Banana Cream Cake: Wishful Thinking Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Wishful Thinking.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

I made Banana Cream Cake

Banana Cream Cake

Wishful Thinking, in the context of this blog post has its meaning in baking. But wishful thinking in life, means something very different. A little over a week ago these two aspects converged. 

As many of you who follow this blog know, I've got 2 boys. My older son went to college about 45 minutes from home and is still local. My younger son PurDude, however, went to school 10 hours away. It was incredibly difficult for me. Not only was he far away, but I realized how sheltered a life he'd led. While at school he had his first broken bone, a leg, and dealt with some incredibly difficult circumstances including the death of his frat's chef, who they'd recently made a brother. I could only support from far away.

When he graduated, he came home and, miraculously, the best job offer he got was from a Fortune 500 company just about 1/2 hour from here. He chose an amazing apartment downtown and I happily put together all of his wants and needs, decorated it and moved him in. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out, I wrote about it in a piece called Home with an H. I was thrilled to have him so close again. 

BUT. He went through the in-house training program and was assigned to a project mostly based in Louisville, CO but with a small subgroup here in town. Within months they flew him out to Colorado and were talking about moving him there. They'd let him finish out his lease here. Which happened at the end of last month.

Long story short, PurDude was packed up and moved out of his downtown loft about 10 days ago and he moved in with us. Not knowing how long he'd be without a car he chose not to have the company ship it. In anticipation of the moving company moving him into his new apartment in Boulder next week, he climbed into his new car and set out on the 8 hour drive. Yesterday.

Wishful thinking? Well, that's a tough one today. I wish my son could still stop by for dinner on a whim. But I am so excited for him, so currently my wishful thinking is for my son to build a life filled with fun, comfort, adventures, success, friendship, contentment and happiness.

I worked on another wish while he was home though. I made all of his favorite foods, and tried out some new recipes. For me, wishful thinking, when it comes to baking, is that the inspiration bring a smile to my face, that the recipe is easy to execute and share, that it's pretty, that it's flavorful, that it comes out on the first try. Most of all, wishful thinking is that the smile that comes to my face as the recipe comes together in my mind, is reflected on the face of my family when they taste it. Today I'm sharing a new dessert, inspired by Banana Cream Pie, that PurDude loved. 

I like easy recipes, so this one started with some simple ingredients, including a cake mix and pudding mix.

I didn't follow the ingredient instructions on the cake box, coming up with my own including some chopped macadamia nuts for a little crunch.

I must have been channeling bananas foster when I made the filling, although I did skip the alcohol (you're shocked, I know).

I layered the sauteed bananas over the cake.

Finished with flavored whipped cream, then repeated the layers.

It looks just as I'd envisioned, and believe me that doesn't always happen.

And it is delicious. I wonder if another slice might be worth an 8 hour drive . . .

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:


 

Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares Happy Sweater Weather. 









Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Calorie Free Cake - Wishful Thinking. 

 

Kia of The Ground Beneath My Feet shares Wishful Thinking: How a Map Made Me Want to Consume the World.


 





Jules of The Bergham Chronicles shares Spoonfuls of Wishes. 


 





Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Tips for Returning to Work after Working From Home. 

 






 Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares Wishful Thinking? Make it Happen!

Banana Cream Cake

                                                                          ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box instant banana pudding mix
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts

4 TBSP butter
3 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 bananas, sliced

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon


Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans.
*Beat together the cake mix, pudding mix, buttermilk, water, vegetable oil and eggs for 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in the macadamia nuts and spread evenly into the prepared pans. 
*Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the center springs back to the touch. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely. 
*Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar and cinnamon and stir until smooth. Add in the bananas and, stirring gently, cook for 1 minute, making sure all of the banana slices are well coated. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
*Once the cake layers are cool, place on onto a serving plate.
*Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon and continue to beat until stiff peaks hold. 

*Spoon half of the banana mixture onto the bottom cake layer. Rearrange the banana pieces into a single layer over the cake.
*Gently spread half of the whipped cream over the top of the bananas.
*Carefully place the second cake layer over the whipped cream and gently press down. Repeat the steps with the remaining banana mixture, then the remaining whipped cream. 
*Store, covered, in the refrigerator.  

Sad, Scary, Heatwarming and Fond: Secret Subject Swap

Welcome a Secret Subject Swap. This month 6 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts. Read through mine and at the bottom you’ll find links to all of today’s other Secret Subject participants.

My subject is: What is your fondest childhood memory?
It was submitted by: Rena of Wandering Web Designer.

Memory? What memory? 

Fondest, that's a difficult concept. Not only because my memory fails me, but because of the ones I do retain, it's hard to pick one over the other. 

Now if you asked me what my saddest memory from childhood is, I can answer that. I went to a private preschool and I just hated it. We carpooled, I can't even remember with who, but I do remember sitting in the back of someone's car, crying the whole way there. I'd try to think of some reason to get that poor woman to take me back home. In my childish way, the most important thing I could think of was wailing through my tears, "I forgot to tell my mommy something." Didn't work. And I wouldn't be surprised if that poor lady hit the cooking sherry on carpool day. Sorry lady, my bad.

The scariest memory comes from the summers. We belonged to a private pool club and I was probably 7 years old. I wanted to dive from the high diving  board but it was terrifying. Hell, even climbing up to the board was terrifying. When I did get the nerve, I'd dive from a sitting position, not standing up. And if I didn't dive far enough out to enter the water at an angle, it really hurt the top of my head. 

Conquering that fear was intense, and I wanted my mom to see it. I remember her sitting in the sun with a bunch of friends, me coming over and telling her she had to watch me, I was going to dive from the high board. She would talk to her friends as I walked over, glancing at me now and then, same thing as I climbed to the board. Then I got to the top, looked over to be sure Mom was paying attention. And then, as I always did, scared to death, I sat. And sat. And sat. And sat. 5 minutes trying to talk myself into going, peek at Mom (still watching). 10 minutes, trying to talk myself into going, peek at Mom (watching intermittently). When finally, sometime in the next century, I got my hands above my head and scushed my butt over the edge I took one last peek, sailed through the air, broke through into the water, swam to the edge, got out, stomped over to mom and scolded her profusely for not seeing my feat of bravery.

A proud moment was winning a race at that same pool club. All the kids were older and we were to swim freestyle from one side of the pool to the other. These kids knew how to race. I didn't. The whistle blew and they skimmed the water in their sleek racing dives. I only knew one way to dive, straight down. They were all 1/4 of the way across the pool before I came back up. But I swam my little heart out and at the other end found myself lifted from the pool by the ref as the winner. I got a cool trophy. I think I still have it. I know that for a week after that I stood in my driveway daily in a bathing suit holding that trophy. 

There are heartwarming memories too. Rarely, but every once in a while, Mom and my sister and I would go to a local diner. We'd order a giant banana spit with 3 spoons and that would be our dinner.

And there were the family business's box seats to the Red Sox, right by the dugout along the first base line. They were given out to clients mostly, but we got our turn too. My grandfather (alav ha- shalom) instilled my love of the Red Sox that lives as a tribute to him to this day.

Mom was and still is a great cook. But she is the family baker. She wanted us to remember coming home on Friday afternoons to the smell of something baking in the oven. Didn't happen all the time, but I can tell you that whenever there was a function of any kind, Mom was assigned dessert. And everyone would just about tackle her on the way in the door to ooh and aah at whatever she'd brought.

Lemon Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

I would have to say though that some of my fondest memories were those visiting my (great)aunt (alav ha-shalom) and uncle (alav ha-shalom) in West Palm Beach. My aunt was my grandmother's (alav ha-shalom) identical twin sister and they were as close as could be. The family all vacationed at their home and it was always a whirlwind of activity. The house itself was huge, a mansion. With exquisite grounds. I remember my great grandmother, who lived there at the time, would putt around in the kitchen with the pet parrot on her shoulder getting in the cook's way. Bobbe (alav ha-shalom) was constantly going outside forgetting about the parrot who someone would inevitably have to coax out of the tree. On a regular basis.

The older cousins would live, dorm style, in the maid's quarters upstairs off the kitchen. I'm not sure where I slept, it probably depended on how many people were there at any given time. But I do remember getting lost in that house but never being worried about it, someone would find me eventually. And there was so much to explore, a favorite being the room with the little toy piano, and any of the warm sunny decks. 

The yard featured a lake where I was allowed to swim as long as someone was with me, and the grounds featured bush mazes which treated you to a serene bench area in the center. There were large palm trees and I remember the gardeners shimmying up to grab me a fresh coconut. They'd tap it so I could drink the milk, then slit it open so I could gnaw at the fresh fruit.

I don't know why the only pictures I have are these two, old black and whites from before my time.

Back of the house

My great aunt holding my cousin in front of the house.

In the front, there was a long, long rock driveway that eventually ended at the road. Getting the mail was going for a walk. And I remember one day when the driveway was the edge of a sun shower (something new to me), standing in the rain, taking a step to the right where it wasn't raining and moving back to the left where it was.

That was also the house where I got the Chicken Pox, and gave them to my sister, the day before Mom was supposed to fly out to the Bahamas for a mini vacation. But I suppose that's a story for another day.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Wandering Web Designer 
Spatulas on Parade 
Our Prime Years 
Part-time Working Hockey Mom 
Climaxed 

Lemon Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream Frosting

                                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh strawberries
1/4 cup seedless strawberry jam
1/2 tsp strawberry extract

1 box lemon cake mix
3 eggs 
1/2 cup lemon yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp lemon extract
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup seedless strawberry jam
1 tsp water

2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar

OPT: Sliced strawberries for garnish

Directions: 
*Clean, hull and finely chop strawberries. Mix them with 1/4 cup strawberry jam and the strawberry extract. Mash together until the jam is smooth and coating the strawberries. Set aside on the counter.
*Grease and flour a 9 X 13 baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Beat the cake mix, eggs, yogurt, sour cream, 1/4 cup water and vegetable oil for 3 minutes. Pour into prepared pan.
*Whisk 1/4 cup strawberry jelly with 1 tsp water. Dot over the cake batter and, using a toothpick swirl into just the top of the batter. Bake cake for about 25 minutes, just until the center springs back to the touch. Cool completely.
*Using a fork, food processor or blender, mash the strawberries.
*Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and strawberry mixture and beat until stiff peaks hold. 
*OPT: Remove about 3/4 cup of the strawberry whipped cream and store in a sealed sandwich bag in the fridge if you want to pipe it onto the individual pieces for serving. 
*Spread the remaining strawberry whipped cream over the cooled cake. 
*To serve, garnish with the reserved strawberry whipped cream and/or sliced strawberries if desired. 
*Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Gone Bananas for Labor Day

Labor Day. It has so many meanings. As you well know, it's come to signify the end of summer. Actually, though, it's a day set aside to honor working people, yet I love how it's celebrated by taking a day off. It's always a day of simple pleasures, sleeping late, sunning and swimming, throwing dinner on the grill, spending time with friends and family. It's a time for relaxation. And bananas.

Bananas, you say?

Yeah, well, if you read this blog regularly you know that things rarely happen in my life as they do in most normal people's lives. And, as always, there's a story. 

Before I start, let me just say that I am not at fault here. I did not send Hubs out to the store to get anything. That doesn't usually go well (meaning that doesn't usually happen without 72 clarification phone calls in the space of 10 minutes) so I do it very rarely, and this time I did not. However, sometimes the man wanders in there on his very own. Dammit. 

He had gone in for beer. I mean it is, like burgers, a must for Labor Day and he was running low. So I do get his motivation. But what he came out with? Now there's the story. 

The conversation went something like this:

Hubs: I went to the store today.
Me (checking my phone): How many calls did I miss while I was in the shower.
Hubs: None. I just went in to get some beer. I found it without calling you.
Me (under my breath): You mean without calling me 72 times.

Hubs: What?
Me (trying to look all innocent): Nothing.

Hubs: I brought you a present.

Me (trying, but failing, not to sound skeptical): You did? 
Hubs: Yes, it's in the bowl on the counter.
Me: Is it going to sting me?
Hubs: No.
Me: Bite me? Pinch me?
Hubs: No, just look.

Me (carefully peeking over the rim): Bananas?
Hubs: Yes.
Me: Brown bananas?
Hubs: Well, yeah.
Me: Lots and lots of them?
Hubs: Yes.
Me: Why?
Hubs: Why?
Me: Yeah, like what's the thought process? Did you think "I'm gonna pick up the beer I need and while I'm here I may as well get my wife a whole shit ton of over ripe bananas? Because nothing says "I was thinking of you" like a pile of brown bananas"? 
Hubs: No. They were giving them away for free.
Me (incredulous): Free? I don't think so. Don't tell me you "accidentally" stole a bunch of bananas. 'Cause if you did, next time I get mad at you, I'm turning you in . . . You're headed for the slammer.
Hubs (rolling his eyes): No, they were in front of the registers. When you paid, the checkers were even telling people to grab some bananas on the way out. 
Me: But you don't like bananas.
Hub: I know, they're for you.
Me (rolling my eyes): Ummm . . . thanks?

So now I've got about 10 very over ripe bananas, time to figure out what to do with them. Preferably before they liquefy in my pretty bowl (although some would be used for smoothies anyway). I knew I was going to make my Cinnamon Nutella Banana Cookies because everyone loves those and I can mix up the batter and put it in the fridge to bake another day. I thought about making my Cinnamon Banana Bread but I had some of the ingredients and not others, and there was an apple in the fridge that I wanted to use up so I'd make a version of it. And, apparently, (yes, I made the mistake of working this through with the boys in the room) I would make it with chocolate chips instead of the cinnamon chips. 

Apple Cinnamon Banana Bread

To see what I used even more of the bananas in, check back in here on Monday. I have a recipe coming up that is TO DIE FOR. Hint: it's a Banana Cream Cake, my interpretation of the Banana Cream Pie in cake form (and yes, I'm aware I gave away what the recipe is, it's possible that I don't quite grasp the concept of hint giving).

Along with the baking going on in my kitchen that day, there was a bit of a revelation as well. You see, as I stood in there covered in flour, filled loaf pans in the oven, cookie batter in the mixer, bananas sauteing on the stove and a sink full of dishes, the truth finally dawned on me. Walmart wasn't giving out bananas. They were giving out (my) labor. For Labor Day. 

Well played, Walmart. Well played.

Apple Cinnamon Banana Bread

                                                              ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

3 TBSP sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

2 TBSP butter, room temperature
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 over ripe bananas
2 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 apple, cored, skinned and finely chopped
3/4 cup baking chips of your choice (chocolate, toffee, cinnamon or peanut butter) 

Directions: 
*Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 2 loaf pans.
*Mix together the 3 TBSP sugar and 3/4 tsp cinnamon and use this mixture to dust the loaf pans.
*Cream the butter, applesauce, brown sugar and 1 cup sugar until smooth. Break up the bananas with your hands and beat them in along with the eggs, yogurt and sour cream.
*Mix in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Last, mix in the apple and baking chips. Spread evenly into the prepared pans.
*Bake for about one hour, or until the center springs back to the touch. Remove from oven, run a knife around the edges and allow to sit for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.