Italian Cream Pancakes

I know I haven't posted in a while...I've been super busy with school work (junior year is killing me), but now it's FINALLY time for Spring Break! I will try my best to post at least one recipe each day because there are so many recipes I've been meaning to post and I know I am super behind. For my first post in a while, I have decided to present to you these incredible, sweet, nutty pancakes topped with a decadent cream cheese glaze. 

Yes, they are just as delicious as they sound. I promise.

If you've never tasted Italian Cream Cake, then you totally need to. Like...immediately. Sooo..you can start with this breakfast recipe! These pancakes seriously taste just like Italian Cream Cake, only hot and in heavenly pancake form, with warm glaze oozing all over them. Coconut, cream cheese frosting, and pecans are the most perfect combination perhaps in the entire world, and they taste scrumptious in this recipe.  Not to mention, [ toasting ] the pecans give the pancakes a wonderful nutty-ness that tastes so warm and comforting.

There were no leftovers when I made these for my family, and I'm sure the same thing will happen for you.

You can find this decadent recipe here. 

Sweet Potato Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Woah now.  Sweet potato cake?  There's sweet potato pie...and pumpkin cake...and potato bread...and sweet potato casserole...but sweet potato cake?  Yeah okay so it sounds a little strange at first, but it's really not all that weird when you think about it.  Sweet potatoes are super similar to pumpkin, and there's pumpkin cake, so why not have a sweet potato cake?  At least this is what I was thinking before I made this magnificently scrumptious masterpiece.  I brought this to school for a party, and all my friends - and the teachers - raved about it. It is SO amazing.  The secret ingredient in this recipe is the beer.  I don't know the scientific reason for it, but beer makes baked goods so incredibly moist and have the softest texture.  Oh and I haven't even started on this cream cheese frosting.  It's like heaven in your mouth.  Beating it for 3 minutes makes it fluffy and it melts in your mouth.  And the cinnamon flavor mixed with the sweet potato flavor makes the whole dish just scream fall.  And with fall comes Thanksgiving(:  This cake may just be on our Thanksgiving table this year...

Yield: 1 9x13 inch pan

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch of nutmeg

Directions
1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking dish.

2.Stir together the sugar and vegetable oil in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and sweet potatoes. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a separate bowl; stir into the batter 1 cup at a time, alternating with the beer just until everything comes together. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

3.Bake for 30-35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting (optional) or serving.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cream Cheese Frosting: 

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Instructions

1 With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2 Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Oh my word, these were so scrumptious.  I brought these yummies to a cook out - attended by a bunch of hungry runners - and they disappeared before I had a chance to blink.  One runner said (and I quote!) "that may have been the best cupcake I've ever had."  The chocolate cupcakes themselves have the perfect amount of cocoa, are moist, fluffy, and aren't too sweet...allowing you to taste the chocolate more.  The frosting is definitely the BEST buttercream frosting I've ever had.  I have never used heavy cream in frosting before, and now I'll never stop!  Heavy cream makes the frosting so incredibly fluffy and melts in your mouth.  Using shortening in the frosting also gives it an amazing consistency; Not too runny, not too dense.  I don't think there's anything that compliments buttercream frosing better than rich, chocolate cupcakes. This recipe is truly perfection.

Yield: about 12 cupcakes

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one medium cupcake pan or line with paper liners.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared muffin pan (batter should be just below the rim, for large cupcakes. For medium cupcakes, pour batter 2/3 to 3/4 full) and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 15 minutes.
4. After 15 minutes, carefully remove cupcakes from pan, place on wire rack, and allow to cool completely.  Frost generously with Buttercream Frosting (recipe below).

For the Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and butter until fluffy. Add sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and 6 ounces whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional 2 ounces whipping cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy, at least 5 minutes.  Frost cooled cupcakes.  

You will have some frosting left over (I had about a cup)...so you can either use it for another recipe or eat it by the spoonful...your choice(;

Glazed Spice-Cake Donut Muffins

I love spice cake.  I love donuts.  I love muffins.  Why not combine them all?  This recipe does not result in your typical Krispy Kreme, fried donut...although the glaze is quite similar.  The texture is more of a cake donut consistency, with a wonderful, spiced flavor.  They are the perfect thing to have in the morning with a warm, cup of coffee...so comforting, and very suitable for dunking.  They also keep well for a couple days (for best taste, no more than three), and who doesn't love leftovers? Another thing I love about this recipe is that there are so many options on how to prepare the batter.  You can bake them: into mini muffins (just reduce baking time), on parchment paper or greased baking sheet to create muffin top cookies, into one, large pan to create a snack cake/quick bread, in a donut pan, and/or you can frost them with cream cheese icing.  However, I absolutely adore this recipe the way it is - no alterations necessary.  

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the Glaze:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup confectioners' sugar; sifted

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, and butter in a separate medium bowl until just combined, and stir into the dry ingredients. Do NOT over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, about 3/4 of the way full.
3. Bake 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.  Let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.
4. For glaze, combine melted butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and hot water in a medium bowl.  Whisk until smooth.  When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

I love coffee cake.  In my opinion, there's nothing better than waking up in the morning to a hot cup of coffee and some sweet coffee cake on the side.  This coffee cake is super moist, light, and has just the right amount of sweetness.  I love the combination of raspberries, vanilla, and almonds.  If you're a big almond fan, I recommend using half almond extract, half vanilla extract.  The almond extract really compliments the sliced almonds on top of the cake.  Another thing I love about this coffee cake is how pretty it looks!  There is a beautiful, pink, raspberry swirl running all through the cake, and the top is garnished with sliced almonds and sweet drizzle of icing.  There is so much delicious flavor going on in this cake.  You can serve it warm with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream, and/or you can serve it at room temperature.  In my opinion, I liked it best at room temperature the next day - or even the second or third day - because it gets moister over time.  I'm not sure how it tastes after the third day because it never lasted that long in my house.


Yield: an 8-inch round cake (about 8-10 servings)
***recipe doubles well in a 9-inch pan

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or half vanilla, half almond extract...your choice)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
•  
• 1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray an 8 inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Combine raspberries and brown sugar in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine sour cream, butter or margarine, 1 teaspoon vanilla (or half a teaspoon almond, half vanilla...if using), and egg, and add to flour mixture. Stir just until moist. Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Drain raspberry mixture, and spread it evenly over the batter. Spoon remaining batter over raspberry mixture (It's okay if the filling doesn't completely cover the top). Top with almonds.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
5. Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Stir well. Drizzle glaze over cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Red Velvet Cookies

I was looking for a way to use up some cream cheese in my fridge, and I stumbled upon a red velvet cookie recipe in my recipe box.  It was love at first sight.  Who can resist a fluffy, chocolatey, moist red velvet cake cookie? The consistency of the "cookie" is the perfect balance of red velvet cake moist-ness but the thicker texture of a soft cookie. The cookie itself is amazing, but it's not a true "Red Velvet Cookie" without the cream cheese frosting (it would simply be a red, fluffy, chocolate cookie).  This frosting is what really makes these cookies out of this world.  Maybe I just hadn't had cream cheese frosting in a while, but it's absolutely divine.  I'm not even embarrassed to say that I was eating it by the spoonful.  I like my cream cheese frosting not very thick - more like a glaze -, so that you can taste more cream cheesey-ness than powdered sugar.  If you like frosting really thick and stiff with powdered sugar, then feel free to add as much as you want...I just prefer less.  Anyways...back to the cookies.   They are seriously everything you love about red velvet cake, but in cookie form.  Hold up - I take that back, because I've never had a slice of red velvet cake that's nearly as delicious as these cookies.  I had some warm from the oven with the cream cheese frosting oozing off, and also at room temperature the following day (the cream cheese frosting firms up perfectly the next day).  Both incredible...heavenly...to-die-for delicious.  My dad nearly fell to the ground on his first bite.

Yield: about 36 small cookies

  

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I used semisweet, but other flavors are fine)
•  
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted, or as needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) with the rack in the middle position. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. Break the chocolate squares into chunks, place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on High until the chocolate melts, about 90 seconds. Stir the chocolate until smooth and set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light and fluffy; pour in the egg and beat until smooth. Mix in the red food coloring and chocolate, scraping the bowl down regularly, until evenly blended, about 30 seconds. Add half of the sifted dry ingredients, stirring until well incorporated. Beat in the sour cream and mix in the remaining dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.
4. Bake one sheet at a time in the preheated oven until they spring back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost completely clean, about 9 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
5. For the cream cheese frosting, whip 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth. Blend in the powdered sugar in half cup portions until the frosting reaches the desired consistency.  If you want to eat the cookies when cooled, then wait to frost them until the cookie has completely cooled.  If you just can't resist waiting for them to cool and decide to eat them when warm (which I highly recommend because the chocolate chips are all melty and delicious), then slather the cream cheese frosting on them and dig in(:  Just a warning: the cream cheese frosting may ooze a bit on the warm cookies, but that just makes them so much more irresistible.

***you can also make a cookie sandwich with them if you want.

Dutch Baby

For those of you poor souls who don't know what a dutch baby is (also called a German Pancake), it results from pancake batter being poured into a sizzling butter-filled cast iron skillet, and bakes into a wonderful breakfast treat.  Don't ask me why it's called a "Dutch Baby"...because I honestly have no idea.  If I was to give it a name myself, I would name it "Heavenly Pancake Puff." I've been making this recipe for as long as I can remember, and I have no idea why I didn't post it sooner. I've grown up making this delightful pancake. It's slightly more eggy than your usual pancake...but totally not in a gross way.  It's also very light; I could probably roll the entire thing up and eat it myself.  Since eggs make foods puff up, they cause the sides of this pancake to rise high above the edges of the pan, creating a light, puffy, slightly crispy crust with a moist, tender, eggy middle.  The staple topping that makes this pancake so unique is lemon juice.  It sounds weird at first, but the flavors are perfect together and I can't imagine eating a dutch baby without it (just like you wouldn't eat a normal pancake without maple syrup).  I absolutely love watching this baby puff up in the oven!  It does make me sad to watch it deflate once you take it out, though...but then I take a bite and the incredibly delicious taste makes me [happy] again(:

Yield: about 2-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt (these have a better taste than table salt)
• 1/2 cup milk (preferably not skim...for best taste), room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Garnish: Lemon juice, powdered sugar, cinnamon
• ***jams, syrups, and fruit are also delicious toppings, but the 3 listed above are the most common (and in my opinion, most delicious) toppings for traditional Dutch Babies.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into a 10-inch cast iron skillet and place in the oven. Set the remaining tablespoon of melted butter aside to cool slightly. Wait 10 minutes before assembling the other ingredients.  If butter in the skillet is boiling pretty hard within these 10 minutes, remove it from the oven.  Lightly boiling is fine.

Place the flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, vanilla and remaining tablespoon of melted butter into the bowl of a food processor or blender and process for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of a blender with a rubber scraper, if necessary.  Remove the skillet from the oven (watch out because it's very HOT so use an oven mitt!). Carefully pour the batter into the preheated skillet. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until the edges are puffed and brown. Do not open the oven or else the Dutch Baby may fall. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, and use a thin spatula to gently coax the pancake onto a large plate. It may fall slightly once removed from the heat, which is totally normal. To serve, cut into wedges and sprinkle with desired toppings. 

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Ohhh these were so, so yummy.  I seriously lost count of how many I ate within a few hours of making them. I took these to my friends lake house, and everyone gobbled them up even when we were stuffed from dinner.  The cookies themselves are super soft and fluffy and seem just like muffin tops.  They taste like a spice cake with a touch of apple....very comforting and delicious.  Then you get the wonderful, rich, decadent, smooth, dreamy, melt-in-your-mouth, caramel frosting.  The frosting definitely takes these cookies to the next level.  It's like you're biting into a heavenly cloud of perfect deliciousness.   I first spotted these cookies a few weeks ago on Pinterest, and had been dying to make them but we never had heavy cream in the house.  So when we finally did have heavy cream, I knew their time had come.


Recipe credit to Chef In Training.

Cinnamon Raisin Glazed Biscuits

With the glaze....

My stomach is growling just thinking about these wonderful biscuits.  I made these a few days ago - without the cinnamon and glaze - and I was going to post them but I wanted to take them to the next level.  Both versions of these biscuits are absolutely perfect.  They're buttery, sweet, soft, fluffy, moist, full of juicy raisins and laced with a delicious cinnamon swirl.  The icing just takes them >above and beyond<.  If you prefer a less sweet biscuit, then you can omit the glaze...but if you're like me and have a major sweet tooth, then I definitely recommend it.  Also, if you're not a fan of cinnamon (I've never met anyone who isn't a fan of cinnamon, but who knows...), then feel free to omit that as well.  These biscuits without the glaze and cinnamon are more of a buttery, lightly sweet, tea biscuit, but are still incredible.  They taste best warm from the oven, but are still awesome at room temperature the next day.  Both versions are great for breakfast, dessert, or a snack.

Yield: 8 large biscuits

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raisins

• 1 cup hot water

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons white sugar (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk, or as needed

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

desired amount of cinnamon (I used about 1/4 teaspoon)

Directions:

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Soak raisins in water for 10 minutes; drain, pat dry, and set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a knife or pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir milk into the flour mixture until just moistened. Add the drained raisins. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the dough, and fold in or swirl through with a knife until just blended (this does not need to be evenly distributed; since it can be a cinnamon swirl).  Shape biscuits with lightly floured hands or turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll the dough out into a 3/4 to 1-inch thick round. Cut dough with a biscuit cutter and place onto the prepared baking sheet.  Let rest at least 10 minutes.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
4. For glaze, combine all the glaze ingredients until desired consistency is reached and drizzle over hot biscuits.

Fudge Truffle Chocolate Cheesecake

This cheesecake is absolutely perfect in every way.  I made this for my mom a few days ago for her birthday, and I couldn't believe how well everything went to prepare it.  I had a chocolate cheesecake recipe saved in my recipe box, and I altered it to make it extra delicious (I don't reveal my secret ways, though!) and it turned out phenomenal.  There's a thin, sweet, slightly crunchy, vanilla-chocolate cookie layer on the bottom....a rich, soft, silky, smooth, cream-cheesy, fluffy, milk chocolatey layer in the middle....and a thin, super rich, dark chocolatey, fudgey ganache layer on top.  It just gets richer and more chocolatey as you work your way up the layers of the cake.   The only thing that was kind of annoying about this recipe is the crust is super messy to make because you have to mix the ingredients by hand...but it comes off your fingers easily (and you can lick them when you're done pressing it into the pan!) and is totally worth the effort.  This was the second cheesecake I've ever made that didn't crack (behind my incredible strawberry cheesecake recipe found here).  Even if your cheesecake does crack, you can always cover it with the oh-so-rich-and-delicious chocolate ganache.  The three wonderful layers of this cheesecake really make it seem as though you're biting into a chocolate truffle...but I'd rather have this cheesecake over a chocolate truffle any day.  Serve each slice with a dollop of whipped cream and you'll never order a chocolate cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory ever again. (Because this recipe is sooo much better!!!)

Yield: 1 9-inch springform pan (about 14 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Nilla wafer crumbs

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1/3 cup butter, softened

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, at room temperature

• 4 eggs, at room temperature

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together crushed vanilla wafers, confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and butter or margarine by hand. Press ingredients into a 9 inch springform pan (a 10-inch will work also).
3. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, making sure that they are very smooth.
4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy with an electric mixer. Gradually beat in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in melted chocolate, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.
5. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 55 minutes.  The cake will seem underbaked in the center, but will continue to cook after you turn the oven off.  Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven, with the oven door slightly cracked, for at least one hour (this prevents the cake from cracking).  Carefully remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (or preferably overnight) before topping with the chocolate ganache. 

For the Chocolate Ganache:

Ingredients:

• 4.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth.
2. Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over a cake (about one minute). Start at the center of the cake and work outward. Spread a thin layer all over the top of the cake, spreading just over the sides.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Do those pictures look yummy or what?  Well, the pictures are nothing compared to the taste of this heavenly banana cake.  My friend and I made this a few days ago for a party at school, and it turned out fabulous!  A ton of people tried it, and everyone was "mmmm"ing like crazy and telling me how delicious it was.  I had never made banana cake before - just banana bread - but I'm definitely gonna make it again soon.  This cake was unique because it was cooked at a very low temperature of 275 degrees (as opposed to the usual 350) and then after it was cooked, it was immediately put into --- get this --- the freezer.  Weird, right?? The reason for this is so that the cake cooks evenly in the oven, with a soft outer crust and tender interior. Also, to prevent it from cooking any more when you pull it out, it's put directly into the freezer...making the result extremely soft, fluffy, and incredibly moist.  Putting it in the freezer also allowed it to be frosted and ready to be eaten in no time;  My friend and I were eating our first slice just two hours after stepping into the kitchen. And it looked absolutely beautiful with the cream cheese frosting and a sprinkle of chopped nuts!  Perfect for any occasion.  I can't wait to make more banana cakes in the future.  With this perfect cake base, the flavors you could combine with it are endless...chocolate chip, peanut butter, nutella, peanut butter and nutella, chocolate marble, peanut butter chip, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chip, caramel/praline, strawberry, coconut...I could go on forever.  Try this recipe...you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 1/8 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 medium)
•  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
4. For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream 1/2 cup butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add confectioners sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake.  Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired.