Old-Fashioned Banana Cake Recipe From The Barefoot Contessa

It's almost spring and that means there are lots of family celebrations, Easter gatherings, family birthdays, and more coming up.

It's nice to be able to bring a cake to any of these events that is moist and delicious, and everyone asks you for the recipe. This cake is all three of these things, and another one of my favorite Barefoot Contessa recipes. It is from the How Easy Is that? cookbook.

Yes, I have had an Ina Garten crush for many years. She is just the most warm and gracious person on her Food Network TV show, and a fabulous cook, of course.

All of her recipes that I have tried have always come out great, and her books are always so beautiful, and filled with so much helpful information that the home cook will find useful.

So, if you need a delicious cake, filled with banana and walnut yumminess, this recipe for Old-Fashioned Banana Cake is one I really recommend making.


Barefoot Contessa Recipe for Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
grated zest of 1 orange
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, divided to use 1/2 cup on top of cake

For Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners, sugar


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the bananas, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. With mixer on low, add the dry ingredients and mix just until just combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, turn out onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.

To make the frosting, mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don't whip. Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Spread the frosting thickly on top of the cake and decorate with remaining walnuts.

I shared this recipe last year but made it again recently. Everyone loved it, so I wanted to share it with you all again. Enjoy!

Nordstrom Roseville Galleria & The Honest Company: Meet Cathy Alba #nordstromroseville #thehonestcompany

photo by IG @nordstromroseville

Do you live in the Roseville, Rocklin or Sacramento area in California? I have a fun and free event to share with you!! Meet Cathy Alba, a senior brand educator for The Honest Company at the Nordstrom store in the Roseville Galleria. Cathy will be located in the Kid's World Department on the 1st Floor.

The event will feature a raffle, free gifts and samples of their products. The event starts at 10am.

Have you tried The Honest Company products? I have tried the lip balm, hand sanitizer and love their healing balm.

photo by IG @nordstromroseville

See you there!!

Easy Cheesy Veggie Soup Recipe

I had meant to get this recipe for this soup up last week, but I got hit with a stomach virus. Three days of laying in bed with a heating pad on your tummy, and other things that were quite unpleasant, are enough to make you quite grateful when you do start feeling better.

So today I am out of bed and trying to get on with life, which includes sharing this delicious recipe for Cheesy Veggie Soup. I love the creaminess and cheesiness of this soup. There is something so comforting to me in a great bowl of homemade soup, and this one is one of my all-time favorites.

You can add or subtract your favorite veggies, or use what you have on hand. But definitely do use broccoli because it's so good for you and is really tasty in this recipe, even if you aren't a big fan of it.

I didn't make soup when my kids were growing up, but I really wish I had. Often times it was just about getting dinner on the table as quickly as possible and trying to make something that all five kids would like. But I can make soup now and share it with my family, and hopefully they will know that it's made with love, and it will provide comfort on a cold winter night.

Recipe for Cheesy Veggie Soup

Ingredients:

• 5 1/2 tablespoon butter, divided
• 1 1/3 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery 
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3 1/2 cups unpeeled and cubed red potatoes
• 3 cups chopped broccoli florets
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (8 oz)

Directions:

 

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add carrots, celery, and onions, sauté about 6 minutes until veggies are softened. Add garlic, chicken broth, and potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium, cook 10 minutes. Add broccoli and cook another 15 minutes, until veggies are softened.

 

 

Meanwhile, melt remaining butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook, whisking constantly 1 minute. While whisking vigorously, slowly pour in milk. Cook stirring constantly until mixture begins to gently boil and thicken, stir in heavy cream. Remove from heat and once all veggies are tender pour into the soup and stir. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese.

 

Makes 6 servings.

 

 

Recipe inspired by Cooking Classy.

 

Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I feel like shouting from the rooftops about how delicious these cookies are!! If you're a chocolate fan you will absolutely love these, and if you aren't, you'll love them anyway.

I was looking for a recipe to make cookies with white chocolate chips when I came across this one from The Pioneer Woman. I wasn't thinking about chocolate batter, but when I found this recipe I knew I had to try it.

It does call for white chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips, which ends up in so much yummy goodness. This recipe makes about three dozen cookies, and it's pretty easy to make.

These cookies are perfect to share with friends or coworkers if you want them to think that you have mad skills in the kitchen. That is, if you can bear to part with them!!


Recipe for Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in the vanilla

Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, and add in batches to the mixer, mixing until just combined after each addition. Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and chocolate chips. 

Using a cookie scoop, add 1 tablespoon portions to a baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are done but still soft and chewy, about 8-10 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack.

What's Up With 2016 and A Recipe For The Best Banana Nut Bread Ever

Like so many other people, I welcomed in the new year with a glass of champagne and high hopes that 2016 would be fabulous. Well, so far it's been quite the disaster.

From the dreaded middle of the night phone call from one of my kids, that ended up with a trip to the emergency room, to job losses and jobs not gotten, I have to ask myself what the heck is going on?

And there's the terrible flu that has hit all of my grandchildren and one my daughters so hard, the car that broke down, money that should have come but has not ... it's enough to make me crazy.

I know enough about life by now to know that the beginning of a new year doesn't really change anything. Nothing magical takes place just because it's January 1st. But of course, what choice do we have but to go forward, and have faith that things will get better.

And I know they will get better, and that maybe the things that have happened somehow needed to happen. I don't know why, I don't have the answers, but I can pull my family around me tighter, still be thankful for our many blessings, and keep strongly going forward.

So to help me cope with all this, I made banana bread. Yes, that might sound a little silly, but I never underestimate the power of a cup of tea and a little treat. Trust me, it can be a comfort when you feel that life is just dumping too much on you at one time.

This banana nut bread is really delicious. It's soft and moist, and smells amazing. And it's a great way to use up those bananas that have turned brown that nobody wants to eat. I always recommend wrapping it up tightly in tin foil so that it retains that moistness and great flavor.

It's always an option to double the recipe to make two loaves, giving the extra loaf to somebody you know that might be having a hard time. It's a sweet gesture that can make all the difference to someone who is feeling down.

Recipe for Banana Walnut Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup
• 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with baking spray or melted butter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl, set aside.

With a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg mixture, beat another 1 minute. Add the bananas and mix just until incorporated.

With a spatula, add the flour and mix together. Fold in the walnuts. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to finish cooling.