Caramelized Banana Upside Down Cake

Basically, I have a ton of bananas that I bought for baking.  Some of them are going to make some Banana Jam, and if you've never tried that you don't know what you're missing.  Go check out the recipe over here.

I didn't want to make banana bread, I think that's been done to death.  No offense to banana bread, but if there's one thing this quarantine time has taught me, is that everyone and their mother is currently eating and baking them, and I'm a bit sick of seeing it everywhere LOL

My 17 year old son loves caramelized bananas, and any kind of banana cake, so I figured a caramelized banana cake would be the way to go.

I used the recipe for my grandfather's simple vanilla cake, and just made a quick caramel to hold the bananas in place.....if that makes sense.

Let's just bake and I'll show you.

Caramelized Banana Upside Down Cake

Simple Vanilla Cake
Sliced bananas
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water


In a small saucepan, mix the water and the sugar until sugar is dissolved.  Turn the heat to low, and let the mixture turn into a syrup.  I don't stir it, I just let it sit until it starts turning a nice golden brown.  Don't turn the heat too high or it will crystallize.

Once done, pour into a spring form pan.  Mine was a 9 inch.  Take the sliced bananas and make a layer over the caramel.

Take the vanilla cake batter, and slowly pour over the bananas and caramel.  Bake at 350 for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Pull cake out of the oven, place over a cake plate and carefully invert.  Remove the side and bottom of pan.  If any bananas stick to the bottom, just scoop them out and pop them back on the cake.

That's it.  Simple, easy and soooo yummy.

Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread

You're probably thinking "Another banana bread recipe?".

I know, it's a very common dessert to make, and I think everyone has their own favorite recipes.  I myself have made this numerous times, with numerous recipes and some have been great, others have been flops.  But, that is the way it goes when you bake, constantly trying, experimenting, failing and trying again until you find that one recipe you know will never fail you.

I came across this recipe in a youtube video and happened to have a bunch of bananas that had become overripe, which in my house means, no one will touch it, not even with a 10 foot pole.

After trying this recipe, I must say that it is one of the most delicious banana bread I've ever had, and hey, much cheaper than going to Starbucks and paying 4 dollars for a slice, right?

Quick note, the recipe calls for walnuts but I didn't have any on hand, the only thing I had was sliced almonds and that is what I used.  Still turned out very good.

Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread

Source:  My Frugal Adventures

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1⅛ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas mashed very well
½ cup chopped walnuts



Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Add flour, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and set aside. Mix egg, sugar and oil and stir until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well. The mixture will be thick and dry. Next add milk, vanilla and bananas and stir until incorporated. Mix in walnuts and pour into a loaf pan.

Cook 50-75 minutes, checking regularly until a knife comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

Chocolate Chip Banana Bars are not only delicious, but a great way to use up over ripe bananas.

My family tends to go through phases, there are the months where I can't seem to buy enough bananas to keep in the house, and then there are the months were not a single banana is touched.  We are in one of the latter months and so I ended up with a bunch of bananas going so ripe, that they started turning to mush.

I usually will make banana bread, or banana streusel cake, and even chocolate chip banana muffins, but when I saw this recipe over at Butter with a side of Bread, I just knew I had to try.

They are great for breakfast, for a snack, for a mid afternoon treat or even a late night movie watching munchie.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bars

Source:  Butter with a side of Bread

5 very ripe bananas about 1 2/3 cup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil any type- I use coconut
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup mini chocolate chips divided



Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 15×10.5 (I used a 13x9)  pan with non-stick spray.

Peel bananas and mash well. Stir in brown sugar, oil, milk and eggs until combined. Add in dry ingredients and stir. Fold in 1/2 the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle remaining chips on top. Bake 18-22 minutes, until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares.

Yields 24 bars.

Jamaican Banana Bread

Banana Bread!!

We all love it (or the majority love it, I'm sure there are those that don't), we've all made it, and we are all pretty familiar with this well known banana yumminess.

But just imagine taking that good ol' banana bread and kicking it up a couple notches, and by that I mean a GOOD couple notches, like rum and coconut kinda notches.  You get where I'm going with this?

I was on Pinterest a while back, just browsing, you know doing what we all doing when we get bored or have a few minutes hours to kill.  I landed on this recipe quite by accident, and the minute I saw it I knew I had to make it.  Much as I love a typical banana bread, I'm always up for a variation and this one provided just that.

Super easy to make, but the combination of the banana, rum and coconut, works really well.  I think all that was missing was a cold glass of pina colada and a gorgeous beach.

The recipe is from Recipes Yummy.

Jamaican Banana Bread

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt (or pina colada flavored!!)
• 3 tablespoons dark rum OR apple cider
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon flaked sweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice


Preheat oven to 350°.  Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla; beat until blended.

Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.  Stir in 1/2 cup coconut. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon coconut.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. 

Combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring with a whisk; drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cuca de Banana - Banana Streusel Cake

When people ask me where I'm from, I often wonder how to explain, because I was born in Mozambique which was a Portuguese colony at the time, but it is an African country so I'm African but Portuguese, lived until I was 10 in Portugal, then moved to South Africa and lived there for 14 years.

We are of French descent, and my grandfather's parents were from Brazil.

Are you confused yet?  Hahah

Anyway, that means that when it comes to food I love all kinds but I have a special affinity for Portugese and Brazilian.

With that in mind, I thought I would come in and share a cake recipe that is very well known in Brazil, it is a banana cake with a yummy streusel topping.  There's absolutely nothing to it, it's quick to put together, using ingredients you no doubt already have in your pantry.

Cuca de Banana - Banana Streusel Cake

For the cake:
150 grams sugar (1 cup)
150 grams of cold butter (6 tablespoons)
2 medium eggs
150 grams of self rising flour (if you don't have it, you can use one cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a half teaspoon of salt)
4 ripe bananas, sliced

For the streusel topping:
6 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons of butter


In a stand mixer, beat the cold butter with the sugar for about 5 minutes, until soft and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, until well combined.

Start adding the flour, a little at a time, beating on low speed, once the flour is incorporated, turn the speed up to medium and beat well for 2 minutes.

Grease a springform pan with butter and flour, pour in the batter, and then lay the sliced bananas on top.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Do NOT open the oven door during the first 20 minutes.  After 30 minutes, check to see if cake is cooked all the way by inserting a toothpick near the center, if it comes out dry, it is done.

Remove from oven.

Make the streusel topping by mixing all the ingredients together, then crumble over the baked cake, return to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes. 

You can also place the streusel on the cake before baking in the oven, but I prefer to do it this way because I find the topping gets nice and crunch and doesn't mix into the batter.

Let cool  and serve.

Banana Beignets

So when I went grocery shopping, I found some cheap bananas at the commissary.  I always buy them when they're on sale because whatever doesn't get eaten by the kids, will end up in banana bread or banana jam.

I decided to make something a little different this time, just to change it up a bit, so these banana beignets happened.  I've had this recipe saved for a while, I think actually since the last time that I had bananas that needed using up.

The recipe is simple to follow, easy to make and well worth the time, which truth be told is not that much at all.

They are delicious on their own, or enjoyed with a cup of coffee.

Banana Beignets

Source:  Taste of Home

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

BEIGNETS:
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
Oil for deep-fat frying

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix sugars and cinnamon until blended. In a large bowl, whisk the first five beignet ingredients. In another bowl, whisk egg, bananas, milk and 2 tablespoons oil until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.

2. In an electric skillet or deep fryer, heat oil to 375°. Drop tablespoonfuls of batter, a few at a time, into hot oil. Fry about 45-60 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Roll in sugar mixture while warm.

Yield: about 3 dozen.

Kate's Banana Bread!

The sickness around here had me in a funk for a long time. I truly missed cooking and sharing recipes with ya'll.

But it seems that finally the germs are moving on and everyone is feeling better, which means for me, I get to spend some time in the kitchen doing what I love.....cooking and baking.

Here's a quick but delicious banana bread recipe that I first found over at Kate's and loved it so much, it's the one I turn to whenever I have overly ripe bananas, which I did today.

BANANA BREAD

1/3 cup shortening (I used butter instead)
3/4 C light brown sugar
1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour (I used Self Rising Flour and omitted the salt and baking soda)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup milk ( I used buttermilk)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't add these today, didn't have any on hand)



Cream the shortening (or butter) with the sugar.

Add the mashed bananas and eggs.

Sift the flour with the salt and baking soda and add to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Stir in the nuts.

Bake in a greased loaf pan, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, in a moderate oven, 350 degrees, for an hour. Turn out and cool on rack; wrap in aluminium foil.

This bread slices better the second day.

Yield: 1 loaf

No Bake Twinkie Cake!!!

I came across this recipe in a magazine a while ago, I planned on making it last summer and completely forgot about it, but while organizing my recipe collection today I found it again.

Instead of just putting it aside, I decided to get right in there and make it. It's a HIT and it's soooooo good, you have GOT to try it.

BANANA-CARAMEL CAKE

Here's my finished cake

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant butterscotch pudding mix
Milk
1 bananas, chopped
2 pkgs (15. oz) Twinkies
4 cups thawed frozen whipped topping
Caramel Sundae Topping
Toasted coconut (To toast flaked coconut, in nonstick skilledt, over medium heat, cook coconut, stirring until browned, 3-4 minutes)


Prepare pudding mix with milk according to package directions for pie filling consistency. Let prepared pudding stand 5 minutes. Fold in bananas. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Arrange 10 Twinkies in bottom of 9" springform pan, cutting to fit. Spread with pudding mixture. Top with remaining Twinkies.

Spread with 1 cup topping. Cover; refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Uncover. Remove side of pan. Spread top and side of cake with remaining topping.
Press 1 2/3 cups toasted coconut onto side of frosted cake. Drizzle with 2 Tbs. Caramel sundae topping.


Enjoy!