Speechless Banana-Walnut Bread

I call this "Speechless Banana-Walnut Bread" because it is super-moist and
super-delicious...and Mama told me not to talk with my mouth full!
Mmmmmmmmm!


Speechless Banana-Walnut Bread
www.whispersofthyme.blogspot.com
[Yield: 2 (9x5) loaves]

Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon apple pie spice (optional)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sweet dough bakery emulsion, optional (purchased from k.a.f.)
1-1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas (about 3 large)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup raw sugar (a.k.a. turbinado sugar)
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease loaf pans; I use two (9x5 inch) loaf pans.

In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices; set aside.

In  large mixer bowl, blend together on low speed the eggs, sour cream, oil, vanilla extract, sweet dough emulsion (if using), and bananas. Add both sugars and mix well. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Stir in chopped walnuts (if using).

Pour batter into prepared pans, and bake for 42 to 47 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (with a few dry crumbs attached).

Place pans on wire rack and allow bread to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan;
continue to cool loaves on wire rack. 

Freezes well.

Meyer Lemon-Buttermilk Loaf

This wonderful quick bread has a delicate crumb containing just the right amount of real lemon flavor and a simple lemon glaze. 

Use Meyer lemons if you can find them, but regular lemons will work too.

Adapted from Dixie Crystals

Meyer Lemon-Buttermilk Loaf 
www.whispersofthyme.blogspot.com 
(Yields: 1 loaf)

Bread Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Grated rind of 2 Meyer lemons
1 Tablespoon lemon juice from Meyer lemon
1/2 cup buttermilk

Lemon Glaze Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons lemon juice from Meyer lemon
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. (335° degrees F. for dark pans)
In a large mixer bowl, cream together butter, sugar and eggs.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to butter/sugar mixture, along with lemon rind, lemon juice, and buttermilk. Stir until thoroughly blended.
Pour into large greased loaf pan and bake for 43 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean or with a couple of crumbs attached. (If baking at 335 degrees, baking time will probably be at the higher end.)

For glaze: Stir together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth and drizzle over the hot loaf.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting

Very moist and chocolatey cake topped with creamy frosting.



Chocolate Cupcakes
Paula Deen
(Yield: approximately 30 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
3 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.

Brew one cup of strong coffee and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

Add oil, cooled coffee, and eggs. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

Mix in the sour cream and vanilla.

Spoon the batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 15 to 19 minutes.

Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes, and then remove cupcakes from the pans and cool completely.


Fluffy Vanilla Frosting
www.whispersofthyme.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
5 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened & 1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar (not Powdered Sugar)

Directions:
In a small or medium saucepan, add milk and whisk in flour over medium-low heat. Whisk continually until mixture is very thick...almost as thick as brownie batter; It must be thick, or the frosting will not set up properly. 

Remove pan from heat. Set aside to cool completely on counter; I place on cool, wet dishtowel. 
Place plastic wrap directly ON top of mixture while cooling. For the next step, the milk/flour mixture must not be warm AT ALL, but if you cool mixture in refrigerator, then bring back to room temperature before proceeding. Once mixture has cooled, add in vanilla extract.

In large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and granulated sugar on low for 2 minutes, then on medium-high speed for 6 minutes.  Add in the cooled milk/flour mixture and continue beating on medium-high for 8 minutes until resembles whipped cream. Frost cake/cupcakes and store in refrigerator (for firmer texture) or at room temperature (for softer texture).

Yummy Yellow Cake with Strawberry Filling and Buttercream Frosting

This recipe produces a a fluffy yet dense textured cake perfect for any celebration; it is an adaptation of "White Almond Wedding Cake" found on Allrecipes.com.
Very versatile...change flavorings, filling, frosting, and garnishes to suit your taste.

Yummy Yellow Cake
www.whispersofthyme.blogspot.com
(Yield: 8 or 9-inch layer cake)

Cake Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) white cake mix (I used Pillsbury Brand, but 15.25 to 18.25 ounce works)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups whole milk
1 cup sour cream (I used lite)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon buttery sweet dough emulsion (optional - purchased from King Arthur Flour)
3 large eggs

Filling:
Smucker's Strawberry Sundae Topping
Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease bottoms of two 8-inch round pans; line with parchment paper, and then grease and flour parchment and pans. Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl and mix on lowest speed until thoroughly combined. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 4 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pans (NOTE: I filled my pans approximately 1/2 full and had a small amount of batter leftover), and bake for approximately 47 minutes.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert cake layers onto cooling rack (peel off parchment paper). Once cooled, place one layer on serving platter or cake stand and top with small amount of strawberry topping spreading thin layer to within one inch of cake (don't let it drip over the edge); spread frosting over strawberry topping. Place second cake layer on bottom layer and frost whole cake with frosting.

Garnish suggestion: Using a star tip (Wilton 4B), add swirls of frosting to top edge of frosted cake...center fresh strawberry in each swirl.

Buttercream Frosting
www.whispersofthyme.blogspot.com
(Yield: enough to frost layer cake)

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup Crisco Shortening
1/8 teaspoon salt, optional
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons meringue powder (optional)
3 to 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 to 2 Tablespoons milk or cream, for desired consistency

Directions:
Mix the butter, shortening, and salt on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Add vanilla extract, butter flavoring, and almond extract, and then continue to mix until thoroughly blended.
Stop mixer and add meringue powder, if using, along with 1 cup powdered sugar. Start mixer on the lowest speed and add the remaining powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until the sugar is thoroughly blended.
Add milk or cream, 1 Tablespoon at a time, if needed for desired consistency.
Turn mixer to medium speed and continue to beat frosting for an additional 5 minutes.

White Layer Cake with Sour Cream Coconut Frosting

White Layer Cake - i am baker
Sour Cream Coconut Frosting - Whispers of Thyme

This cake recipe is from Amanda at i am baker, and it is dense and yummy.

I decided to fill it and cover it with a sour cream coconut frosting because I wanted a lighter frosting than traditional buttercream. If you've never tried a sour cream frosting, I will tell you this...it does have a slight taste of sour cream and can be made thicker and sweeter with the addition of more sugar.

Here's what you'll need (for the cake): 
Cake Flour, Milk, Egg Whites, Almond Extract, Vanilla Extract, Sugar, Baking Powder, Salt, & Butter

Allow the milk and egg whites to reach room temperature before starting the cake.


Combine milk, egg whites, and extracts in medium bowl and whisk together thoroughly.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in mixer bowl.

Add in cubed butter and beat for a couple of minutes.

 Add in all but 1/2 cup of milk and mix...then add additional milk and mix again.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake.

Once baked, let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

 


Here's what you'll need (for my frosting):
Sour Cream, Powdered Sugar, Cool Whip, Flake Coconut, & Vanilla Extract 
(not pictured)

To a large bowl, add:
sour cream and vanilla extract...stir, 
powdered sugar...stir,
flaked coconut...stir,
Cool Whip (thawed)...stir in gently until thoroughly combined.

 

Once cake is cooled thoroughly, assemble the cake with the frosting .

  

Cut a Big slice...

and savor every bite!

My changes and tips for the cake:
1) used whole milk,
2) reduced almond extract to 1 teaspoon,
and
3) my cake took longer to bake...approximately 34 minutes (I used two 8-inch pans)

RECIPE: White Layer Cake

RECIPE: Sour Cream Coconut Frosting

Recipe Review - Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

The Farm Chicks

This recipe is from Serena at The Farm Chicks, and it is definitely one of my favorites...tender, light, and lemony. The hardest part about making this cake is letting it sit for a whole day before eating. Trust me...it gets better each day, and it is excellent for baking and then freezing.

Here's what you'll need (for the cake):
Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Buttermilk (or buttermilk powder and water), Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Poppy Seeds, Lemons, Zest from the Lemons, & (lemon extract - optional).

For the glaze you will need:
Powdered Sugar & Lemon Juice (not pictured)

 
Zest each lemon (only the yellow part) using a microplaner.

Cut each lemon in half and squeeze juice over strainer and bowl to catch seeds.
Video: Get All the Juice out of Lemon

Set lemon zest and juice aside.

Place butter in mixer bowl and blend until creamy.

Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix well until all sugar is added and the mixture is light and fluffy.

Add in eggs.

Add in vanilla extract.

Mix well.

 

Add in buttermilk powder, if using. (should be added with the dry ingredients...see my notes...#6)

 Add in half of the lemon juice.

Add in flour.

  


Turn mixer to lowest setting, and add water (if using buttermilk powder)...Or add buttermilk.

  


 Add in lemon zest.

Add in baking soda, baking powder, and poppy seeds. Mix well.

Add in lemon extract, if using.

Mix all ingredients until thoroughly combined (about 2 or 3 minutes).

Place cake batter in prepared Bundt pan and bake.

Once cooked, remove pan from oven, transfer pan to wire rack, and let cool for 5 minutes (in pan).

After 5 minutes, remove cake from pan, turn cake upside down on rack, and allow to cool thoroughly.

While cake is cooling, prepare glaze by adding together remaining lemon juice and powdered sugar. Stir well to eliminate clumps. You may need to add up to a total of 4 tablespoons of lemon juice to the powdered sugar to reach desired spreading consistency.

Drizzle cake with glaze. (double the glaze recipe if you like more)

This is my third time making this cake...it's just that good!
 
My notes and tips:
1) added 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract to cake batter
2) used buttermilk powder and water instead of buttermilk
3) added several tablespoons of lemon juice to the glaze recipe
4) used only 1 1/2 TBLSPs poppy seeds instead of 3 TBLSP
5) for best results, cover cake and wait one day before serving
6) if using buttermilk powder, add to dry ingredients, 
    and add the recommended water to the wet 
    ingredients. Always store buttermilk powder in 
    fridge after opening.
 

RECIPE: Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake