Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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We have a busy Sunday so I made an early dinner and this Banana Cake for dessert.  This cake is moist and delicious and the homemade frosting is the “icing on the cake”!!

Banana Cake

2 eggs

2/14 cups flour (all purpose)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup mashed bananas

3/4 cup milk mixed with 1 TBSP. lemon juice

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil (I used coconut oil)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Grease well a 13×9 cake pan or 2 round pans. Preheat oven to 350

Let eggs sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl stir the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.  Add the bananas, milk/lemon juice, oil and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer until combined.

Add eggs and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Pour into the pan.

Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes (checking after 25 minutes or so for doneness by inserting a tooth pick in the center and if it comes out clean it’s done).

Remove and let cool.

Frost with homemade Cream Cheese Frosting!  This cake deserves the homemade instead of store bought because it’s so good!!

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz brick cream cheese softened

1/2 cup butter

2 TBSP. vanilla extract

5 1/2 – 6 cups sifted powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the powdered sugar until it’s spreadable and smooth.

**This makes a large container of frosting which you can store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  Or cut the recipe in half for the perfect amount for this cake**

 

Super Simple Smores Bars

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These are ridiculously easy and so absolutely delicious!  The graham crackers blend perfectly with the chocolate and marshmallows and the brown sugar is almost like a carmel.  Top that with the butter and it is the perfect combination.

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You mix everything together in 1 bowl

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Add the melted butter and break up the graham crackers a bit more while stirring to combine all

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Spread in a well greased (or sprayed) pan and press slightly

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Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes until all is browned and the brown sugar is bubbly

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Let cool or eat warm and enjoy the buttery chocolate gooiness.

After cooled they cut perfectly into bars to store in an air tight container!

Smores Bars

3 cups crushed graham crackers (these do not have to be finely crushed but broken into small pieces)

3 cups miniature marshmallows

3 cups chocolate chips (or you can use half white or butterscotch as well)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup melted butter

Mix all in a bowl making sure graham crackers are broken up

Spread in a 13X9 greased cake pan

Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until the marshmallows and top is slightly browned

Cool and cut into bars. Store in an air tight container

**TIP** you can make these in a 9×9 rectangle pan and they will be thicker

Magic Cake

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Pieces set up to sell at the bake sale 

A magic cake is a cake that separates into 3 layers while it bakes.  I have never made a magic cake and decided on a whim to make it for our school bake sale.  I made it the night before and it was set up to sell before I even had a taste of it.  I was told by someone who purchased a piece that it was fabulous!!  Rich and creamy custard in the middle with a nice light layer of cake on top and bottom.  It sold out in about 20 minutes!!

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This was a very easy cake to make.  I used my hand mixer for the egg whites and the stand mixer for the rest.  Very few ingredients as well.

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Separate the eggs and bring to room temperature by letting sit our for 1/2 hour (notice how yellow/orange the yolks are, that is because these are farm fresh eggs from our chickens who are fed greens, corn, vegetables, and crumble to keep them healthy and producing the freshest eggs).

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Beat the egg whites until stiff (this takes a few minutes on high speed)

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Next mix the eggs and sugar until light in color and smooth and then add the melted butter and vanilla mixing well (about 2 minutes)

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Add the flour slowly 1/4 cup at a time and scrape sides.  Slowly add in the lukewarm milk on medium speed and scrape sides and bottom again to ensure all is mixed well.  The batter should be runny and thin.

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Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula and use a whisk gently to break up some of the lumps.  It should look like the second picture by the time you are finished.

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Pour into a very well greased and floured 8×8 pan or use parchment paper as I did.  Bake at 325 degrees until the top is a light brown.  In my oven it took 40 minutes.  *The middle may still appear liquidy but that is ok it will harden.  You want the entire top just lightly browned as in the picture.

Let cool a bit.  Store in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 4 hours so the custard cools and sets up.

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The magic happens and you get a 3 layer cake with very little effort and a great custard filling!!

Needless to say…I will be making one this week for our family as the kids really wanted to try it.  There are variations all over the internet on how to make this and also other flavors.  I actually used a few different websites so will post exactly how I made ours below:

4 egg separated and brought to room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter (one stick)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour (I used a 1/4 cup measuring each into the bowl while mixing separately 3 times)

2 cups lukewarm milk (I microwaved mine for about 30 seconds and stirred it before adding)

Powdered sugar for dusting before serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8×8 square pan or line with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside

Beat the yolks and sugar until light and well mixed on medium speed.  Add the butter and vanilla mixing another 2 minutes and then add the flour and mix well.

Slowly pour in the lukewarm milk while mixing.  If need be scrape the sides and bottom to make sure everything is mixed well and let beat approximately 1 minute.

Add the egg whites by spatula folding gently in using about 2 batches.  Use a whisk gently to break up the lumps in the batter.

Pour into the pan and let bake until the top is lightly browned (approximately 40 minutes).

Cool completely and chill.  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Oatmeal Cookie Bars

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This is a recipe from Buns in My Oven.  This is a great blog so take a minute to stop by and enjoy all her wonderful posts!!

This is her Oatmeal Cookie Bars recipe.  It was super simple to make.

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You assemble all the ingredients into your mixing bowl (except for the chocolate chips).

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Mix just until combined.

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Add the chocolate chips.  I actually used chocolate and butterscotch chips.

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Spread in a greased cake pan (13X9) and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

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Cut into bars and sample one before bagging them to use for the kids lunch desserts for the week!!

This is a wonderful recipe, super easy and the bars are delicious.  You can find her recipe on her blog page here:

Buns in my Oven Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Strawberry Filled Vanilla Cake

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Today the boy of the house had a hockey game.  The tween queen decided to skip it as she was tired.  She was bored and decided to bake this wonderful cake.  This is her first filled cake she made as a surprise for us all.  I wondered why she kept calling to see when we would be home.

It was a real treat and “proud mommy moment” coming home and seeing the smile and pride on her face knowing she made this all from scratch and cleaned up the kitchen so not ONE dish was in the sink!  She could not wait for us to try it.

It is a nice light and moist cake.

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You can find the links she used to create this beauty on my facebook page here:  Strawberry Filled Vanilla Cake

Snow Ice Cream

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A big thank you to Jill at The Prairie Homestead for sharing this wonderful recipe (Snow Ice Cream).  We finally had a chance to make it tonight and it was a huge hit.

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The kids happily collected fresh snow that was coming down

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We used the 8 cups the recipe called for.  You can cut this in half as it was more than enough for a family of 4

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Next we measured and mixed the remaining ingredients (1 cup of cream, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 cup maple syrup).  We added an extra 1/4 cup of syrup and it was just perfect for a nice after dinner dessert.(we used store bought as we are out of our homemade syrup)

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We whisked it into the snow mixing a bit longer to make it creamy and smooth.  YUM

Now we have 2 awesome recipes (Molasses on Snow Candy) that we can make on those snowy nights!