Salted Caramel and Chocolate Ganache Banana Cream Pie

A new post for the new year!  I am a bad blogger...this is just a fact.  I do have good reasons though.  Reason #1 I am adjusting to a new job and trying to strike a balance between work and my personal life.  Even though I've been at my new job for almost 8 months (time has gone by so quickly), I still find that I am struggling, as I'm sure I will continue to struggle in the future.

Reason #2 I don't like the photos I take.  This seems like something that should be easy to do, but apparently it's not, or maybe my expectations are too high.

Reason #3 I GOT MARRIED!  Ah!  Seriously, so much of my time went into planning and preparing for the wedding that I really haven't had much time for blogging.  Did I mention that I got married?!?  No?  Silly me; reason #4 I GOT MARRIED!

But seriously, now that the honeymoon is over, I've spent some time trying to edit the hundreds of photos I have taken recently, in the hopes of blogging these recipes.  Last night I started editing photos for a delicious recipe that I found while wasting time on pinterest.com.  If you have not visited this website, let me warn you, DO NOT GO...it is a time sucking, yet awesome website.

This recipe has a lot of steps, but the end product is so worth the effort.  Enjoy!

The Ingredients (minus the chocolate)

Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate

Mix together after letting sit

Pour the ganache over the crust

Add the sliced banana and a layer of salted caramel

Add the pastry cream over the banana/caramel layer,
top with whipped cream, swirl caramel into the whipped cream,
and add the remaining sliced bananas on top. 

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (10 or 11 whole crackers)
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Ganache Layer
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate (about 1/2 cup chocolate chips)

Pastry Cream
1 2/3 cups whole milk
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out and reserved (I used 1 Tbsp of vanilla bean paste)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel (or kosher salt)

Items Needed for Assembly
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 medium bananas

Directions
1.  Preheat the oven to 325 F.

2.  Combine the crumbs and sugar in a bowl.  Then add the melted butter and mix until the crumbs are moistened. 

3.  Transfer the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan (I used a tart pan) and press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides.  Note: the edges of the shell will be crumbly.
4.  Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Cool completely.

For the ganache

5.  Set the chocolate into a bowl; heat the heavy cream to boiling point and pour over the chocolate. 

6.  Let the cream/chocolate mixture stand a couple of minutes and gently stir until fully incorporated and glossy.  It should be the consistency of warmed chocolate syrup. 

7.  Cool to room temperature.

8. Pour over the cooled pie crust and refrigerate.

For the pastry cream
9.  Combine the milk, ¼ cup of sugar, and the vanilla bean and seeds or vanilla bean paste in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Note: if the vanilla bean is hardened, put the entire bean in the saucepan so that it softens as the milk warms up. Once it’s pliable again, remove the pod, split it in half, and scrape the seeds out. Then add everything back into the saucepan until the mixture simmers.
10. While the mixture simmers, sift the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar together with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Then, in a large bowl, whisk together the egg and two egg yolks.
11. When the milk comes to a simmer, strain out the vanilla bean pod.
12. Add the cornstarch mixture to the eggs and whisk until well combined.
13. While whisking the egg/cornstarch mixture, slowly pour in about one-quarter of the milk in order to temper the egg mixture.
14. Transfer this mixture to the saucepan, set over low heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, until it reaches the consistency of thick pudding, taking care not to curdle the eggs.
15. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until incorporated. If the mixture isn’t quite as smooth as you’d like, you can always run it through a sieve.
16. Pour into a shallow bowl, place plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill.

For caramel sauce
17.  In a heavy saucepan set over medium-high heat, stir together sugar and water.  Use a pastry brush and water to brush down any sugar crystals off the side of the pan.  Bring the sugar water to a boil and boil until amber-colored.  

**Note: once the mixture starts changing color, watch it closely because it will burn quickly.  If you accidentally burn the caramel, start over.  Sugar and water are cheap and this is a relatively easy and quick step.  The darker the color, the more caramel the flavor; the ligher the color the more butterscotch the flavor**

18.  Once the color is right, immediately add butter and stir to incorporate.  Remove from the heat, add cream and salt (be careful, as it will splatter), and mix well.  It should be smooth and have a syrup-like consistency.  Let cool to room temperature.

For assembly
19.  Using an electric mixer or a whisk, whip the heavy cream into peaks.  Add powdered sugar and incorporate. 

20.  Transfer the pastry cream to a large bowl and whisk until smooth.  Then fold in about half of the whipped cream.
21.  Line the bottom of the pie crust with approximately two bananas sliced into rounds on a diagonal.  

22. Slice half of the remaining banana into rounds on a diagonal for garnish.
23. Roughly chop the remaining half banana and fold into the pastry cream.
24. Drizzle a thin layer of caramel sauce over the bananas.
25. Spoon the pastry cream evenly into the crust.
26. Mound the remaining whipped cream on top and drizzle some caramel sauce over the whipped cream, swirling it decoratively.
27. Decorate with remaining banana slices.
28. Chill and serve within 24 hours. The remaining caramel sauce can be used when plating the pie.


Recipe courtesy of lickmyspoon.com

Chocolate Vegan Cupcakes with Fluffy Vegan "Buttercream" Frosting and Engeye Health Clinic

I bet you're thinking, "there's no way THAT is a vegan cupcake!!!"  But I asure you that it is most definitely a vegan cupcake.  So, now you may be asking yourself this question: how good are vegan cupcakes and vegan frosting really?  I will tell you that the reality is they are actually quite good...at least these recipes are!

I was inspired to make a vegan dessert because my future brother-in-law is a vegan (my other future brother-in-law is a gluten-free vegan, but he is currently living in Uganda with his wife doing work at a rural health clinic, so I'll worry about a dessert for him at a later time).

Anyway, this recipe is printed in Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, but the actual recipe is courtesy of Divvies Bakery.  These cupcakes are very easy to make and without further adieu, the recipe follows.  Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

The cupcake ingredients (you probably have all of this in your pantry right now).

First, sift together your dry ingredients.

Then blend your wet ingredients together.

Finally, combine the dry and wet ingredients and bake.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup and 1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp distilled white vinegar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup water

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2.  Sift together cake flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

3.  Mix together the oil, vinegar, vanilla, and water with an electric mixer until well combined.

4.  Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  Note, the batter will be very thin and watery.

5.  Divide the batter evenly between the lined cups in the muffin tin (they should be filled 3/4 full).

6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating half-way through the bake time.  A toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake should come out clean.

7.  Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack.

8.  Frost with vegan "buttercream" or dust with powdered sugar.

Fluffy Vegan Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (earth balance is a good brand--I used the non-hydrogenated Crisco, because that is what I had in the kitchen).

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (earth balance is a good brand)

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup almond milk (alternatively, you could use coconut milk, chocolate almond milk, hemp milk, etc)

Directions

1.  Beat the shortening and margarine together until light and fluffy.  

2.  Then add the powdered sugar and mix together for 3 minutes.  Note, you may need to add more powered sugar to make the frosting to the consistency that will work for you in order to frost or pipe the cupcakes.  If you add too much powdered sugar, just thin it out with some extra almond milk.

3.  Finally, add the vanilla and almond milk and mix for another 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy.  

4.  Decorate as usual and enjoy.  

A note about Engeye Health Clinic.  As I mentioned earlier, my future brother and sister-in-law both are living in Uganda for the next 1.5 years working for Engeye (pronounced Engay) helping to bring more modern, yet basic health care to Ugandans.  From their website, they are a "non-profit that works to improve the lives of Ugandans through its affordable health clinic."  Additionally, they "operate a scholarship program to empower the next generation of Ugandans."  Consider making a one-time donation, or better yet, a monthly donation, to this wonderful non-profit, and to help support the clinic and the work that my future sibling in-laws are doing.  Tell you what, make a donation, and I'll make you some of your very own vegan cupcakes (or something else if you're not brave enough to try these babies).

Bananas Foster Banana Bread

Well folks, it happens too often to me, and I'm sure it does to you too...old, almost rotten, nasty bananas that have sat too long on the counter to be edible.  You know the kind I am talking about.  Bananas that are so brown they're almost black...they're mushy and vomit-inducing.  Bananas like these?

Gross, right?  But those babies make the best, moist, delicious banana bread you've ever tasted!  So, if you have 3-4 nasty bananas that need to be used, make yourself a delicious batch of banana bread rather than throwing them away.  Additionally, if you don't have the time to make the bread, throw the bananas in the freezer until you need them, then defrost overnight and use in the recipe as usual.

What I enjoy about this recipe is that it is a grown-up version of a delicious treat.  It is grown-up because it contains rum!  Delicious rum!  Additionally, it is healthy, as it contains ground flax seed; but don't worry, it still tastes unhealthy :)  So next time you're in the mood for banana bread, give this adult version a try.

Bananas Foster Banana Bread 

Your ingredients

Add the mashed bananas, melted butter, rum, and brown sugar; bring to a boil.

Mix the cooled banana mixture, yogurt, remaining brown sugar, and eggs together.

Sift the flour, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice together.

Blend the wet and dry ingredients.  Don't the flax seeds look good?

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe bananas (I used three bananas)

1 cup packed brown sugar, divided

5 tablespoons of butter, melted

1/4 cup of dark rum or cognac

1/3 cup plain, fat-free yogurt

2 large eggs
6 3/4 ounces of all-purpose flour (~1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Glaze
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon dark rum or cognac

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.
2.  Combined melted butter, banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and rum or cognac in a non-stick skillet and cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble.  Take off of heat and allow to cool. 
3.  After cooled, put mixture in a large bowl and add the yogurt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs and beat at medium speed until combined.
4.  Weigh flour and combine with the ground flax seed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.
5.  Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture and blend.
6.  Pour batter into a loaf pan (9-inch x 5-inch) that is coated with cooking spray.
7.  Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick in the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool.
8.  Make the glaze and drizzle over warm bread.

Enjoy!

Babycakes Sour Cream Doughnuts!

So, I really, really, really love doughnuts.  This is a true shame because they do NOT love me, in the sense that they go straight to my hips and belly...ugh.  This, however, does definitely not prevent me from eating them, let alone making them!  For my birthday, my dad bought me a mini-doughnut maker from babycakes that bakes mini doughnuts.  It's really cute and I used it the very next day and made some very cute and delicious doughnuts.  The maker comes with instructions and a few recipes.  I decided to use their recipes first and once I get the hang of the machine, I'll try using different recipes.  Now, even if you do not have this doughnut maker, you can still use this recipe with a doughnut pan, like this one.  So dear readers, enjoy!

Your Ingredients

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Mix together the wet ingredients and combine with the dry ingredients.

Bake accordingly and glaze or frost!

Sour Cream Doughnuts
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1.  Combine dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
2.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
3.  Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients.
4.  Use a mixer on medium, blend until smooth.
5.  Fill pan appropriately with batter (this is approximately 2 tablespoons per well).
6.  Bake about 4-5 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7.  Glaze or coat as desired!

Chocolate Glaze
Ingredients:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons half and half or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
1.  Whisk all ingredients together adding more dairy as required to make a glaze consistency.
2.  Dip doughnuts into glaze, either halfway or completely.
3.  Place on wire rack to allow glaze to set up.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

These cupcakes were so ridiculously good...they're decadent, but not so rich that you can't eat more than one per sitting, which is a good thing, depending on who you ask :) 

I got the recipe from a blog I stumbled across called Joy the Baker.  You should check out her blog--she takes gorgeous pictures that I tried to model my pictures on, but, alas, her pictures are far superior to mine.  

Without further ado, the recipe follows...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. sugar

1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 T. vanilla extract

2/3 c. canola oil

2 t. white vinegar

2 c. cold water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F and line cupcake pan with liners.

2.  Shift the dry ingredient together and set aside.

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla, and vinegar.

4.  Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Do NOT overmix!  The mixture will be wet.

5.  Pour the batter until the cups are 2/3 full and bake for 20-24 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cup comes out clean.

For the Frosting:

1.  1 c. (2 sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature.

2.  1 c. of creamy peanut butter.

3.  3-4 c. of powdered sugar, depending on how thick you like your frosting.

4.  1 T. of milk.

Directions for Frosting:

1.  Beat butter and peanut butter together until smooth.

2.  Add 3 c. of powdered sugar and beat on low for 1 minute.

3.  Add milk and beat on medium-high for 1 minute.

4.  If you want, add the 1 other cup of powdered sugar.

5.  Decorate cupcakes and top with chopped peanut butter cups...Enjoy

S'more's Cookie Bars

Hey everyone!  I am so happy to share this phenomenal recipe with all of my followers (or anyone that happens upon my blog), as I LOVE S'MORES!!!  They remind me of childhood, camping, fun, laughter, and relaxing by the fire...there is something so nostalgic about roasting a marshmallow over the fire on a stick.  So, the other day I was perusing one of my favorite food blogs, Crepes of Wrath, and I saw this recipe...I just knew I HAD to make it.  Let me tell you all, run, do not walk to make this recipe, you'll be glad you did.  Enjoy!

S'more Cookie Bars

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 extra large chocolate bars that are large enough to fill an 8" x 8" pan--I used Hershey's chocolate

1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff--about one jar

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease and/or line an 8" x 8" brownie (square) pan.

2.  In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Sugars and butter

After eggs and vanilla 

3.  In a small bowl, whisk the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.

4.  Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.  

Finished graham cracker dough

5.  Divide the dough in half and press half of the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the pan.  If it seems thin, that's okay, the dough will rise during baking.

6.  Place chocolate bars over dough in an even layer.

7.  Spread the marshmallow fluff over the chocolate bars.

8.  Top the fluff with the remaining dough by forming the dough into sheets with the palm of your hands and laying it down.

9.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned.  You can cover the top of the pan with foil if it is browning too quickly.

10.  Now, here's the hard part...Let it cool completely before cutting, because they will crumble when you try to cut them if you don't.

ENJOY!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Well, once again, I have been seriously lacking in blogging...I blame it on my new internship and adjusting to life after school (in addition to juggling multiple other responsibilities)! Well, I made this cheesecake back in May as one aspect of Pat's birthday dinner, so I've had the pictures for quite some time! Ha. I have to admit that this is one of the best cheesecakes I've ever had (and made).

The first part of making this cheesecake was to make the chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe from Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking). Now, if you're considering making this and don't want to make the chocolate chip cookie dough yourself, by all means, buy store bought cookie dough. I made the cookie dough using the recipe she recommend, however, feel free to use your favorite CC cookie dough recipe.

Tender, Buttery Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup room temperature unsalted butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups chocolate chips or coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Cream butter and sugars until very smooth (3-4 mins).

3. Add vanilla and eggs and blend well.

4. Fold in flour, baking soda, and salt and mix well (2-3 mins).

5. Add chocolate chips.

6. Put onto baking sheets and bake for 10-13 mins. for smaller cookies or 14-18 mins. for larger cookies.

Now, I clearly didn't cook these cookies, because I needed the dough for the cheesecake, but if you wanted to do that, you could :) Instead, I cut them into 1 inch chunks and set them aside for use in the cheesecake.

Onto the cheesecake! Here are the ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Crust

1 1/2 cups shortbread cookie crumbs (I used Lorna Doone cookies).

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon sugar

Pinch of cinnamon

Cheesecake

1 batch of chocolate chip cookies

2 pounds of cream cheese at room temperature

1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Toss crust ingredients into an ungreased 9 or 10-inch springform pan and press into pan bottom.

3. Blend cream cheese with condensed milk, sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla, flour, and whipping cream. Blend until smooth, about 4-6 mins.

4. Pour half of the batter into the pan; scatter most of the chocolate chips and half of the cookie dough chunks into the batter.

5. Top with the remaining batter, cookie dough chunks, and remaining chocolate chips.

6. Bake in a water bath for approximately 45 mins. to 1 hour, remove from bath, and place on a cooling rack. Make sure your pan is wrapped in a double layer of tin foil before you place in the water bath.

**Note: this is a deviation from the original recipe. I prefer to bake my cheesecake in a water bath, while the author of this recipe prefers to bake for half of the time with the oven on, then reducing the temperature and finishing in a reduced temperature oven. Finally, she turns off the oven and opens the door, letting the cake cool in the oven for an hour.

7. Refrigerate overnight then enjoy!

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Lord! I just realized that I haven't posted in over a month!!! Yikes. Anyway, graduating from veterinary school, looking for a place to live, and moving leaves you very, very busy. Soooo, to break from my baking/cooking hiatus, I wanted to try another, different style of chocolate chip cookie, the olive oil chocolate chip cookie. I got the recipe from this wonderful blog I happened across called Crepes of Wrath.

Well, let me tell you, they were delicious!!! Seriously, they are crispy around the edges and soft and chewy in the middle...like the perfect cookie. I was worried that they might taste like olive oil, but they don't...they are just super tasty.

There are a few notes about the cookies. The dough does NOT taste good, like traditional chocolate chip cookie does. The dough is very wet feeling and sticky; however, do not add flour to make it less wet/sticky, because that would ruin the cookie...they bake up perfectly. So, here's the recipe. Let me know what you guys think! Cheers!

Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs-room temperature
1 or 2 tablespoons of milk (I used about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon)
1 cup chocolate chips (I would just use the whole bag of chocolate chips...1 cup was definitely not enough, and I don't normally love a ton of chips in my cc cookies).
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Combine sugars, vanilla, and olive oil. Beat in the eggs one a time. Gradually beat in the flour mixture, then add in a tablespoon of milk to make the dough a bit firmer, maybe another tablespoon if you need it/if you feel the dough is too sticky/dry (I used about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon).
3. Roll the dough into balls with your hands and place on a greased and/or lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Mine took about 10 and a half minutes. These overbake quickly, so it’s better to take them out a bit early if you’re unsure. Allow to cool for a bit on the baking sheet, then move to another surface to finish cooling. For me, if I didn't cool them almost completely on the cookie sheet, the centers of the cookie would stick to the pan, so I just let them cool a while and then took them off.
This is what the sugars, vanilla, and olive oil looked like once they were combined--much like wet sand.
This is after the addition of both eggs...really watery!

This is the dough once everything was added...see how wet it looks? It doesn't feel this wet...in fact, it's actually quite stiff.

Finished cookie! They puffed up quite a bit while baking (they looked like they might be cakey), but they flattened up once they cooled. Enjoy!