Moist and Light Banana Cake

If you like Sara-Lee banana cake, you will LOVE this recipe! When I think of banana cake, I want something light and moist and full of banana flavour, oh and of course cream cheese icing! I am pretty proud of this recipe because I pretty much developed it myself. I used my no chocolate brownie recipe as a base and turned it into a delicious banana cake.

I swear you will not be able to stop at one piece, it is so light you could eat the whole cake before feeling weighed down and sluggish. Cream cheese icing is the perfect match for any banana cake and normally I would make my own from scratch. However I found Philidelphia Cream Cheese Frosting on sale at the supermarket and thought I would give it a go. It tastes exactly the same as the icing I make and because it was on special it turned out cheaper too.

I sometimes think this would make a lovely pudding. If you made it in little ramekins and served it with warm caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream, mmmmmmmm yum! I'll have to give it a go one day :)

NOTE: Using the ripest bananas is best as the flavour is much stronger and creates a better texture in the cake. Also its a great way to use up over ripe bananas that are no longer good for eating. 

Moist and Light Banana Cake

What you will need

3 eggs

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

170g butter, melted

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1/2 cup walnuts, crushed

Cream Cheese Frosting

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 180*C. Line a square cake tin with baking paper. Beat eggs and sugars in a bowl until sugars are dissolved. Add vanilla butter, plain flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined. Fold in the bananas and walnuts. Pour cake mix into prepared tin. Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the middle is no longer wobbly. The middle will be very soft to touch and probably won't spring back when it's cooked but as long as it is not wobbly it will be fine. 

Take cake out and cool on wire rack. Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer (the cake is so soft that it is a lot easier to ice when it is frozen firm). When the cake is firm to touch, take out of freezer and ice with cream cheese frosting.

Boozey Chocolate Crackles

I must admit I was never a huge fan of chocolate crackles. I felt cheated because they looked so chocolatey but were not actually made with chocolate :(. I hadn't made them since I was very young and had never really had the urge to until now. 

I was watching TV and saw a little girl eating one. It looked so delicious I just had to have one. I decided  that I needed to put an adult twist on the recipe as they are a bit childish. The answer, RUM! But not just any rum, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. I've recently been introduced to this Puerto Rican rum and I've never looked back.

The rum gives a delicious taste to these crackles and certainly makes them ADULT ONLY! I wish I had have added some colour to these crackles as they do look a little bland. Maybe I could have just used colourful papers to brighten them up a bit. All these things I will take into consideration next time, but you can learn from my hindsight.

Boozey Chocolate Crackles

(Recipe adapted from the back of the Rice Bubbles Box and here)

What you will need

4 cups Rice Bubbles
250g Copha
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup desicated coconut
3 tbsp cocoa
30mls Captain Morgan Rum

What you will need to do

Place cupcake papers on a baking tray and set aside. Place the copha in a saucepan over low heat and stir until melted. Set aside to cool slightly. Place rice bubbles, icing sugar, cocoa and coconut in a large bowl. Add copha and rum and stir until combined. Spoon mixture into cupcake papers and place the tray in the fridge to set.

Although it may be tempting to eat them before they are completely set, I URGE you to let them set properly, they will taste so much better I promise!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

So as you are all aware halloween was just the other week. I personally don't celebrate it, I never have and I don't even know the real story behind it. I acknowledge that others celebrate it, but I don't think it is something that will ever be a part of my life, but that's just me.

In saying that though, I had my first trick or treaters come to my house this halloween and they did look super cute. I felt bad when I said "I'm sorry but I don't have anything for you". One of the trick or treaters was the little girl next door and I felt especially bad. I decided to make her some little cupcakes the next day to make it up to her.

I really tried to make the icing purple, but my red-blue combination didn't exactly work :(. They did look a little ghost-like though (and a little dog-poop-like :S) but they tasted delicious, just ask me I ate about half the batch!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

(Recipe adapted from BestRecipes.com)

What you will need

3/4 cup self raising flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 tsp instant coffee

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

80g butter

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

For the buttercream icing

(Recipe adapted from RaspberriCupcakes.com)

4 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar

250g butter, room temperature

Food colours

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 180*C. Prepare cupcake tray with cupcake papers. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add butter, milk and eggs. Beat on medium speed until combined and smooth. Fill cupcake papers to about .5cm below the top. Place in oven for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

For the buttercream icing, place the egg whites and sugar into a clean dry bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water and whisk until mixture reaches 160*C and sugar is dissolved. Place mixture and food colour into the bowl of a mixer and whisk on high speed. Mixture will turn thick and cool down after about 5 minutes. Reduce to medium speed and start adding butter a spoonful at a time. Beat until completely incorporated then add another spoonful. At this point my icing was runny :( so I put it into the fridge for 10 minutes then beat it again until thick. Place it into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe onto tops of cupcakes.

Banana Pancakes

Mmmm pancake time! Fluffy pancakes are my favourite, there's nothing worse than a flat oily pancake, ew. I had some ripe bananas going to waste on my bench so I knew it was time for a banana recipe. I've never had a reliable fluffy pancake recipe until now. I love buttermilk pancakes but I never have buttermilk on hand when I feel like making them.

Banana Pancakes

(Recipe adjusted from Allrecipes.com)

What you will need

1 cup plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup milk

1 tsp vinegar
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites

2 over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork

Oil and butter for frying

What you will need to do

In a small bowl combine milk and vinegar and set aside. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder and sugar. Add egg yolks, banana and milk mixture and stir until combined. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into the rest of the mixture. 

Heat a frypan to medium heat and add some oil and butter to cover the base. Using a scoop (or measuring cup in my case) put half a cup of mixture into frypan.

Cook for a few minutes until bubbles start to appear in the pancake. Using a spatula flip the pancake over.

Cook for a few minutes on the other side until brown.

Take out of pan and place on a plate covered in paper towel to absorb any extra oil. Repeat the process until all of the mixture is used. 

I served mine with cream and golden syrup but you can top with any of your favourite pancake toppings.