Banana Coffee Cake

There can't be a thing wrong with coffee cake throw in a banana or two and you have a GREAT coffee cake. I found this recipe in a book A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady. I tweaked it a bit to suit my own tastes, and I hope you love the results as much as we do!

Ingredients:
2/3 c packed brown sugar
2/3 c walnuts or pecans (optional)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c butter, softened
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 c ripe banana, mashed
2 Tbsp greek yogurt (can use sour cream)
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8x2 pan ( I used a long loaf tin).
In a small bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Set aside.
In a large bowl beat butter, sugar and egg until fluffy. Add bananas, sour cream, and milk. Mix well. Beat in dry ingredients until just blended.
Spread half the batter in your pan, cover with half of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the cinnamon sugar. Top with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, between 40 and 50 minutes. Cool in pan. Can be served warm or room temperature. Can also be frozen.


Brown sugar.

Add in your cinnamon and nuts if using. Set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar, and egg.

Add mashed bananas, greek yogurt, milk, and vanilla.

Mmmmm banana....

Add in the dry ingredients.

Mix until smooth.

Add just over half the batter to your greased pan.

Cover with half the cinnamon sugar.
Repeat.

I added some butterscotch chips to the top on my cake. You can omit these, or use chocolate.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes.



Enjoy!

Peach Raspberry Pie

Ok... I know, I know... another pie. But this one is a fruit pie. A stone fruit pie. Don't you wanna see it??? Don't you wanna TASTE it? You do. You know you do. Heck, I do too and I'm the one that made it. There is something about eating the perfect peach that just makes my insides happy. It's hard to be angry or upset about anything while sucking the juices of these delicious babies. You'll need pie crust obviously, enough for the top and bottom. If you are afraid of pie crust, get over it. You will enjoy your pie so much more knowing that you did it! And pies aren't supposed to look perfect, so if you have a weirdy piece, just be pleased with it! Without further ado....

Ingredients
2 lbs ripe peaches (I used 5 peaches)
2 c fresh raspberries, well washed and drained
2/3 c granulated sugar (you can use less if you get REALLY sweet peaches)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
2 tablespoons sugar to top crust before baking

Wash, peel, and slice your peaches. I like to have both thinner and thicker slices, the thinner ones melt into the filling a bit and the thicker ones are still pretty toothsome. In a medium sized bowl combine peaches and berries. Set aside.
In a small bowl combine sugar, spices, flour, and cornstarch. Stir into fruit, make sure all the dry ingredients are wet. Add lemon juice.

Before preheating your oven, place your rack in the center. Cover the bottom rack with aluminum foil or place a large baking sheet on the lower rack. This pie is.... juicy. If you don't do this, you will have burnt peach juice in the bottom of your oven, not good. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out your pie crust. Work fairly quickly, you want the butter to stay cold. Once your crust is in the bottom of your plate go ahead and add the fruit. You can mound it up a bit, but not too much. I have had to remove fruit from pies before, just make sure it's right before you put your top crust on. Put your top crust on, fold your edges over, and perforate with a fork, or slits. If you don't cut some slits your pie will be... explodey. Cover with egg wash, and sprinkle with your reserved sugar. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 375 and bake about 45 more minutes. Sometimes it needs a few more minutes, you'll be able to tell when it's done because the crust will be golden brown all over, and the juices are bubbling. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit before serving. This pie is awesome warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream.


Martha's Pie Crust (courtesy of marthastewart.com )
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 c (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 to 4 Tbsp ice water


In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Don't overmix.
Turn dough out onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic over dough; press to shape into a 1-inch-thick disk. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
On a floured piece of parchment paper, roll dough to a 14-inch round with a floured rolling pin. Wrap dough around rolling pin, discarding paper; unroll over a 9-inch pie plate (opposite). Gently fit into bottom and up sides of plate (do not stretch dough).
Using kitchen shears, trim dough to a 1-inch overhang. Fold under itself to form a rim, and press to seal. Using thumb and forefinger, crimp rim of crust. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 day.



Pie crust dry ingred. Make your crusts first, they can be chilling while you finish your prep.

Butter!

Ready to knead, then into the fridge to chill.

Peaches, pitted and ready to be sliced.

Flour, sugar, and spices for the peaches.

Peaches and berries getting their flour bath.

Waiting for filling

Mmmmm looks good huh?

Put your top on.

Prick your holes, add your egg wash and sugar.

Apparently I do not have a picture of the finished pie... so... have a picture of my rhubarb pie... it's almost the same. :D

Sugar Pie

Wait... you've never heard of Sugar Pie? Oh you poor dear. Sugar pie is... well... it's like... holiday love in pie form. It's creamy and spicy and sweet. Do you like Pecan Pie? Then you'll love this. Sugar Pie is basically the gooey sticky yumminess that is Pecan Pie... without the pecans! It's incredibly easy and unbelievable delicious. I will be hurt and offended if you don't try it. Just kidding. But in all seriousness, if you are looking for a new pie to try, or have never made pie before, this is the pie for you. It is incredibly easy and no one will know that it was your first attempt.

Obviously you need to start with a pie crust. I prefer this pie with a tart crust. The crunchy texture marries nicely with the gooey interior. I find that a regular rolled out crust just doesn't add anything. You can use any recipe that you'd like, I will post the one I use but make what you're comfortable with.

We're going to post a little differently today, let me know how you feel about this kind of layout okey dokey?



The crew.

Add your sugars, spices and salt.

Combine well.

Add your eggs.

And milk.

Cook over medium stirring constantly.

Until it looks about like this. Then stir in your butter and vanilla.

Carefully pour into your pie plate. Bake. Cool. Voila!

Ingredients
1 c granulated sugar
1 c brown sugar
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves (can be omitted)
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 can evaporated milk plus about two tablespoons regular milk or cream (you're looking for 2 cups of liquid)
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix well. Add the eggs and yolk and combine well. Gradually stir in the milk until well blended.

Turn the flame onto medium heat and cook ingredients, stirring constantly until the filling is thick and bubbly. This will take between 7 and 10 minutes usually. Be careful not to over cook it will change the texture of your pie.

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Remove from the oven and cool. You can serve this warm (my favorite) or cold. It is delicious both ways.


Tart Crust
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 c (4 Tbsps) very cold or frozen butter in the smallest pieces you can get
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 Tbsp cream cheese
2 Tbsp cold milk

Combine dry ingredients. Add butter and cream cheese. Work together with a pastry cutter, or you fingers until you have multi sized pieces of butter. Work quickly! We want the butter to stay cold! Whisk together your milk and oil. Add to the butter mixture. Combine quickly with a wooden spoon or fork. Your dough will be chunky, and you'll think it's not done... but it is. Pour directly into your pie pan and press firmly into the bottom and up the sides. I usually use a combination of my fingers and a flat bottomed glass.

This can be used for custard and no bake pies, but you will need to bake the crust off first. To do this blind bake at 350 degrees for about ten minutes. Remove and take off your weights and bake another 5 minutes to brown.

New York Style Cheesecake

Possibly my favorite dessert ever. I love the tart yet sweet flavor of cheesecake. I love the creamy texture and the tender buttery crust. Basically I love everything about it. I've always been slightly intimidated by making my own though. Well, NO MORE! I made this with no mixer, no special equipment, all by hand. Next time I'll use my Kitchenaide, I wasn't at home for the making of this. All in all, I would say this recipe is suitable for beginners, it isn't difficult to make, the hardest part is leaving it alone in the oven to set. I think if you were to make this at night, you could sleep though the sitting in the oven, and pop it into the fridge in the AM. OR you could be like me and shorten the time in the oven slightly, and then go into the fridge. I also used fresh chopped strawberries with a little sugar as my topping, but I'll provide some recipes for fruit syrups and such that would go well with your cheesecake. My cheesecake did crack, but I also didn't pay attention to it. I think if I had greased the sides better it would have helped. I did give ways to help prevent the cracking as well.

Ingredients:
15 graham crackers, crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Sprinkle cinnamon
Sprinkle nutmeg

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temp.
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk, room temp.
4 eggs, room temp.
1 cup sour cream, room temp.
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 Tbsp to 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, less flour=creamier texture more=cakey texture

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan. This is SOOOO important! If it is not well greased your cheesecake will crack as it tries to cool.
In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with spices and melted butter. Press evenly onto bottom of springform pan. You may not need all of this. I had about a half cup of this mixture leftover.
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar just until smooth. Use your mixer for the first step, after the addition of the milk, switch to a wooden spoon. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Be VERY careful while mixing, if you overmix your cheesecake will most likely crack. Pour filling into prepared crust.
Wrap your pan with two secure layers of aluminum foil. Place your springform pan into a larger baking pan. Fill with hot water. Place this in the oven, bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven off remove your cheesecake and run a warm knife around the outside, to help with the seperating from the pan. We are doing everything we can to prevent cracks. Put your cheesecake back into your hot oven. Let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.



Crust

Adding Eggs

Vanilla and Flour


I'm sorry for my terrible photos, I forgot to take pictures until there was only one piece left!