Cake, Ice Cream, and Disappointment

So my intention was to make another Food Network Magazine recipe, this time for some amazing looking ice cream sandwich cakes, but alas, the best laid plans of mice and cooks. First, the cake recipe called for dutch-process cocoa powder and I could only find natural unsweetened cocoa (I tried to make the cake anyway with what I had, but the result was less than appetizing). So instead, I tried a shortcut, making a box cake.  It took me all day, with multiple trips to the grocery store (not to mention all day daddy duty) and the result was simply cake and ice cream, which, while still classically nice, was nothing worth blogging about.

Perhaps there is something special about the ice cream sandwiches if you actually follow the recipe and use the dutch-process cocoa, but even taking that into consideration, I don't see how there could be much difference. Anyway, I very rarely have a recipe go wrong for me (I think because I tend to only pick recipes that I can tell will be awesome) and I found that, quite frankly, I don't much care for it.

As a consolation, I offer you a pretty quick dessert alternative: Cream Cheese-filled Strawberries. Simply whip up a serving of the cream cheese filling that goes along with the Banana-Cream Cheese Breakfast Cakes I posted a few days ago and stuff it into some hulled strawberries. The result is quick, elegant, and oh-so-delicious!

 

Coming up next is one of our regulars, Mandarin Pork and Wild Rice. You do not want to miss that!

Happy Eating!
~ Jason

Banana-Cream Cheese Breakfast Cakes

My inaugural recipe can be found in the May 2012 Food Network Magazine, but is apparently a recipe served by Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco. 

Cook Time:

Active: about 45 min.

Total: about 65 min.

Yield:

about 15-20 cupcakes

For the Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

For the Cakes:

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

 Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth; transfer to a bowl. Clean out the mixer. Add the egg whites to the mixer and beat with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in the sugar, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat until shiny, stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add half of the cream cheese mixture and beat until just combined. Add the remaining cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip; set aside.
2. Make the cakes: Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. 
3. Clean out the mixer. Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla with the paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the mashed bananas until combined. Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until almost combined, then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just combined (do not overmix).
4. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Insert the pastry tip halfway into each and pipe about 1 tablespoon filling into the middle of the batter. (The cups should be about three-quarters full.) Bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake (not the filling) comes out clean, 20-35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool about 15 minutes, then remove the cakes to the rack to cool completely.

Results:

Delicious! My wife loved them, and even my sister-in-law (who isn't a huge fan of banana) had more than one. The banana and cream cheese compliment each other very well (sort of like carrot cake) without either one being too strong of a flavor. The cake part is super moist, and you can see and taste the chunks of banana in each bite. You could also add nuts to the recipe to make it a bit more like banana bread. 

Having to clean out the mixer between each mixture was a little annoying, but not too much of a hassle, and the rest of the recipe is pretty darn easy. Also, I don't have a pastry bag, so I simply used a spoon to put the filling in the batter; this resulted in the filling being more of a topping, but taste-wise I can't imagine there is much of a difference.

Rating:

Difficulty: 1 out of 5 

Taste: 5 out of 5

Will I make this again? Absolutely.

Well there you go, recipe numero uno! Does it sound good? Does it make you want to strap on an apron and mix up a batch right now? I certainly hope so. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out. 

Also, tell me what you think about this and/or the blog in general, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

~ Jason