Wizard of Oz Cake

My mother's birthday is tomorrow, and I promised her a cake. She LOVES The Wizard of Oz, so I decided to go with that. Back to working with fondant and modeling chocolate, I felt much more at home than when I was working with buttercream.

Wizard of Oz Cake



I did not use any new recipes for this cake. I did make a few changes to some of the recipes, but those will be listed below. It is a banana cake with vanilla cream filling, white chocolate fondant, and white modeling chocolate details (shoes and poppies). I put sliced bananas and strawberries between the layers.

I also used luster dust from Wilton to make the shoes and Emerald City sparkle. I think it added a nice touch.



Recipes

Banana Cake
Vanilla Cream Filling - I added 1/2 cup of butter, softened, to thicken the filling.
White Chocolate Fondant - I used imitation banana extract instead of vanilla extract to give it a slight banana taste.
White Modeling Chocolate

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.

Banana Walnut Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

I bought some walnuts recently, and I don't remember why, so I am using them for things until I remember.

Banana Walnut Chocolate-Chunk Cookies



This recipe was in Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook, which I am loving so far. The cookies were perfect--moist, not too banana-y, not too chocolatey. I loved them and ate four before they got sent to Walter's office.

Ingredients
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used all-purpose flour for both measurements)
-1 teaspoon coarse salt
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-3/4 cup butter, room temperature
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
-1 egg
-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 banana)
-1 cup rolled oats
-8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks
-1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour(s), salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
4. Add egg and vanilla to butter mixture and mix until combined. Add banana.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.
6. Using a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets about two inches apart. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until golden brown and just set. Cool on wire racks.

Caramel Apple Banana Cheesecake

Terry, one of Walter's co-workers had a birthday. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted, and he gave me a recipe for a caramel apple cheesecake. Then, he asked if I could add bananas. As you all probably know, I have a bad track record with cheesecakes. However, I gave it a shot, and it turned out great!

Caramel Apple Banana Cheesecake



Terry found the recipe here at Razzle Dazzle Recipes. It was actually surprisingly easy for a cheesecake, and it was apparently very good. I wanted to get a picture of it cut, but I did not. I was told that it was very sweet, which surprises me absolutely none. I added bananas to the recipe per his request, which I am sure only added to the sweetness.

Ingredients
-24 cinnamon graham crackers
-10 Tablespoons butter, melted
-1 cup sugar, divided
-1 21-ounce can apple fruit filling
-2 bananas, sliced thin
-16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, softened
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup caramel topping
-2 Tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make crust, crush graham crackers and combine with butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix until combined and press into 9-inch greased springform pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
3. Measure 1/2 cup of apple pie filling and set aside. Spoon remaining filling into crust. Layer 1/2 of bananas on top of filling
4. Beat together cream cheese, remaining sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add eggs and beat well. Pour over apple filling.
5. Bake 35 minutes or until center is nearly set. Cool.
6. Mix reserved apple filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan. Heat about 1 minute.
7. Arrange apple banana slices and around outside edge of cheesecake. Spoon caramel sauce onto the cheesecake and spread evenly. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Banana and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Bites

I had leftover cake after Father's Day, as always. I found some peanut butter flavored Wilton candy melts, so I decided to dip the chocolate chip cake in those. I also ground some chocolate chips up and threw them in with the cake and frosting because the cake I had leftover didn't really have any chocolate chips in it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake Bites



I thought the peanut butter was a great addition to these. They were wonderful.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Chocolate Chip Cake
-1/2 cup vanilla cream
-Witon's Candy Melts, peanut butter flavor
-6 ounces ground chocolate chips

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in vanilla cream and chocolate chips until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted peanut butter candy and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

Banana Cake Bites



These were my favorite. I considered dipping them in peanut butter as well, but I only bought one bag and used it all on the others.

Ingredients
-1 recipe Banana Cake
-1/2 cup vanilla cream
-Wilton's candy melts light cocoa and white

Directions
1. Crumble prepared cake into crumbs. Mix in vanilla cream until well combined.
2. Roll cake mixture into small balls. Dip in melted chocolate or white chocolate and cool on wax paper. Drizzle with additional chocolate if desired.

Tiki Idol Cake

This cake was for my father. He collects tiki idols, and so this cake was born.



I liked this cake much better, aesthetically. It also tasted fantastic. It was a banana cake with vanilla cream filling, and there were sliced bananas and strawberries between each layer. It was covered and detailed with marshmallow fondant.

Banana Cake

This tasted like banana bread but with the fluffy cake texture. I found the recipe here at Cooks.com. I was very pleased with it. I also altered this one a small bit.

Ingredients
-1 1/4 cups sugar
-1/2 cup butter
-2 eggs, lightly beaten
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-4 tablespoons sour cream
-1 cup banana puree
-1 1/2 cups cake flour
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1 4-ounce package banana cream instant pudding

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 8-inch square pan and set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs.
3. Dissolve baking soda in sour cream and add to batter. Add remaining ingredients and beat well.
4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until pick inserted comes out clean.

Banana Bread Revisited

My aunt gave us some homemade pear butter for Christmas. I wasn't sure how to use it, but I got an idea to put it in my banana bread. So, I altered the recipe.

Pear Banana Bread



The only difference between my original recipe and this one is that instead of four bananas, I used three bananas and 1/3 cup of pear butter, and instead of nutmeg, I used pumpkin pie spice. I also omitted the vanilla, but that was purely by accident (it tastes just as good without it). You can find my original banana bread recipe here.

First Recipe - Banana Banana Bread

Hi, everyone! I'm Joanna Eberhart. Anyone familiar with my blog will know that I'm a housewife who loves cooking and baking. So, I've decided to try my hand at a food blog. Welcome. :)

Banana Banana Bread
I got this recipe here at allrecipes.com. I altered it a bit because that's what I do (I don't think I ever follow a recipe exactly), and it turned out pretty great.



Ingredients
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 cup butter
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-2 1/3 cups mashed bananas (roughly three. I used four)
-2 eggs
I also added 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan and set aside.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Stir in bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
4. Combine both bowls and stir until moist.
5. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 60 to 65 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Let cool for ten minutes before removing from pan.




I am actually not a huge fan of banana bread, but this tasted good. It was very moist and sweet, which is always a plus. Walter enjoyed it, and hopefully our guests tomorrow will as well!