The Banana Cake Challenge

My Mom's makes an excellent Banana Cake, that I and everyone else, LOVES. But I recently decided to try my hand at making one and see how it measured up. Could I make a banana cake equally as tasty, or dare I even imagine better?!?
So the only logical way to figure out how my cake compared to Mom's is to have a Banana Cake Challenge. Yah-huh.


And what a delicious challenge it was (I mean, how bad can bananas, sugar, and butter be?).

Mom's Best Banana Cake

My Banana Cake
Yeild: 8x8-inch cake

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used non fat), or sour cream
1 1/2 t vanilla extract 
2 tablespoons butter, softened*
2 large bananas, mashed
1 egg (I used a flax egg substitute)
1 cup favorite GF flour mix (This time I used 1/2 cup sorghum and 1/2 cup arrowroot, but next time I'm going to use a mix of 2/3 cup ground oatmeal and 1/3 cup sorghum, just because I like the chewier texture of oats)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Butter and sugar the sides of and 8x8 inch baking dish.
Combine the sugar, yogurt, vanilla and butter (*coconut oil would *probably* work just fine for a vegan version, of course you could use a vegan butter substitute). Mash the banana and combine with the egg. Combine the banana and yogurt mixture.
Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown (If you are using a glass dish, the baking time might be closer to 25-30 minutes). Allow to cool before frosting.

Pre-frosting of my banana cake

Remember how in the last post that I mentioned no pictures were taken of my Mom's Banana Cake, well...there was this one, and only this one. After this picture was taken, both slices were promptly eaten.

I topped mine of with an atrocious amount of the Fluffiest Frosting (You should only make a half batch of this for an 8x8 cake... otherwise you WILL have A LOT of fluffy frosting on your hands that you must do something with...like continue to put on a cake in absurd quantities. Refer to pictures, oye.)

The Verdict:

Drumroll Please!
Mom's Best Banana Cake stands on the first place cake stand! Kuddos Mom, you deserve it!
Did I really think I could out bake THE Best Banana Cake? It's not called the Best Banana Cake for nothing.

I did decided however, that the cake I constructed would be good for those days when you are by yourself and in need of banana cake, because it takes less effort and fewer ingredients to throw together. And it makes an 8x8 cake instead of a 9x13, so that just makes it more of an individual size, right? ;)

What is one irreplaceable recipe that you have?

Cheers,     Suzy

Mom's Banana Cake

When I think of birthdays, one of the first thoughts that come to mind is of banana cake. My mom used to make banana cake with cream cheese frosting for birthdays when I was a kid, and because of that I have a special sweet spot for mom's homemade banana cake. It wasn't until years later that I learned she liked making banana cakes for our birthdays because she used to eat Sara Lee's banana cake for birthdays when she was a kid, and was trying to recreate the cake! She tried several before baking up this one, and it is SO GOOD! It's cake at it's finest in my opinion, perfectly cake-y and scrumptious. I'm sure the Sara Lee cake is wonderful, but in my opinion Mom's is better because her version is gluten free, just for me! :) Ha!

This all being said, I can NOT believe I didn't take a picture of the final product! It was eaten too quickly to get a good one in, and in all honesty I was busy trying to make a banana cake of my own (check out the next post!). It was made in the morning before company, and polished off right after lunch. G. O. N. E. All done. But, the next chance I get, there will be so many pictures up of this cake, it will be overwhelming.

I've never had the Sara Lee Cake, nor will I get that chance because for starters it's no longer made and it was of course made with wheat; but with Mom's cake I'm not missing out on anything. According to her and other relatives however, it's pretty close to the original beloved Sara Lee Cake.

Mom's Best Banana Cake - Gluten Free
1/2 vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 cup or 3 medium mashed bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1 t lemon juice)*
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup potato starch
3/4 cup tapioca
3/4 t xanthan gum
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

Preheat the oven 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a 9x13 " pan (or for a layered cake, 2 9" round pans) with cooking spray and a little granulated sugar.
*If you are using the buttermilk substitute, mix any milk of your choice with the lemon juice now.
Cream together the shortening and sugar. Mix in the egg yolks, then mashed banana and buttermilk.
Combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Now add this flour mixture to the banana mixture and combine until there aren't any more lumps.
Separately, in a new bowl, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Carefully fold the whipped egg whites into the banana batter until completely incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan(s) and bake for about 30 minutes until the cake(s) are golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake(s) cool in the pan before removing or topping with cream cheese frosting.

Here's one for the tips and trick's category, instead of flouring the greased cake pan so the cake doesn't stick, on special occasions like this I will sprinkle granulated sugar around the edges. The thin coating of sugar will crystallize a bit when baking and form a little crust around each and every slice of cake, making it just that much more special.

 Like This!

I was also pretty proud of the egg whites that were whipped into perfect little peaks. I think I'm finally getting it down, the trick is to just not quit....they'll get there.

I said this cake was delectable and gluten free, neither one of those things make it health food. Though I like to focus this blog around healthy AND gluten free eats, I also recognize not everyone is a fan of chia seeds and mashed chickpeas in their food like me. This being said, I am a proponent of the "everything in moderation" campaign; and especially when baking for company, using sugar and (as much as it pains me,) vegetable shortening is okay once in awhile.

But be on the lookout, I have quite a few super healthy recipes coming up! Most of them probably contain either chia seeds or chickpeas...if we are lucky, maybe even both! :D

What is your favorite birthday dessert?

Cheers,
     Suzy

Banana Almond Breakfast Smoothie

I wanted to make myself think I was drinking almond nut butter. Sometimes you just need an absurd amount of nut butter for all to be right with the world. Luckily for me this smoothie did the trick and I didn't have to resort to the spoon in the jar, before reaching for another spoon because the second scoop always tastes better ;)

Yeild: 1 Satisfying Smoothie
1 Cup Milk of choice (I used almond)
2 Tablespoons nut butter (almond)
handful of ice
1/2 (preferably frozen) banana
1 teaspoon flaxseed meal
splash of vanilla extract

Dump all ingredients in a blender and whirl away!

Tip and Trick: Sometimes I like to add a little chia seed, or a pinch of ground oatmeal flour for not only a fiber boost, but to help thicken the smoothie. If this is the case, then I will let the seeds or oatmeal to sit in the milk for a minute before blending to let it get a head start on absorbing the liquid and thickening the smoothie!

What do you crave by the spoonful?

Cheers,     Suzy

Blueberry Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal!

Another lovely combination of Oats and Berries!
It just never gets old.

I found a a really good looking recipe for baked oatmeal from Annie Eats, and changed the procedure quite a bit to match more of that found on Deliciously Ella. I really like the idea of soaking the oats before cooking them, so that they have time to absorb some of the liquid. I also added some strawberries and mashed one of the bananas before stirring it into the mixture.
This has such a pretty presentation, and was lovely to have for breakfast with family.
I served it with Greek yogurt and extra cut-up fruit. Yummm!

Blueberry, Strawberry, Banana Baked Oatmeal

1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
½ tsp. baking powder
2 T. ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
¼ cup maple syrup or honey
1/2  cup skim milk or almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, one mashed, the other thinly sliced
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen), divided
1 cup strawberries, halved
handful of walnut pieces, optional
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F.  Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. 
In a bowl, combine the rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Stir to combine. Combine the maple syrup, milk, water, egg, vanilla, and the single mashed banana. Mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients and let sit for a few minutes while you gather the remaining toppings and add-ins. Mix in half of the blueberries, and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the nuts, strawberries, remaining sliced banana and blueberries over the top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the berries on top have cooked, the oats are golden and set. 
I served this immediately, nice and steamy! The Greek yogurt helped to cool it down quicker.
It was like eating an inverted fruit crisp, lovely.

Cheers,
     Suzy

The Green Smoothie

Everyone has one.
They are stark in color, undoubtedly healthy, and deceptively tasty.
And unlike the green rugs of the 70's this shade will always be in style. Some may consider them the Holy Grail of Health, but many call them breakfast.
And they all have one thing in common, greens!

This is my go-to Green Smoothie.

Green Smoothies have become all the rage, and when you have a good one, you understand why. I like to use spinach in my smoothies, I think it blends up really well and even adds a creaminess. Two other necessary ingredients are green grapes and almond milk. Just add ice, blend, and you have yourself a darn good smoothie! But, I can never leave things well enough alone, and I generally have a grocery list of other add ins. That is the beauty of these dazzling drinks is that you can customize them to what you are in the mood for that day, or what is available.

The almond milk tones down the greens a bit, so it gives you a good excuse to add more spinach! The grapes add a nice touch of sweetness and an added boost of fiber, if you use green grapes it keeps with the green theme. I also REALLY like adding green figs when they are in season, they're just so tasty.

This isn't really a recipe, its more of a guideline that I tend to follow
Yield: 1 smoothie

Handful or two of spinach, or however much you are comfortable using
1 cup vanilla almond milk, sweetened or unsweetened
1 cup green grapes, with skin on
1/2 banana, frozen*
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (optional)
2-3 green figs (optional)
1 cup of ice cubs


Add all ingredients into a blender and blend on high until smooth.

*It's helpful to peel and cut a few banana's in half before storing them in the freezer for easy smoothie making. If you don't have frozen bananas readily available, just add more ice.

Note: I have yet to do this, but I if you were to freeze the grapes it would help to thicken the smoothie. And if you're like me, I like my smoothies to be the consistency of to the point were I need a spoon to eat it.

Banoffee Pie

I had the pleasure of making this pie and being able to share it with my grandparents. Following a lovely lunch, this was a really great way to end the meal. Sometimes you just need to make a tried-and-true, old-fashioned pie.

Well, it wasn't my tried-and-true per say, I had never made a Banoffee pie before. BUT, I went crazy researching recipes and comments for making Banoffee pie, until I was confident I had a no-fail recipe.

I had taken an interest in making one after reading another blogger's post about it's origins. 

I had always thought Banoffe pie had to do with coffee and bananas...but I was mistaken, it's toffee and banana! This is a brilliant combination and is a really nice change from chocolate-overload desserts that I am usually drawn to. Of course, chocolate is still made it's appearance on the pie, but only a little... as decoration. The bit of bitterness the dark chocolate lent the pie, did complement the super sweet bananas and toffee wonderfully.

This is a classic English dessert that I look forward to making again! It was a breeze to put together and the result is a grand presentation. 

What really won me over was the texture. The soft bananas and toffee pair really well with the chewy graham cracker crust and fluffy whipped topping.

Now, I will admit...while I was making the pie I was a little concerned about how it would turn out. To me, a layer of toffee just didn't seem...how do I want to put this...appetizing? I thought the banana and toffee were mixed together as a filling before being put in the pie crust, instead of being layered separately like how the recipe called for. To make myself feel better, I did add a single layer of banana before pouring the toffee into the crust. There...that's better! Whew. I realize this isn't normal, but I liked it, and I don't think anyone would really notice...or care for that matter.

Banoffee Pie

adapted from maameemoomoo
yield: 1 10 inch pie

2 1/2 cup gluten free graham cracker, crushed
1/4 cup almond meal as needed
1 cup butter, melted
1 can condensed milk
5 bananas, divided
200 ml whipping cream
1/4 cup dark chocolate, melted

Fill a large pot with water and submerge the can of condensed milk in the water. Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Continue to boil the water for 2 hours, adding more water as needed.
Remove the can and let cool completely.
I use the plastic baggie and rolling pin method for crushing graham crackers, I always end up with crumbs everywhere, If you prefer another method go for it.
Melt the butter, add the cracker crumbs and thoroughly mix. I thought my mixture was too wet still, so I added almost 1/4 cup of almond meal. Press mixture into the base and onto the sides of a 10 inch pie dish (I used a springform pan).
Chill for 1 hour.
Here is where I added one banana slice layer.
Open the can of condensed milk. Spread onto the base of your crust. Chill for 1 hour.
Peel and thinly slice the rest of the bananas, layer on top of the toffee layer.
Whip the cream for a few minutes on high (I used a hand-held blender), and spread this over the bananas.
Decorate with the melted dark chocolate.

This pie was also super easy to make gluten free. All you really need to do is buy gluten free graham crackers, which are now quite common to find in grocery stores. Of course if you are feeling really ambitious you could try to make your own graham crackers, but in this recipe I settled for store-bought.

Now, since making this recipe, I can say it is my tried-and-true, I look forward to making this again for another gathering.

What are some of your favorite flavor combinations?

I'm pretty sure banana and toffee will be making it's appearance in the kitchen much more frequently, and the chocolate...that will always be close at hand ;)

Cheers, 

     Suzy