Banana Nut Cake with Caramel Frosting

Hands-on time: 40 minutes
Time to table: 2 hours
Makes a 9- or 10-inch round cake or 9x9 cake (double for a 9x13)

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 3 large unripe bananas, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise in small pieces
• 2 cups flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon banana extract (see TIPS) or vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped black walnuts, optional (see TIPS)

TOPPING
• Caramel Frosting (left)
• Black walnuts, optional

Heat oven to 350F/175C. Prepare baking pan(s) with baking spray.

TO USE UNRIPE BANANAS Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat until shimmery. Add the bananas and cook, stirring often, until bananas are soft and the butter is just beginning to brown. Transfer banana-butter mixture to a large bowl.

TO USE RIPE BANANAS Skip the skillet step, instead, just mash the bananas with a fork. To mix the cake, cream room-temperature butter with a mixer, then proceed as follows, adding the mashed bananas with the milk and vanilla.

Add the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; with an electric mixer, mix until just combined. Add the milk and vanilla [and mashed bananas if using ripe bananas]; beat on low for 2 minutes. Add the eggs; beat on low for 2 minutes. Gently stir in the nuts.

BAKE Transfer to a well-greased cake pan. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a knife slipped into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool about 30 minutes. If you like, turn onto a serving plate.

TOPPING While the Caramel Frosting is still warm, drizzle over top of the cake, then sprinkle walnuts over top. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

source : http://www.kitchenparade.com/2009/09/banana-nut-cake-with-caramel-frosting.php

Candied Bacon Bourbon Bloody Mary #SundaySupper

If you are making a large batch of this drink, I suggest assembling the bloody mary mix in a pitcher and adding the bourbon to your glass as you serve.

Author: Susan Palmer

Recipe type: Cocktail, drink

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the candied bacon:

• 2 strips thick cut bacon
• ½ teaspoons light brown sugar
• pinch of cayenne pepper

For the bloody mary: (makes 2 drinks):

• 8oz tomato juice or tomato based vegetable juice.
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoon prepared horseradish
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 4-5 dashes hot sauce (more if you like it spicy)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3oz bourbon ( 1½oz per serving)
• ice
• optional garnish: celery, pickle spears, dilly beans, olives and lemon wedges

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a rack on top. Spray rack with baking spray or wipe with oil to prevent the bacon from sticking.
2. Line the bacon on the rack and sprinkle with the brown sugar and cayenne pepper.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bacon is crisp and brown and the sugar has caramelized on the top. Remove immediately to a plate to cool.
4. In a pitcher combine the tomato juice, lemon juice, horseradish, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Stir well, taste and adjust salt and spice according to your preference.
5. To serve: In a collins glass, fill with ice and pour 1½ oz of bourbon in each glass. Fill with bloody mary mix and stir to combine.
6. Garnish with the candied bacon and pickle spear, dilly beans and olives.

source : http://girlinthelittleredkitchen.com/2013/12/candied-bacon-bourbon-bloody-mary-sundaysupper/

Honey-baked pears with blue cheese and walnut biscuits recipe

A delicious dessert of pears baked in honey and served with home-made walnut biscuits and a shard of gorgonzola.

Serves six

For the biscuits 
90g (3oz) walnut pieces
125g (4½oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tbsp soft light-brown sugar
4 tbsp olive oil
about 4 tbsp water

For the pears
6 fat pears, not too ripe
15g (½oz) butter
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp granulated sugar
175g (6oz) gorgonzola, cashel blue or other blue cheese

Put the walnuts into a food processor and pulse a few times. You want to end up with nuts that are partly fine-ground, partly coarse-ground. Put them into a bowl and sift on the flour and ¼ tsp salt. Add the baking powder and sugar. Pour in the olive oil and mix together with a table knife, gradually adding the water. Use as much of the water as you need to bring the mixture into a ball. It should neither be too wet nor too dry and crumbly. Pat into a disc.

Put this on a lightly floured work surface and roll out to about 0.25cm (⅛in) thick. Take a 6.5cm (2½in) biscuit cutter and cut out rounds, transferring them to a parchment-covered baking-sheet. Gather up the scraps of dough as you go along, reroll them and cut out more rounds until you have used up all the dough. Bake these – there's no need to chill – in an oven preheated to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 for about 18 minutes. The biscuits should be slightly golden at the edges. Leave to cool a little then move to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Halve the pears – there's no need to peel or core them – and place them cut-side up in a small roasting-tin or gratin dish so they fit snugly. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the honey, sugar and a good pinch of salt. Stir to melt then pour over the pears. Bake in an oven at 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4, basting occasionally, and turning halfway through. Return them to the cut-side-up position for the last five minutes. They should be completely tender and slightly caramelised. It should take about 30 minutes, but depends how ripe your pears are.

Serve the pears warm, with a piece of blue cheese and the walnut biscuits. You can sprinkle the fruit with toasted walnut pieces, if you like, drizzle the cheese with a small amount of honey, or even put a little bit of honey in the comb on each plate.

source : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/9581714/Honey-baked-pears-with-blue-cheese-and-walnut-biscuits-recipe.html