to see some friends for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Both of these friends were former co-workers who have moved onto bigger and better opportunities. It is so strange, sometimes. You go from seeing certain people almost every day for years then suddenly overnight it’s over. It’s the same thing with graduating high school and even college.
We still keep in touch and had plans to see each other regularly, but the pandemic kind of put those plans on hold. We are now hoping to restart our regular visits.
We decided that I would host the little get-together, so naturally, I made a couple things. I made a lovely dip as an appetizer. In fact, it was Ree Drummond’s (The Pioneer Woman) Eight-Layer Dip. But the star of the show was the dessert!
This dessert is featured in the Banana Pudding chapter of the Magnolia Bakery cookbook. Banana Pudding seems to be their signature treat at the bakery. The chapter contains variations on the basic BP recipe: salted caramel, java chip, peanut butter, etc.
All of them look delicious. So, I figured combining the deliciousness of banana pudding with Nutella would be a hit! And it was!
But, I will say, I think the recipe for Banana Pudding that I made from Ina’s Garten’s cookbook tasted better. Maybe next time I’ll try that recipe with the Nutella addition!
I recently completed my Master’s degree. So of course I had to celebrate the achievement! For me, celebrating includes baking and decorating a cake….and of course eating it! So, naturally, I turned to a recipe out of my favorite baking cookbook: The Magnolia Bakery Handbook.
I had been eyeing this recipe for quite sometime. I loved the idea of banana in a cake and combined with chocolate chips I thought “How bad could it be?” Plus it used one of my favorite ingredients. Nutella! I swear, I think Nutella was originally designed for the Gods, but it somehow made its way to Earth. Luckily for us, we now get to taste this wonderful ingredient.
Continue reading “Magnolia Bakery #4 Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Nutella Buttercream”
The recipe is from Modern Comfort Food, page 208.
A number of weeks ago I purchased a quart of heavy cream for a recipe that I wanted to make. However, plans changed and it didn’t happen. Soon, I realized that the expiration date on the cream was nearing and I didn’t want to throw it out. So, I started searching for recipes that would use a decent amount of the cream. Enter Ina Garten’s Banana Rum Trifle.
This is Ina’s take on banana pudding and let me tell you, it’s one of the best desserts I’ve had in a while! I will say, I did omit the rum from the recipe. I also chose not to “decorate it” with the whipped cream. However, this wonderfully light and sweet dessert can easily serve a crowd. In fact, I can see it going over very well at a summer picnic or holiday.
You begin by making a plain pudding….at that moment it is unflavored, just quite sweet. Once that chills for a while, you whip 3 cups of cream with vanilla and vanilla bean seeds. Then you add in the pudding and whip some more. Then the building phase begins.
The layers of cream and Nabisco wafers and bananas blend so well together and make this dessert taste like it came from heaven. A tip: follow the recipe and actually WAIT the time stated in the recipe before digging in. I know it will be hard, but it will be worth it!
The only downside to this dessert? It’s addicting! Be prepared to go for a jog afterward…for like an hour.
This one is going on the Favorites list!
Good question!
A few posts ago, I mentioned that I will be taking the week off from making dinner for my family. But, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to cook anything.
This decision is both good and bad for me. I have the freedom to make whatever I want: an appetizer, a side dish, a lunch recipe, or even something from the Breakfast category. The downside to this is just that: there are still sooo many choices!
After some deep thought, soul searching, snacking, and examining recipes. I settled on a recipe: Chocolate Banana Crumb Cake.
Why?
Cuz why not! It sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I think it does. And I can’t wait to share the final product with you all.
This recipe comes from the Breakfast section of Make it Ahead. The recipe photo in the book looks divine and Ina’s headnotes for the recipe consist of but two sentences. Which is very unlike Ina. I guess she wanted the recipe to speak for itself!
Practically, this recipe will be a rather cheap make. Looking over the ingredients, I see I will only need a small handful of items. I am considering omitting the sliced almonds to help keep the cost down (unless I can steal since from my Grandma). After all, I don’t need very many (3 tablespoons).
I’m not sure yet when I will make this recipe. It will be sometime this weekend (so between today and Sunday afternoon). But since this recipe calls for ripe bananas, I need to do some prep work first: I bought the bananas Thursday evening and I’ll have them sit in a bag overnight or longer so that they get to the proper ripeness, if needed.
But other than that, I’m ready to go!
Also, this is my 50th post on the blog! If you’ve been with me since the beginning: Thank you! Your support and “Likes” mean a lot. Don’t forget that I do welcome comments. So don’t be afraid!
