moist

Chai Spiced Banana Bread

By in Breads, Breakfast, Fall 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , ,

Remember how I wanted to hold onto summer? Well summer didn”t want to hold on to me. Around the same time I was professing my love of summer and how I was going to hold onto it and my garden forever, it decided to frost and kill half my garden. And, it was just about to start bearing all sorts of deliciousness. Boo. Ever since then there”s been a chill in the air and its never quite warmed up again. Ha ha. Serves me right for thinking I had control of the seasons. :)

I decided I better start embracing fall in all it”s glory because winter lasts about 8 months out of the year here in Alberta and I just needed to buckle down and face the facts. I usually love all the seasons when they come but I haven”t lived in Canada for almost 4 years and I”m not conditioned to these cold, long winters anymore. I”ve become a winter wimp and once fall hits here you know that winter is really only a month away. Despite my anxiety over what”s coming, right now it”s fall, so here I am embracing it with some warm fall spices.

After making this recipe I don”t know that I”ll ever be able to go back to my regular banana bread. I took my go-to recipe, made it a little healthier by adding whole wheat and added some chai spices for a fall spin. The result was one of the most delicious banana breads I have eaten, and I”ve made my share of banana bread. Even my not-so-banana-bread-loving husband was raving about how good it was. I think it has to do in part with the fact that the spices are strong enough to overpower that distinctive banana bread flavour and the whole wheat keeps it from becoming too sticky, as a lot of banana breads seem to be. The crumb is tender and soft, hearty yet light, and the spices are the perfect combination to ring in the new season.

To fall!

Chai Spiced Banana Bread

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

  • 1 1/3 cups sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3)

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1.5 teaspoons ground cardamom

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

  • 1 cup sour cream (full fat)

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla. Sit together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add to banana mixture in three additions, alternately with sour cream, starting and ending with the flour mixture, until evenly combined. Pour into 2, greased, 9×5 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before removing from loaf pans and transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes: 2 loaves

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

By in Breakfast, Snacks 12 Comments Tags: , , ,

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Starting a house, kitchen and pantry from scratch is a big deal. So many times I assume I have something because I always did before. I can”t count the number of times I”ve started making a dough that needs rolling out only to remember halfway through I don”t have a rolling pin. I”ve used glasses, jars, anything I could get my hands on. I try not to have too many gadgets in the kitchen anyways, because they take up so much room, but when some of those essentials go missing it”s so easy to forget. (Don”t worry I finally got around to buying a rolling pin) ;)

This happens with ingredients too. Last week I started making these muffins and when it got to the part about adding the poppy seeds I scoured the house, sure I had some, but couldn”t find them anywhere. How can you make poppy seed muffins without poppy seeds? Thankfully my hubby came home for lunch and I quickly ran out to the store so I could finish what I started.

When I posted all of this “drama” to Facebook the question came up – don”t you soak your poppy seeds first? I”ve never done it personally but have seen it in several recipes. So why is it called for in some recipes and not in others? I searched and found two theories 1) soaking them makes them more digestible 2) soaking them prevents the seeds from soaking up the moisture in the baked good, causing it to be dry. I”ve never soaked them and the recipes I”ve made have always been very moist so I don”t think #2 is necessarily right. I wasn”t so sure about #1 either but for reasons that I go into detail about on a food blog, it became abundantly clear that poppy seeds (kind of like corn) do not digest well, so maybe the soaking really does help with that. Anyways, soak away or don”t soak, I don”t *think* it actually affects the outcome of the recipe.

These Orange Poppy Seed Muffins are such a nice change-up from the typical Lemon-Poppy Seed combination. Really they could be called Triple Orange Poppy Seed Muffins because they get their orange flavour in three different ways, orange juice concentrate, orange zest and orange extract. They stay moist for several days, which I love because you can never eat a whole batch in one day and also make them a great make ahead. Although it does make for a lighter flavoured muffin, I think these still taste delicious with fresh orange juice instead of concentrate and will definitely be a go-to when I”ve got an abundance of oranges on my counter.

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

For a more subtle orange flavour use fresh orange juice instead of concentrate.

  • 2/3 cup butter, softened

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 cup sour cream

  • 1/4 cup thawed orange juice concentrate

  • 1 tablespoon orange zest

  • 1 teaspoon orange extract

  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in sour cream, orange concentrate, zest and extract.

In a separate bowl combine flour, poppy seeds, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture just until moistened.

Scoop into regular sized muffin tins, lined with paper-liners, until two-thirds full. Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Brush with orange syrup while warm.

Orange Syrup

  • 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate

  • 1/4 cup icing sugar

In a small bowl stir the orange juice into the icing sugar until combined. Spoon over warm muffins.

Makes approximately: 16 muffins

Adapted from Taste of Home.

Perfect Party Cake and Frosting

By in Cakes, Chocolate, Sweets 29 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

cake and frosting

I know it may seem a bit presumptuous of me to put the word “perfect” in the title of this blog post but there are a couple of reasons why it’s there.

  1. The chocolate cake is light while still remaining moist and sturdy.
  2. Because the cake is sturdy it makes for easy decorating, trimming, etc.
  3. The frosting is smooth, creamy, light and not overly sweet.
  4. The frosting is easy to make smooth and holds up well for long periods of time without refrigeration.
  5. Both the cake and the frosting are absolutely delicious.

To me all those things add up to a perfect party cake. I used the recipes in my Cars themed birthday cake and the Timmy Time themed birthday cake below.

While I’m still on the search for the perfect vanilla cake I’ll be sticking with this chocolate cake and not bothering to look for any others. It really is just perfect. And, although I do think it’s possible to have more than one perfect recipe for the same thing, why look for another when I already have this one?

As far as frostings go, you really can’t beat this recipe for its ease and flavour. It is my favourite frosting to date. I’m sure I’ll try a more complicated recipe, like Swiss Meringue, for some adult cakes here and there but this will definitely be my go to. Especially for decorated party cakes.

Need some tips on stacking cakes? Check out the Cars Themed Birthday Cake post.

Chocolate Party Cake

For 6 inch cakes fill each cake tin with 1.5-2 cups batter and check for doneness earlier then the suggested time. For 10 inch cakes fill with 5 3/4-6 cups batter and bake for longer then the suggested time. 

  • 3 cups packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 1 1/3 cups boiling water

Cream together brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Add vanilla; turn beaters to medium-high; beat until light and fluffy. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add in three additions, alternating with sour cream, starting and ending with flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Stir in water until evenly blended. Pour into 3, 8-inch round cake pans, sprayed with cooking spray and lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350ºF for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pans and peeling off parchment paper. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Makes: 3, 8-inch cakes (9 cups of batter)

Whipped Vanilla Frosting

This recipe can be easily doubled or halved to suite the amount of frosting needed for your cake. I would do 1.5 recipes to frost and fill a 3 layer 8-inch cake (as above).

  • 1 cup (250g) butter, softened
  • 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a stand mixer, beat butter for 6 minutes, until pale and creamy. Add remaining ingredients and beat for an additional 6 minutes, until light and creamy.

If not using all of it right away beat by hand with a spatula, to remove any air bubbles, before using.

Cake adapted from Taste of Home. Frosting adapted from Donna Hay.

Mocha Chip Banana Bread

By in Breads, Chocolate, Christmas, Fall, Sweets, Valentine's 11 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Mocha Chip Banana Bread

This banana bread is much more reminiscent of a cake – with its rich chocolate flavour and deep undertones from the coffee. It”s almost guaranteed to win over even the harshest banana bread critic.

The deep chocolate look of this bread speaks romance to me. Although, the most romantic we got was to sit huddled up to the coffee table sipping milky chai tea and eating this moist, dark, chocolate, banana bread while watching Bones (admittedly not the best show to watch while you”re eating). That”s what romance is when you have a 7 month old and a 3-year-old at home. Any quiet moment to yourselves without being needed by someone else is considered a date! And, a good night sleep makes for marital bliss. :)

This is not the type of banana bread that you eat for breakfast. It”s much more reminiscent of a cake – with its rich chocolate flavour and deep undertones from the coffee. It doesn”t taste anything like a classic banana bread, which makes it a perfect way to use up those old bananas and serve them to people who are otherwise adverse towards baked bananas. I almost guarantee that if you call this Mocha Chocolate Chip Bread (or loaf cake) they will never guess. Not that you want to be sneaky… but sometimes it doesn”t hurt. :)

One note of advice: It”s important to sift cocoa powder, when using it in recipes, because there are always chunks in it that never quite mix into the batter. I don”t own a sifter, but a fine mesh sieve works just as well. Simply place it over your mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and stir to push through. Discard any hard pieces that don”t want to break up.

Do you make banana bread? What”s your favourite way to use up bananas before they go bad?

Mocha Chip Banana Bread

The key to a moist loaf is to not overbake. Ovens vary in temperature so start checking for doneness earlier then the suggested time.

  • 1.5 cups flour

  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder

  • 1.5 cups sugar

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 2 eggs

  • 2 medium bananas, mashed (1 cup)

  • 1/2 cup canola oil

  • 1/4 cup sour cream

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1 tablespoon hot milk

  • 2 tablespoons instant coffee

  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, bananas, oil,sour cream and vanilla. Dissolve instant coffee in hot milk. Stir into banana mixture.

Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture, just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased 9×5 loaf pan. Bake at 325ºF for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing.

Moist Vanilla Cake & A Birthday Surprise

By in Cakes, Sweets 49 Comments Tags: , ,

Berries and Lime Cake Banner

You know how that last thing you eat before you get sick gets a bad rap for the next couple of weeks, months or years? I’m afraid that, that was the fate of this poor cake.

Baby Me

My birthday was last weekend and my little family was sick through it’s entirety. It started with my son, who proceeded to spew chunks just as I was picking him up out of his highchair to comfort him. I have never seen so much vomit come out of a little person. It covered the entire left side of my face, got on my glasses, in my mouth and down the front of my shirt and pants. I’m pretty sure that sealed my fate right there, because the next day I was the same. This cake had the misfortune of being the last thing I ate before having it come right back up again.

Happy Birthday to me!

I decided to share it with you anyways, as it has gotten nothing but rave reviews from CakeCentral, where I picked up the recipe. Hopefully my story hasn’t ruined it for all of you. I’m sure it was good. I just, for the life of me, can’t remember it’s delight.

I cut the two cake layers in half and alternated them with a homemade Raspberry Lime Curd and Blackberry Lime Curd. I mounded on some Lime Spiked Whipped Cream, decorated it with fresh berries and called it a day. Can you tell I’m yearning for spring with that combination?

I used to do a lot of cake decorating but haven’t gotten the chance for a long while. I figured this wasn’t the time to go all out, it being my birthday and all. But, I missed it so much I needed an excuse to do something.

This cake is a truly moist cake. No fluffiness here. It has much the same crumb as my Favourite Moist Chocolate Cake. In fact, I have never had a vanilla cake that was so moist. This is the one fact I do recall! :)

Yes, I still eat this way.

I apologize that I was not able to get the Colorful Mondays post up for this week. I’m planning on posting it next Monday (March 15th). If you have any black food photos that haven’t been submitted yet, feel free to submit them by Sunday the 14th.

I also want to thank everyone for their votes for my Foodista Cookbook entries (links on top right). My Favourite Moist Chocolate Cake recipe is the top rated recipe so far. Thanks to all of you! (Voting is open until the end of March.)

Well, I guess that about sums things up for now. If you give this recipe a try make sure to comment back and give your honest opinion so we know what this cake is really like. ;)

Moist Vanilla Cake

adapted from CakeCentral

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 egg yolks, room temp.
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk, room temp.
  • 3 tsp. vanilla
  • 6 egg whites, room temp.
  1. Grease two round 8 or 9 inch pans.
  2. Cream butter and sugar (it will be crumbly). Add egg yolks, one at a time and mix well.
  3. Combine flour and baking soda in a separate bowl. Add alternately with buttermilk to butter/sugar mixture, in three additions, starting and ending with flour.
  4. Mix in vanilla.
  5. In a separate bowl whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 egg whites into batter to loosen. Fold in remaining egg whites gently until no white streaks remain.
  6. Poor into prepared pans and bake at 350ºF for 25-30 min or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  7. Cool 10 min. before removing to a cooling wrack.

* When I make layered cakes I cut out circles of parchment or waxed paper to fit the bottom of the pan, then I grease the pan before I put them in and again once they are in place. Poor the batter on top and bake. To remove, loosen the edges of the cake with a knife and flip onto cooling wrack. Peel off waxed paper immediately. Allow to cool completely before layering or decorating.

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Favourite Moist Chocolate Cake

By in Cakes, Chocolate, Mothers Day, Sweets 119 Comments Tags: , , ,

Moist Chocolate Cake

When I was in high school my sister-in-law and I decided to make a cake as a surprise for my mom’s birthday. We successful snuck her trusty mixer out of the house to the church next door, giddy with excitement that we were going to pull off such a wonderful surprise. We got to work, with me manning the mixer and feeling ultra important. I was doing so well and everything was going swimmingly. I left the mixer for a moment and continued on my merry way to complete the other important tasks in front of me. Suddenly we were startled by a grinding, gargling sound as the mixer gasped for air. We rushed to it’s aid and discovered that I had left the spatula in the bowl and it had gotten tangled in the beaters. We tried to free it from it’s agonizing pain, but it was too late. The motor had burnt out. It had died a painful and tragic death. We hung our heads and carried the lifeless mixer back to the house. Happy Birthday Mom! Surprise?

Thankfully I have an understanding Mom who likes to laugh in the face of adversity (in this case probably to keep from crying). Since then I have become a much better cook and hopefully a little wiser. I have made many a cake with no ones mixer being the worse for it. Including this one. I actually like to mix this cake by hand because it is so easy to whip up and only dirties one bowl. I have made this cake on numerous occasions and it is a definite favourite. It is chocolatey, moist, and delicious. It goes with numerous amounts of fillings and variations. The cake pictured above was for my son’s 1st birthday back in June. I froze it, along with it’s filling of Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse and topped it with Ganache. Which made for an icy delight. The one below is simply filled with a Coconut Creme Filling. But, this is one cake that I can eat completely on it’s own with no added icings or fillings. Not too sweet and just perfect!

Black Coconut Cake 22

Moist Chocolate Cake

adapted from TasteofHome

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 3/4 cup baking cocoa
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1 cup brewed coffee
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  1. Sift together dry ingredients. Add oil, coffee and milk. Whisk until combined. Add eggs and vanilla. Whisk until well incorperated (about 2 min.). It will be quite runny.
  2. Grease and flour 2- 9 inch round pans. Pour the batter into the pans and bake at 325ºF for 25-30 min until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  3. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 min. before removing to cool completely.

Serves: 12

* Because this cake is so moist it does not hold up well in a pan larger then 9 inches. This includes a 9×13 pan. The cake is too dense to hold up to it’s own weight and will sink in the middle.

* If you want to make this in 2- 8 inch pans pour the extra batter into 6 muffin cups and bake off. The cupcakes will probably take about 20 min. So, keep a close eye on them.

* I often make a cup of strong instant coffee for this recipe.

* Instead of greasing and flouring pans I always grease the bottom and cut a circle of parchment to fit. This makes for easy removal. When you flip the cake out, remove the parchment immediately.

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Update! Upon popluar demand here are the recipes for the fillings and ganache:

Frozen Strawberry Cheesecake Mousse
  • 1/2 package (4oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup pureed strawberries
  • 3/4 cup cold heavy cream
  1. Whisk together the cream cheese and sugar until completely smooth. Mix in the pureed strawberries.
  2. Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold into the strawberry cream cheese mixture.
  3. Line a 9 inch round pan (the same size you used for the cakes) with plastic wrap and pour the mousse inside. Freeze until solid.
Ganache
  • 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  1. Bring cream to a boil over medium heat.
  2. Poor over chocolate. Let sit for a moment then stir until smooth.
  3. Let cool to room temp.
To Assemble:
  1. Remove mousse from freezer and unwrap.
  2. Place one cake layer on serving platter. Position frozen mousse in the centre and top with remaining cake layer.
  3. Allow to thaw for 30 min, or so.
  4. Meanwhile drizzle with ganache and garnish with fresh strawberries.

Print Frozen Strawberry Mousse Cake Recipe

Coconut Creme Filling

adapted from allrecipes

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk
  • 20 large marshmallows
  • 14 ounces flaked coconut
  1. Cook the sugar, butter and evap. milk in saucepan for 10 min.
  2. Stir in the marshmallows until melted.
  3. Stir in coconut. (I didn’t use the full amount of coconut)

Print Coconut Creme Cake Recipe

Max