Bananas Foster Cake Bites

Some friends of ours (the ones who ordered the Half-Life Cake back in June) had a fake Halloween wedding. They wanted lots and lots of cake bites. In fact, they ordered 200: 100 chocolate with chocolate buttercream, 50 red velvet with cream cheese frosting, and 50 bananas foster with almond buttercream. And so, last week I went to work. I was sick the beginning of the week and missed the third Wilton cake class, but I only really missed making the ugly little clowns, so not a big loss. Besides, I am not impressed with the teacher.

Anyway, Katie wanted the cake bites to be pretty, not Halloweeny, so I made them normal looking. Then, I sent the extras to work with Walter, and THOSE were full of Halloween goodness. Pumpkins and eyeballs galore.

By the way, I was a cupcake for Halloween. Walter was Charlie Brown in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" In addition to the ghost costume with extra eye-holes, he had a Charlie Brown shirt on underneath:



Bananas Foster Cake



This cake was sooo good. I found the recipe here at Erin's Food Files. I loved her video on the flambeeing, but I hoped my experience would be more fun.

It wasn't. It was disappointing. Very few flames and no fun. Tasty, though, which I suppose is really what matters...

This was also my first time buying alcohol. I turned 21 last month. I am such a grown up. :P

Ingredients
For the Bananas Foster
-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-2 ripe, but still firm bananas quartered (halved crosswise, then lengthwise)
-2 tablespoons dark rum
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cake:
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I did use some whole wheat flour)
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
-1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
-3 eggs
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon dark rum
-Prepared bananas foster
-3/4 cup sour cream

Directions
For the Bananas Foster:
1. In a saute pan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook until butter melts and sugar is dissolved (4 to 5 minutes). Add the banana slices and cook until tender, turning once for 1 to 2 minutes per side.
2. Stir together rum and vanilla. Turn off the burner and add the rum mixture to the pan.
3. Using a long match, light the alcohol by placing the flame just in the outer edge of the pan. Stand as far back as possible. The flame should extingish in a few seconds. There will not be nearly as many flames as you expect. Gently shake the pan from side to side to coat the bananas with the sauce. Spoon the bananas into a bowl and set aside.

For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add eggs, vanilla, rum and banana to butter mixture. Mix well.
5. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream. Blend thoroughly but do not overmix.
6. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.


Almond Buttercream



This was a very smooth buttercream, and the almond went so well with the bananas foster. I found it here at Bake Space.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup butter, softened
-4 1/2 cups confectioners' Sugar
-3/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon Almond extract
-6-7 Tablespoons Milk

Directions
1. Cream butter until fluffy. Add other ingredients gradually, mixing until desired consistency.

Mexican Pasta Bake

More casseroles!

Mexican Pasta Bake



This casserole, that I found here at cooksrecipes.com, was fantastic. I made a few changes. For example, the pasta I used was a gem I found at Hy-Vee:



I also used ground beef instead of chicken and added crumbled Doritos, among other things. It was FANTASTIC. Walter loved it, and it will definitely be made again. Still not beautiful, but prettier than the last and still delicious. I will post the recipe as I made it, not as it was originally done.



Ingredients
-1 3/4 cups chili pepper linguine
-1 26-ounce jar medium chunky salsa
-1 10.5-ounce can of refried beans
-1/3 cup sliced green onions
-2 1.25-ounce packages Taco Seasoning Mix
-1 cup sour cream
-1.5 pounds ground beef
-1 cup nacho cheese Doritos, broken into crumbs
-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease 2-quart baking dish.
2. Brown ground beef and cook pasta.
3. Combine taco seasoning, salsa, refried beans, and green onions in medium bowl.
4. Spread 1 cup salsa mixture on bottom of prepared baking dish. Top with pasta.
5. Spread sour cream over pasta. Top with Doritos.
6. Combine remaining tomato mixture and ground beef and spoon over Doritos. Top with cheese.
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Graduation Cupcakes

Walter's cousin is graduating from high school on Sunday. Naturally, I had to bake for the party after. So, I made some chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and peanut butter cup graduation caps.

Chocolate Cupcakes



I got this recipe here from Ina Garten at The Food Network. I ended up with 18 cupcakes instead of the 14-15 she said I'd get, but I am not too concerned by it. These cupcakes were pretty delicious. Moist and chocolatey. Walter said you could taste the coffee and wasn't thoroughly impressed with that, but I couldn't taste it at all. Although afterwards, he said that perhaps he was just tasting the peanut butter icing, so I am not sure. Regardless, I rather enjoyed them.

Ingredients
-3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
-2/3 cup granulated sugar
-2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
-2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I used 2 large eggs)
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
-1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
-1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
-2 tablespoons brewed coffee
-1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup good cocoa powder
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used table salt)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add the vanilla and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the butter mixture, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture and mixing well after each addition. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.
6. Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

This also came from Ina Garten (same link as above). I was worried it would be too sweet, but it was very good and complimented the cupcakes well.

Ingredients
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1 cup creamy peanut butter
-5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
-3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (I used table salt)
-1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions
1. Combine first five ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix until smooth. Add cream and mix on high speed until combined and smooth. Spread over cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Cup Graduation Caps

This idea originally came from Bakerella, but I found it here at A Year in the Kitchen. I thought it was an adorable idea, so I had to do it!

Ingredients
-Reese's mini Peanut Butter Cups (the same number as you have cupcakes)
-An equal amount of chocolate squares (I used Hershey's Cacao Reserve milk chocolate squares)
-Fruit-by-the-Foot candies (Bakerella used Airheads Sours. I was going to use those, but I ate them all before I got to it and then couldn't find more. Ashlee used Twizzlers Pull N Peels. Basically, anything you think will work is great. Be creative!)
-Colored icing (I used Wilton's Icing Writers in blue for this. Ashlee used
-Peanut butter

Directions
1. Unwrap peanut butter cups and chocolate squares. Place a small dab of peanut butter on the underside of the chocolate square and attach it to the small end of the peanut butter cup (so that the cup is resting upside-down).
2. Cut a small strip from the Fruit-by-the-Foot and attach it to the top of the cap with some of the colored icing. Place a small dab of the icing in the center of the square to make it look like a cap top.
3. Place graduation craps on cupcakes and serve.

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers and Bacon Barbecue Burgers

I LOVE warm weather. Love love love. It is the most fantastic weather for grilling. Spring is great because it's warm enough to grill but not so humid that I can't go outside. Fantastic.



Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

I got the inspiration for this recipe here at allrecipes. However, I changed it so heavily that it is hardly the same recipe. I really enjoyed them, but could only eat one because of my lactose intolerance and because they were SPICY. Of course. Because they were jalapenos. But grilled bacon is fantastic.

Ingredients
-1 cup sour cream
-2 teaspoons ranch dressing
-1 teaspoon bacon salt
-1 teaspoon garlic salt
-1 1/2 cup shredded cheese
-10 jalapenos
-10 slices bacon

Directions
1. Combine first five ingredients.
2. Cut jalapenos in half, but keep sides attached. Remove seeds.
3. Fill jalapenos with sour cream mixture and close jalapenos. Wrap each with one slice of bacon and slide onto skewers.
4. Grill until bacon is crispy, about 30 minutes. Remove from skewers and serve warm.

Bacon Barbecue Burgers

These are the best barbecued burgers I have made thus far. The bacon salt is nice but not overpowering.

Ingredients
-1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
-1 1/2 teaspoons bacon salt
-1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
-2 teaspoons McCormick grilling mates hamburger seasoning
-Hickory barbecue sauce for coating

Directions
1. Mix bacon and garlic salts and hamburger seasoning into ground beef. Separate and form into patties.
2. Grill patties, flipping halfway through, brushing with barbecue sauce after each flip, until they are 160 degrees in their centers. Brush with additional barbecue sauce and serve.