My baking motivations come from a myriad of different sources. Sometimes I’ve had a recipe bookmarked for months… sometimes I see something on Pinterest that I want to make immediately… sometimes something in a magazine makes a light bulb go off… and sometimes I have grandparents coming over for lunch and four way, way overripe bananas sitting on my counter. Thus, banana cake!

In an effort to put together a casual dessert for lunch with my grandparents and also use up my quickly-going-bad bananas, I though that an easy snack-style cake would be a great choice. I typically turn to banana bread when I need to put browning bananas to good use, and was looking forward to having another easy banana baked good in my rotation for such occasions.

This cake turned out exactly how I’d hoped; it’s easy to make, comes together quickly, incredibly moist and, most importantly, delicious. Originally, I wasn’t going to include a frosting, but I just couldn’t help myself. I love frosting, especially cream cheese frosting. If you’re a fellow frosting lover, I think you’ll find this to be amazing. My mom, my grandpap and I all gave it a big two thumbs up. If you’re a little more ambivalent about frosting, you might consider scaling it back; both my grandma and Chief Culinary Consultant thought the frosting could have maybe been halved. (What!? Who are these people?! How are they related to me?!)

Do you have a favorite recipe you turn to when there is a plethora of browning bananas on your counter?

BANANA SNACK CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

yield: About 12 servings

 

prep time: 45 minutes

 

cook time: 30 minutes

 

total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

An easy recipe for Banana Cake, covered in cream cheese frosting.

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
Pinch salt
4 cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.

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

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until completely combined. Add both eggs and beat to combine, then add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing until combined. Use a rubber spatula to give the batter one last mix, then pour into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Make the Cream Cheese Frosting: With an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter and salt on medium speed. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until it has all been combined. Add the vanilla extract, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy.

6. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake, cut into squares and serve. Leftovers should be covered with plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container and kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

I don’t know about you, but I find any trip to The Cheesecake Factory to be completely and utterly overwhelming. Their food is delicious, but the length of their menu never ceases to both amaze and befuddle me. Even though I’ve eaten there countless times, I always spend copious amounts of time poring over each and every item while my stomach grumbles, begging me to make a quick decision. (Have I mentioned how indecisive I can be at times? It’s awful!) The real test comes after the meal, when you’re confronted with the cheesecake menu. I should make it my business to try each and every piece on that list. Not a bad hobby, right? For a long time Oreo reigned supreme for me, then I tried some different varieties which I wasn’t too fond of, and now the Snickers cheesecake is my current favorite. My Chief Culinary Consultant has an old standby favorite as well – the red velvet cheesecake. It is a four-layered dessert, with two layers each of red velvet cake and creamy cheesecake, all covered in cream cheese icing. It’s decadent, drool-worthy, and delicious. And I was totally determined to recreate that baby at home. What better time than in preparation for Valentine’s Day?

Not only am I getting ready for Valentine’s Day, but today is my Chief Culinary Consultant’s birthday! So it seems fitting that I share his favorite cheesecake selection with you on his birthday    (If you’re wondering what his all-time favorite BEB dessert is, it’s the Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte, and we spent last weekend indulging!)

Now on to the cheesecake… this really isn’t terribly difficult, just a little time consuming. It helps to spread the work out over a couple of days, and then it’s easy breezy. I started with a very basic cheesecake recipe (no crust) – baked that and got it into the fridge. Then I went ahead and doubled the recipe for my Red Velvet Cupcakes and used the batter to make two 9-inch cake rounds. To assemble, you’ll need to slice the cheesecake in half horizontally to create two layers, which you can do with a very sturdy hand and long serrated knife, or you can use a cake leveler (they’re super cheap and so easy to use – great for evening off any domed tops of cakes too). Then stack the four layers on top of one another, alternating red velvet cake and cheesecake, and then frost the whole thing with cream cheese icing. Absolutely divine!

Do you have a favorite type of cheesecake?

RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

yield: 12 servings

 

prep time: 1 hour (active) + 8 hours (inactive)

 

cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes

 

total time: 12 hours

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cheesecake:
32 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1¼ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Red Velvet Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons red food coloring (liquid)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and then tightly wrap the outside with heavy duty foil. (I find that double-wrapping helps prevent leaks in a water bath.) Put a pot of water (or a tea kettle) on to boil.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar at medium speed until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute or so after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract, and beat until completely incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the springform pan; place the springform pan into a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and pour the boiling water into the larger pan until the water comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan.

4. Bake until the cheesecake edges are set but the middle still jiggles a bit, about 45 to 55 minutes. Turn the oven off, but leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door closed for 1 hour. At this point, remove the cheesecake from the water bath and place the springform pan on a cooling rack to cool to room temperature. Place the cheesecake in the refrigerator until well-chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

5. Make the Red Velvet Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with a parchment round, butter the parchment paper, and then flour the pans.

6. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the eggs one at a time, mixing for about a minute after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

7. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.

8. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining buttermilk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

9. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.

10. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cakes from the pans and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely.

11. Make the Frosting: Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

12. Assemble the Cheesecake: If needed, level the tops of the red velvet cake layers with a serrated knife or cake leveler so that the tops are level and not domed. Next, slice the cheesecake in half horizontally to create two layers. Place one layer of the red velvet cake on your serving plate. Spread a very thin layer of the cream cheese frosting over it (it creates a type of glue so that the layers stick together and don't slide around). Top that with one layer of the cheesecake, and again top with a very thin layer of frosting. Repeat, adding the second red velvet layer, and then placing the second cheesecake layer on top, with a layer of frosting between them. Using the remaining frosting, cover the cake in frosting and decorate as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve, and refrigerate any leftovers.

One last recipe before Easter, and I felt like a light, fresh, spring-themed dessert was in order. The strawberries here have been gorgeous the last week or so; they’re ruby-red, plump, and amazingly sweet. It seemed a shame to not use them in some way this weekend when thinking up dessert ideas. When I was a kid, my favorite thing to eat during the summer was angel food cake. Yes, you could feed me chocolate and peanut butter all year round, but once the seasons changed so too did my taste buds. When it was time to spend my days sloshing down a slip n’ slide and my evenings barefoot in the cool grass catching lightning bugs, it was time for angel food cake. My grandma always had an angel food cake on hand for dessert on Sundays during the summer. I loved getting a huge piece, topped with sliced strawberries, and a massive mound of whipped cream. Nothing could beat it on a warm summer day. This dessert is a riff on the classic angel food cake, strawberries, and whipped cream dessert. While it makes a beautiful presentation, it’s also very easy to make and not very time-consuming. That’s the best kind of dessert there is, right?!

Angel food cakes can sometimes be intimidating due to using a tube pan, precise cooling methods, unmolding, etc. This recipe takes all of the guesswork out of that by baking a thin angel food cake in a jelly roll pan. The bonus is that it only takes about 15 minutes to bake and cools relatively quickly. Believe it or not, this was my first time making a rolled cake. Now that I know how easy it is, I can’t wait to try all sorts of new combinations!

I made the filling by folding a ton of chopped fresh strawberries into sweetened whipped cream. This filling is unbelievably delicious. So light and naturally sweet. I ate spoonful after spoonful before I even got it onto the cake. It would certainly make for a perfect summertime treat to keep on hand anytime, whether you have a cake to fill or not.

The combination of the light and spongy angel food cake with a strawberries and cream topping rolled right inside is fabulous. It tastes fresh, doesn’t weigh you down, and is everything wonderful about the fruits of spring. I think it would be a fabulous way to top off your Easter menu – it provides nice balance at the end of a sometimes heavy meal.

What are you planning to make for dessert on Sunday?

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM ANGEL FOOD CAKE ROLL

yield: 10 servings

 

prep time: 15 minutes

 

cook time: 15 minutes

 

total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:
9 egg whites
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
¾ cup cake flour
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

For the Filling:
2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups diced strawberries

Powdered sugar, for dusting top of cake (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, line a 15x10-inch baking pan with waxed paper; lightly coat paper with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

3. Add vanilla and cream of tartar to egg whites; beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, on high until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Fold in flour, ¼ cup at a time.

4. Carefully spread batter into prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 5 minutes.

5. Dust a clean kitchen towel with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar. Turn the cake out onto the kitchen towel. Gently peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake in the towel jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack.

4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; increase the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold in the strawberries. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

5. Unroll cooled cake; spread filling to within ½-inch of edges (you will have some filling leftover). Roll up again. Place seam side down on a serving plate; sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Serve with any leftover strawberries and cream filling. Store leftovers, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator.