For the Recipes to Rival recipe, please check the previous post.

If you’re here for some chocolate brownies and espresso cheesecake, kick  back and set a spell.  This week, Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell chose Espresso Cheesecake Brownies, pages 104 and 105 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.  A dense brownie layer, covered with espresso cheesecake and the whole thing topped with a sour cream frosting.  This sounded amazing, but it definitely ended up with mixed reviews.

I tweaked the recipe in two ways; one was successful and the other was not.  First, I added walnuts to the brownie layer, a must at my house.  I know there are nut haters out there, but they do not reside at Chez Chow.  That adaptation was a success.  Next, I used semisweet chocolate instead of bittersweet for the brownies, and that did NOT work – just too sweet with the cheesecake layer, even though I cut back on the sugar to account for the adaptation.  And I didn’t much care for the sour cream topping.

All that being said, I think I would make this recipe again for company, with bittersweet chocolate, as written, but still keep the walnuts.  It would make for a very elegant little dessert with some espresso coffee.

And if you’re wondering what the Classic Banana Bundt Cake, chosen by the Food Librarian (you can find the original recipe there) a few weeks ago, is doing here, I finally had a chance to make it between all my flying about.  I mean, considering the rave reviews it received, how could I NOT make it?  Plus the fact that I am a bundt cake/pan fanatic who looks for every opportunity to make one.  Following Caitlin’s lead, I substituted rice bran oil for the TWO STICKS OF BUTTER in the original recipe.  And I nixed the icing because I thought it wouldn’t be needed.  The result? . . . .

DING! DING! DING! We have another Dorie winner!  My husband LOVED this cake.  In his words, “this is what banana bread is supposed to taste like, but never does.”  Really, what better compliment is there?  My adaptations to the Classic Banana Bundt Cake recipe after the jump.  And be sure to check out the TWD blogroll to see what results other bakers achieved with the brownies.
continue reading "TWD -Brownies and Banana Cakes; R2R and Risotto"

Banana Cream Pie.  BANANA CREAM PIE.  Just the name sounds wonderful, and I have wanted to make this for more years than I can remember.  This week, thanks to Amy of Sing for Your Supper, I finally made it!  Check out her blog for the recipe.

In the spirit of frugality and in the interest of cleaning out my freezer, I pulled out a blob of dough that represented the remains of several Dorie pie crusts.  Folks, you just CANNOT throw out scraps when they contain so much butter.  Now, re-rolling the crust so many times does make for a tough pastry, but it still tastes oh-so-good.  I couldn’t find my mini-tart pans, so I ended up with something that wouldn’t quite fill a 9-inch pie plate.  In the oven, it flattened out into a pancake.

But I would not be thwarted!  No!  I piled everything on top of said pancake – bananas, pastry cream, bananas, and whipped cream.  The verdict?

Well . . . mixed.  At first, I didn’t like the pastry cream very much.  Why?  I could taste the corn starch.  Blech.  I did like the depth of flavor that the nutmeg and brown sugar added to the dessert, but I really disliked the cinnamon.  After I put the dessert together, everything tasted a lot better – the components work better in concert than individually.

I would make this again, but I’d eliminate the cinnamon and use a whole vanilla bean while boiling the milk to intensify that flavor.  Master Chow felt the same way, and we both agreed that our favorite elements were the bananas, crust, and whipped cream.  To see what other bakers made, check out the  TWD blogroll.  Recipe after the jump.
continue reading "TWD – Part 2 – Banana Cream Pie!"

The price of bananas around here has skyrocketed. Last year at this time, they were 39 cents a pound. Now, I’m lucky if I find them for 59 cents a pound. So, imagine my delight when I found them at our local Costco a couple weeks ago for 39 cents a pound. The bananas came in huge bunches, so I knew that I would have some left over to make some lovely, banana-y baked good. In case you haven’t noticed, I love to find an excuse to bake.

For inspiration, I turned to a book full of “food porn,” if you pardon the expression. By that I mean one of those cookbooks that’s a delight to hold and read because of the care that went into the layout, the food staging, and the photos. The kind of book that makes you itch to bake just about everything in it. This time, the book was Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth, by Jill O’Connor. The recipe? Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake. Yowza!

I am not a big fan of layer cakes, but I do love a good pound cake or bundt cake, and this one did not disappoint. Master Chow and I both thought that this cake was fantastic without the glaze – moist, fragrant, flavorful, with a hint of rum that did not overwhelm the banana, and a sweet crust around the nuts.

Fearing for my waistline, I dispatched him to his place of employment bearing about 2/3 of the cake. I wasn’t sure his co-workers would like it, as Master Chow and I both thought that the glaze was a bit too much. Master Chow later informed me that the cake was devoured in record time, with requests for the recipe, which just goes to show you what I know. This cake is a winner.

Cooking tip: I recommend placing your cake pan on two baking sheets to prevent over-browning of the cake, especially if the interior of your pan is dark.

More after the jump . . . .
continue reading "Banana-Rum Sin on a Plate. Oy."