Upside Down Banana Cake

Doesn't that just sound amazing? Upside Down Banana Cake.  My friend, Alison, and I have been getting together to watch Batman related films and anime recently.  Some sort of baked good usually accompanies that. Last night we made this delicious cake to eat while watching an anime called Akira.  I stumbled upon the recipe on a blog named The Wicked Noodle, and apparently this dessert is very popular in Brazil. As far as cakes from scratch go, this one was really easy.

Upside Down Banana Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar (for the caramel)
5 to 6 ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 large eggs, divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups sugar (for the cake)
1 cup milk

1) In a metal baking pan (about a 10 inch round), place the 1 1/2 cups sugar and bring to medium heat to make a dry caramel.  When it is fluid and amber in color, distribute the caramel evenly along the bottom of the pan and on the sides. Set aside.

2) Slice the bananas lengthwise and place them flat side down over the caramel.  Place them close together and close to the sides of the pan.

3) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. Set aside.

4) Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Set aside.

5) With an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and egg yolks until very light and creamy.

6) Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternative with the milk. Mix until flour is all mixed. With a big spatula, fold in the egg whites.

7) Pour the batter over the caramel and banana layer evenly.  Bake for 40-50 minutes until it is golden brown and passes the toothpick test.  Let the cake rest and cool a bit, but flip it out of it's pan while it is still warm so that the caramel will seep into the cake.

A bit of a warning: when you flip the cake out of the pan, molten caramel may drip on you! This cake was moist, light, and totally helped take the edge off watching Akira!  Thanks Alison!

Harry Potter Mini-Feast!

Last night, at the midnight premiere, my friend Noel and I held each other and wept as we witnessed the end of Harry Potter. To gear up for this momentous occasion, we decided to crack open my Harry Potter cookbook and try a couple recipes out.  For dinner, we prepared Kreacher's French Onion Soup (vegetarian style) and Harry Potter's favorite childhood treat, treacle tarts. In the books, we learn that Harry loves anything treacle, and  in The Order of the Phoenix, he enjoys a treacle tart in the great hall while Ron and Hermione argue.  In the seventh book, Kreacher says he will prepare his delicious french onion soup for when Harry, Ron, and Hermione return from the ministry.  Unfortunately, they never got to have that soup, but Noel and I did!  As for the treacle tarts....oy.

Kreacher's French Onion Soup

1 large onion
4 tablespoons butter
1 baguette
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour
4-6 cups vegetable or mushroom broth (if you don't want it vegetarian, use chicken or beef)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Peel the onions, cut them in half lengthwise, and slice as thinly as you can.  Then chop those slices in half to make smaller onion pieces.  In a heavy soup pot, heat the butter then remove the pot from the heat.

2) Slice the baguette into six 1-inch thick slices for croutons. Dip a pastry brush into the melted butter in the pot and brush one side of each slice.  Place the slides butter-side up on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cheese.  Toast the bread in the oven for about 10 minutes or until browned.

3) While the bread toasts, return the pot to the heat and add the onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in the sugar and continue to stir over medium-high heat until the onions are browned, about 15 minutes.

4) Blend in the flour. Gradually add the stock while stirring and bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.

5) Ladle the soup into bowls and float one (or two) or the croutons in the center, then sprinkle more Parmesan all over.

It was so easy to make, and turned out wonderfully! I will be enjoying it for lunch for days! Now for the treacle tarts, sigh.  The recipe calls for you to make your own dough and to make one big tart that serves 8.  Well, we decided to be lazy and use pre-made graham cracker crusts, so this is the abridged version of this recipe.

Lazy Treacle Tarts

1 cup golden syrup or light molasses or corn syrup (we used molasses, I would not recommend it)
2 1/4 cups fresh bread crumbs
zest and juice of one lemon
pre-made graham cracker tart crusts

1) Warm the syrup or molasses in the microwave for one minute.  Combine with the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix well.

2) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrape the filling into the prepared crusts and smooth the top with a spatula.

3) Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake another 25 minutes until slightly browned.  Serve with warm custard or whipped cream.

Then hand them out to unsuspecting people waiting in line for Harry Potter because these were not good. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised.  Ah well, the soup was good. Thanks Noel!

Rhubarb, Raspberry, Strawberry, Almond Pie! oh my!

I love rhubarb pie. It is my absolute favorite pie. For my bat mitzvah, I didn't let my mom (a professional cake lady) make me a cake...I had strawberry, rhubarb pie.  This is a recipe that I followed from Centsational Girl blog, but that I also altered to meet my own delicious needs.  Also got inspiration from a shop in Bellingham called Manpies, who made a very similar pie.

Rhubarb, Raspberry, Strawberry, Almond Pie

1 1/2 cups raspberries
3 stalks diced (or sliced) rhubarb
1 cup strawberries, chopped
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 package of Pure Almond Paste
1 handful of sliced almonds

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray pie dish (or 9 x 13 dish) with cooking spray.  Roll out the almond paste to make a bottom pie crust.  Place the crust in the dish.  Add the chopped fruit.

2)Mix the cornstarch and sugar together, then sprinkle the mixture over the chopped fruit.

3) In a mixer, or by hand, blend the flour, rolled oats. brown sugar, cinnamon, sliced almonds, and butter in tablespoon increments.  Pulse it in the mixer or by hand until blended (this part didn't go quite so well with me, but it was fine).  Use your fingers to crumble topping together.

4) Cover the fruit in the topping.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes until lightly brown on top and when the fruit mixture thickens and bubbles.

    It is soooooo good. It was also the first time my friend Roland has ever had rhubarb (I doubt it will be his last).

Rhinunion Fruit Spring Rolls

A year ago, I was in play called Rhinoceros.  That cast became my family.  We're still very close, and it was suggested that we have a Rhino reunion (aka Rhinunion).  So last night I had them over for homemade mac and cheese, dessert, and we watched a recording of our show! For dessert, i decided to make tropical kiwi strawberry spring rolls from the blog, How Sweet it is.  I doubled the recipe which made about 11 rolls.  There was also a recipe for a honey dipping sauce, but I didn't have time to make it.

Tropical Kiwi Strawberry Spring Rolls

rice paper wrappers
3 cups strawberries, chopped
2 firm yellow bananas, chopped
1 large mango, cut into matchsticks
6 kiwis, chopped
some fresh mint leaves

1) Chop up all the fruit into a large bowl, except for the mango matchsticks.

2)  Fill large bowl or dish with warm water. Dip rice paper into water for about 5 seconds. Pat dry on paper towel and place on clean surface.

3) Place mango in middle and spoon the fruit mixture on top.  Add a couple mint leaves.

4) Fold the top and bottom of the wrapper in on the fruit, then roll the rest of the wrap shut like a burrito.

The Rhinunion was fun, the food delicious, and the friends wonderful.  Thanks Rhino's!

Sweet Potato Rosti

I have been busy.  Very, very, unrelentingly busy.  That is my lame excuse for not cooking anything worthwhile recently.  Recently though, I made the resolution that I would cook more.  I found a recipe for a crispy sweet potato rosti that looked really good. I don't know what a rosti is, but I like sweet potatoes a whole lot.  It's a fairly simple recipe, the only tough part is flipping the rosti without breaking it (I did not succeed).

Crispy Sweet Potato Rosti

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

2 cups grated sweet potatoes

Kosher salt 

Black pepper

1) Heat half the oil in a 10 inch frying pan over medium-low heat.  Squeeze the extra fluid out of the sweet potatoes with a kitchen or paper towel.

2) Add potatoes to hot pan, pressing them with a spatula to make a flat surface.  Cook until the bottom is golden and crisp, about 12-15 minutes.

3) Place a small plate (small enough to fit in the skillet) into pan.  Invert rosti onto plate (wear an oven mitt for safety).  Add remaining oil to pan slide the rosti back in.  Continue cooking until the other side is golden, another 10-12 minutes.

4) Reduce heat to low and cook for another 2 minutes to crisp the bottom.  Season with salt and pepper.

So that didn't go quite as planned.  The rosti never really formed into one big pancake and fell apart both times I moved it.  That being said, it was delicious!   I paired it with an arugula, strawberry, and goat cheese salad which was perfect.  I'm going to try it again and experiment with it to really make it my own, and i'll keep trying to make it a perfect crispy sweet potato pancake.

Cookies for Beth

My best friend recently got hit by a car while biking around campus.  She's okay, but she lives 3000 miles away from me in New York so I can't do my normal mother henning for her.  Instead, i decided to bake her some cookies so chocked-full of chocolate, the chocolate endorphins will rush straight to her back and make her all better.  I found this recipe on A Cozy Kitchen, and I have to say this is absolutely not an acid reflux friendly cookie.  Will that stop me? No. That's what zantac is for.

Ooey-Goey Double Chocolate Cookies

1/4 pound (4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet chocolate (in chunks or chips)

1) Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate in a saucepan over the lowest heat (or in a bowl over simmering water). Stir occasionally. When melted, remove from heat and let cool for a bit.

2) While the chocolate is melting, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until combined and set aside. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

3) Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture until just combined.  Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well.  Then stir in the bittersweet chocolate.

4) Cover the batter with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5) Spoon the batter onto a greased baking sheet lined with parchment.  Grease your hands (to prevent sticking) and shape the dough into balls.  Place the balls on the pan with about 2-3 inches room in between.  Bake until the edges are set and center is still soft, about 10-12 minutes.  Rotate the pan about half way through.

6) Place the cookies, still on the parchment, on a rack and cool completely before eating.

Warning: these cookies are decadently rich.  Don't eat too many at once, Beth!

White Sauce Eggplant Parmesan

One of my mom's staple meals that she served us growing up was eggplant parmesan.  When I was no longer able to eat the red sauce, my mom devised a white sauce version.   It's essentially a basic rue sauce, but that allows for plenty of experimentation.  Now whenever my mom makes eggplant parm for our family, she makes the originally version for my dad and brother and the white sauce version for me.  Dad and Jake always end up eating my version.  It's that good.

Eggplant Parmesan with White Sauce

eggplant cutlets (I usually get these pre-made at Trader Joe's, but you can also bread eggplant slices)
mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup heated milk
salt (to taste)
black pepper
oregano
parmesan cheese

1) Place the cutlets on a baking sheet for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.  While those are in the oven, make the sauce.

2) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour and stir until mixture is well blended.  Gradually, stir in the hot milk with a whisk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sauce begins to boil and thickens.  Simmer, stirring frequently, over very low heat for 5 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper, oregano and whatever other herbs you might desire.  You can add more milk if the sauce is too thick.

3) In baking dish, layer eggplant, sauce, and cheeses.  Repeat once and put in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is great on a cold winter day!
Note: any kind of mozzarella works, but my favorite is fresh.