Chrissy Teigen's Banana Bread

The last couple of months I've had little interest in cooking. Even a sandwich or a frozen entree or scrambled eggs almost seemed like too much effort. I can't claim the spell is broken, but yesterday I made something from my dormant to-try list - Chrissy Teigen's banana bread.

I missed this recipe when it was all the rage around 2018, but it came to my attention a few months ago. Despite my long-time devotion to another banana bread recipe, I'm always willing to try something new. 

This recipe requires no creaming, which I like (and is one reason I like my usual recipe). It uses instant pudding mix, in common with some popular cake recipes. It has coconut, but shouldn't scare coconut haters. It has a LOT of sugar compared to the amount of flour, yet doesn't taste "too sweet." I'm not a fan of chocolate chips in banana bread, and I was wanting a nutty bread, so I swapped in chopped walnuts.

The top had a great very thin crackle layer day-of-baking, but after an overnight in the cake keeper that became a slightly sticky top.

It's excellent & I would make again.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2018/09/17/chrissy-teigens-famous-banana-bread-recipe/1283473002/

One-Bowl Banana Bread

This one-bowl Banana Bread recipe is what I call Banana Bread Without All The Fuss. I have been making this recipe since I purchased my first cookbook, The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, in the early 1980s. Unlike most recipes, this banana bread doesn't require a mixer, as it has no butter that needs to be creamed. In fact, it has no fat at all other than that provided by the eggs. This is not a banana cake, therefore, but a banana bread that has a compact crumb that is moist purely from the power of the bananas.

As with all banana breads, though, you want to use ripe bananas. The riper, the better. One common trick is that when you are down to that last banana that's riper than you prefer, let it continue to ripen until it is spotty brown, then stick it in the freezer. The skins will turn almost black, but that's OK. When you have collected 3 or 4, let them thaw to make the banana bread. You'll want to peel them over the mixing bowl. Depending on how ripe they were when they went into the freezer, they will be very soft, and there may even be a separated liquid. That's OK.

Small Batch Wedding Cupcakes

Small Batch Wedding Cake Cupcakes

One of my favorite items at Gigi's Cupcakes is the Wedding Cake Cupcake, and this small batch cupcake recipe gives me all of the thrills with none of the downsides. It may sound boring to some people, but I just adore the hint of almond and vanilla and the purity of the white cake and white icing. Even for a dedicated sweet tooth like mine, however, Gigi's mountain of frosting on an oversized cupcake can be a bit much, and I'm just not in the store's neighborhood that often. An issue in making your own cupcakes, though, especially when you are a Single Grrl, is that most recipes make at least a dozen, and often two dozen, and they can be hard to cut down to make fewer. Luckily I stumbled across a great small-batch vanilla cupcake recipe several years ago. It only makes six home-style cupcakes, which is great when you want to have enough to share but not enough to have endless stale leftovers. I've tweaked the recipe to give it that "wedding cake" flavor, but you could easily revert to regular vanilla cupcakes by omitting the almond flavoring. While they are not a duplicate of Gigi's, they are tender and flavorful, just perfect for a sweet bite with tea or coffee or as a fun dessert, with or without colorful sprinkles.

Butterscotch Blondies

This recipe for Butterscotch Blondies from Land O' Lakes has been a standby for me for many years. I picked up the recipe one year when I was doing an assortment of bars for Christmas boxes. It earned a firm place in my repertoire and is an easy choice when I need to bring a treat to a potluck or party but am short on time. It's one of those recipes -- like my Ginger Molasses Cookies -- that tastes so much better than you would assume from just reading the recipe.

Butterscotch Blondies

Note:  This recipe can also be made in an 8 x 8 square pan, although it may require a little more time in the oven. Double the recipe if you'd like to make a 13 x 9 pan, and increase cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes.

adapted from Land O' Lakes

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (about 1/2 bag) butterscotch morsels

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Sift together flour,

baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter with sugar and brown

sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Gradually add dry ingredients,

beating on low speed until thoroughly combined.

Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle butterscotch pieces evenly over top.

Bake 5 minutes or just until butterscotch is shiny and soft. With knife, swirl pieces

into batter to create a marbled effect. Return to oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes

longer, or until set. Cool on wire rack; cut into bars.

Yields: 16 bars

Sweet Relief 3.0 - Nashville Food Bloggers Bake Sale to Benefit Houston Food Bank

Just a brief note to say that I am participating in the Nashville Food Bloggers bake sale to benefit the Houston Food Bank in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. My list of contributions is not yet finalized, but I'll be contributing several different types of treats.

You can read all about it on the NFB web site:  http://www.nashvillefoodbloggers.com/2017/08/sweet-relief-3-0-bake-sale/

Hope to see you there!

Barbara's Sour Cream Pound Cake

This recipe is titled "Sour Cream Pound Cake," but the truth is that it may not match up what you think of as a pound cake. The ingredient ratios are different than a standard pound cake, or the iconic 1234 Cake (the most popular recipe on this blog). The texture of the finished cake is lighter, as well. Like a classic pound cake, though, it's good the first day it's baked, and is good the next day, too. It is a nice bite on its own, with the slight tang of sour cream, but is also a great base for your favorite fruit, fruit compote, or ice cream. Or, smear a slice with soft butter and run it under the broiler to toast, to eat plain or with a topping -- no complaints either way.

It's called "Barbara's Sour Cream Pound Cake" because it was my mother's recipe. I don't know the origin -- whether she got it out of a magazine or newspaper or product package or from a friend. I just know that at some point in my early childhood it showed up, and became a staple.

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

This is one of those convenience-food recipes that I found on some package 100 years ago, probably on the cream cheese box. I don't remember the published name, but remember that I didn't like think it was descriptive, so at some point I renamed it.

Make no mistake, it's not like a cooked cheesecake, but has a sturdier texture than your typical pie.

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
1/3 cup sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 chocolate crumb pie crust

With an electric mixer, blend together softened cream cheese, chocolate, and sugar.  Gently stir in Cool Whip.  Spoon into crust.  Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.  Serve with additional Cool Whip if desired.

How to Make a Perfect, Easy Pie Crust

OK, "perfect, easy pie crust" is a lie; really, what I'm trying to say is that pie crust is not as difficult as you may fear, and that perfection is overrated. I get it, I've been there. I did not grow up with much homemade pie crust, even though my mother was a great baker. Like everyone else we knew, we used frozen shells most of the time. Like a lot of things I now make from scratch, I didn't start experimenting with pie crust until I was in my 20's. Even then, I wasn't happy with the results. I felt like a failure and stuck with frozen or refrigerated pie shells from the grocery store.

As I've continued to branch out with cooking and baking, I've revisited pie crust every now and then. I've tried Cook's Illustrated method that uses vodka and a combination of butter and shortening. I've reviewed (but never made) Alton Brown's various crusts. I've used Ruth Levy Beranbaum's exacting method which includes baking powder, vinegar, and precisely-sized cuts of carefully timed, partially-frozen butter. Making the recipe from Beranbaum, who I generally like and trust, feels like amateur brain surgery, and in the end, I just didn't like the crust that much.

A good pie crust shouldn't be brain surgery

I wouldn't discourage you from trying any and all methods to find your best pie crust, and Mr. Google can help you find the above and more. For me, though, I figured out that keeping it simple was the key to getting me to stay away from the freezer case and and the long red boxes in favor of superior taste and quality.

Orange Almond Olive Oil Cake

I wanted cake. No, I really wanted ice cream, but cake or pie or even any sort of gooey pastry would do. And yet, I did not want to leave the house to buy ice cream or anything else. It was a stay-at-home Saturday of chores and hobbies and a bit of rest, and I simply didn't want to leave the house.

"I know how to cook," I thought. "I'll make something!" Even though I wasn't really in the mood to fuss about in the kitchen too much, it seemed like a reasonable activity for a Saturday afternoon. I then remembered that I had no butter. I flirted briefly with the idea of making my fudgesicles as I had all the ingredients, but I wasn't really in the mood for chocolate. No butter, no butter, how could I make a nice rich carby dessert with no butter?

Butterscotch Pudding for My Dad

A couple of years ago, Penzey's spices gave away bumper stickers that said, "Love people. Cook them good food." I think most people who enjoy cooking understand that directive in a deep way. Cooking is such an act of nurturing, whether of other people or just yourself. More than providing sustenance, it can be an act of great love. Trying to please someone else by preparing food you think or know that they will enjoy is one of the best gifts you can give.

Usually this blog, and other food blogs, are about pushing boundaries, trying new things, and even (dare I say it?) showing off. American food culture has come so far in the last several decades that there's a never-ending source of things to cook and taste and write about. A lot of the food I think of as commonplace would have seemed exotic when I was in my teens and twenties, if it was even available. Like most of my peers, I typically steer away from the packaged and processed foods of my youth towards fresh ingredients, not to mention artisan this and organic that. I grew up in a household where scratch cooking was still the order of the day, but so was Cool Whip and Spaghetti-Os. It was the 70s, what can I say?

I've written quite a bit about my family recipes and culinary traditions, but today's post is special. My father has been very ill the last few months. The dreaded C word. Today he went to hospice. He's is alert and not in any pain, just needs care that we can no longer give him at home.

One of the issues we've faced is that he has no appetite, and many foods irritate his mouth. He's been living on Ensure and milk and yogurt and the like. Last weekend I picked up the ingredients for two of his favorite desserts in hopes of tempting him to eat a little more. The day after I arrived I asked him if he'd eat either one if I made it, and he chose one as being a likely candidate.

I measured out the milk into a saucepan, substituting a little half-and-half to boost the calorie content. I dumped in the package of Jell-O butterscotch pudding mix, whisked it in, and set it over the heat. Just like a million times in my childhood, I stirred the mixture as it gradually, gradually heated, making sure it didn't stick or lump up. Stirring a pot of pudding on the stove when you start with cold milk seems like a never-ending chore. I'm not the most patient person in the world, and I always thought that the person who wrote "a watched pot never boils" should have referred to pudding instead.

After what seemed like a year, though suddenly, as always, it started simmering and came to the boil that would cause it to thicken properly. Quickly, quickly, I poured the steaming mixture into four custard cups, leaving them on the counter to cool a bit before popping into the fridge. When they were sufficiently cool, Dad decided he'd try one. A little whipped cream from a can completed the dish.

He'd had some of those plastic cups with various pudding flavors, including butterscotch. But this ... this he ate with as much relish as anything these last few weeks. He even commented that it had a really good flavor, and ate nearly the whole thing -- a major accomplishment.

So yes, I'm a big fan of scratch cooking, and I don't make much from a package these days. Sometimes, though, the packaged stuff is just what the doctor ordered.