Donna Hay's Banana Cake

Just when the bananas on my shelf were planning their revolt (I always forget how quickly bananas spoil in the summer), I decided to try Donna Hay's Banana Cake.

And, of course, it's a Bundt. I think the intervention is coming soon...

Everything comes together pretty quickly. I left the butter and eggs out overnight so I could make it half-asleep this morning.

Donna has a caramel sauce of brown sugar and cream...but I didn't have the cream so I made a powdered sugar, milk and vanilla simple glaze. A glaze made of powdered sugar and maple syrup would be awesome as well.

My co-workers said, "Banana...GREAT!" I tried to tell a few of them that is wasn't health food (one stick butter, three eggs and 3/4 c sour cream)... but they just saw the banana.

Heck, I'm with them. This cake is totally on the my food pyramid.

To Southern California Friends:
If you are in town this weekend (July 11-12), check out the Renegade Craft Fair in downtown Los Angeles. My friend, JustJenn is one of the exhibitors!

Recipe:
Banana Cake from Donna Hay's Simple Essentials: Fruit, page 76
These blogs have the recipe posted:
Banana Cake Recipes
Piggy's Cooking Journal (in metric)
Cooked from the Heart

Cold Japanese Somen Noodles - A Summer Delight!

It's summer. It's time for somen.

When I wake up on Wednesday morning, me and my big hair (I seriously think some sort of Tease Fairy comes by and gives me 4 inches of mess) pick up the Los Angeles Times. Wednesday is the Food Section, and I'm all about it.

Last week, they had an article about Japanese Somen Noodles. Oh, yes.

Somen Noodles are super thin flour lengths of goodness. They are usually eaten ice cold during the summer. Japan is way humid (think New York and DC in the summer) and they created this cool down food. They are similar to soba (buckwheat) noodles, but thinner.

Somen noodles cook up in a jiffy. Really. 2 minutes in boiling water.

Rinse and rub the noodles to get out the starch. I place them in a bowl with some cold water and ice cubes so everything stays super cold.

To me, somen and egg are best friends. My friend Jessica will say that egg is a best friend of everything on earth. I cooked three eggs way thin (like a crepe) and chopped.

Yum. Egg. My Japanese friend Yuko and can cut the egg razor thin. I can't. Yuko, I need to come to Japan to learn to how to chop!

And what is cooler than a cucumber? Nothing. So add them to your somen. And some nori (seaweed). A topping of green onions is a must! :)

The Los Angeles Times has two recipes for the dipping sauce and other sides, but I went the easy route and bought a bottle at the Japanese store! Look for the words "Somen Tsuyu" on the bottle. It'll be the color of soy sauce.

As with other Japanese noodles, it is okay and expected that you slurp these up. It's not rude, it's the way to go.

You can put ANYTHING on the noodles. I'm sure someone in putting ham, Spam, chicken, fish, kamaboku (pink and white fish cakes), veggies, and everything else on these noodles.

Many put ginger in their dipping sauce...I was so hungry that I forgot to do this! :) There is also a yummy somen salad...I'll make that later this summer.

When it gets too hot this summer, have some somen. Have a good slurp!

Recipe:
Buy stuff at the Japanese store...or check out the Los Angeles Times article ("So Summery, so right: Somen" by Sonoko Sakai. Los Angeles Times, Food section, Wednesday, July 1, 2009) for Iced somen noodles and fried eggplant with soy-mirin dipping sauce and Iced somen noodles with chicken and vegetables with spicy ginger sesame sauce

Chocolate Sponge Cake (Donna Hay)

The library is a perfect place for the a one-night stand.

Well, perhaps a three week stand. And you can enjoy it even more with a renewal.

Borrowing cookbooks from the library is a great way to give a new book a spin around the kitchen before any commitment.

This happened with Donna Hay's Simple Essentials: Chocolate book.
I got it at the library, fell in love with it, and after a few clicks on Amazon, it arrived at my door.
Sweet.

Donna Hay suggests a layer of jam, cream, and/or berries in the center of two 9" sponge cakes. And that sounds real nice.
But what do you do when you just bought a new jar of Nutella? You go with Nutella. No questions asked.

I sliced some California strawberries. Yum.

The only thing missing is a nice layer of whipped cream. I tried! I put the bowl and whisk in the freezer and was all ready. Reached into the fridge. And pulled out an expired carton of whipped cream.

Drats.

So, when you make this...include the layer of Nutella and add a layer of sweetened whipped cream.

That would be dreamy.

Recipe:
Donna Hay's Chocolate book, page 58

Maple Cake and Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!!

I've never been to Canada and am dying to visit...hopefully someday soon!

The closest I've been is La Cañada Flintridge. Ha ha ha. Let me explain: La Cañada Flintridge is a city in Los Angeles County that has a Spanish tilde over the ñ. Cañada means gorge, ravine in Spanish. I spoke to a resident once and she spelled out her address: "It's LA CANADA but with the swiggle over the N."

Canada Day inspired me to make this Maple Cake!

The batter is simple and basic. Uses 3/4 c of maple syrup.

Made with a full cup of Maple Syrup from Canada! The glaze is a combo of more maple syrup, melted butter and powdered sugar.

And, to complete the Canada Day theme, I'm going to see "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds tonight. She plays a CANADIAN! Oh dear, I'm so themed today I feel like I'm the living version of a Canadian Tablescape by Sandra Lee. (Those tablescapes scare me!)

Maple Cake
I found this recipe in the Everyday Food Holiday 2007 Special Edition.

1. Whisk together in a separate bowl: 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 t baking powder, 1/2 t baking soda, 1/2 t salt
2. Beat together until light and fluffy: 2 sticks butter (room temp), 3/4 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup sugar
3. Add 2 large eggs, one at a time
4. Mix in 1 t vanilla extract
5. On low speed, alternate the flour mixture and 3/4 cup sour cream. Don't overmix. Start and end with the flour.
6. Pour into a buttered and floured 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, remove and cool completely on a rack.
7. Glaze with the Maple Glaze: 1/4 cup maple syrup, 2 T butter (melted), 1 - 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Happy Canada Day!

Ginger Spice Cookies (Bon Appetit)

I donate a pint of blood every 56 days or so. I think it builds good karma (hee hee) and you get served a cookie and juice. It takes very little to amuse me.

I really love my blood donation center...Nurse Jan is so nice!

However, the "don't-pass-out-on-us" post-donation cookie is...well...you know...just okay. Oh, how Tuesdays with Dorie and this baking blog adventure has killed me. I can now taste chemicals in box cake mixes. I can tell if stuff is made with real butter or not. And I can tell those blood donation cookies wandered over from the hospital kitchen.

Today, after giving a few gallons of blood, it FINALLY dawned on me to bring in my own damn cookie!

Of course! I heart ginger so I tried Bon Appétit's Ginger Spice Cookies.

The batter comes together very easily. It has cinnamon, ground ginger and 3/4 cup of crystallized ginger. You need to chill it for at least 1 hour. I let it hang out overnight. In the morning, I shaped them into balls and rolled them in sugar. Bake until the top cracks but the center is soft and yummy. Using a small scoop, I got 53 cookies.

A Cookie for A Pint

You should definitely make these Ginger Spice Cookies. And don't forget that giving blood is easy and very much in demand! Only 3% of American adults donate. Your local hospital or the Red Cross will welcome you with open arms and orange juice. Just be sure to plan your treat. You deserve the best! :)

Recipe:
Ginger Spice Cookies
from Bon Appétit, March 2000

P.S. My TWD entry this week is a bit delayed! Sorry but I should have a double entry next week!

Nectarine Buckle (Peach Buckle by Everyday Food)

Oh, I'm such a wild girl!

Not.

I've been a pretty boring chica lately. Sometimes, I think my excitement for the day is driving 7 miles over the speed limit (with two hands on the steering wheel...)

Yesterday, I engaged my lead foot and did something crazy in the kitchen.

I switched nectarines for the peach.

I know!! C R A Z Y.

I'm sure this'll be on the next DVD of Fruit Gone Wild.

I replaced the peaches with absolutely delicious mango flavored nectarines from Ken's Top Notch Produce at the farmer's market. This is breeding done right.

Peaches or Nectarines are folded into the batter. The topping is sugar, cinnamon and sliced almonds. I've also made a Peach and Blueberry Buckle - that's yum too.

And why did I pick the Peach Buckle?

I don't want to go all TMI on you, but my gums are pathetic. For some reason, one speck of plaque on my teeth cause much, much misery. I need to get my teeth cleaned four times a year. I see my hygienist more than my relatives. I'm supposed to floss twice a day, Sonicare after every meal, use a prescription toothpaste ($17 a tube!), Waterpik, Sulcabrush and not snack too much (that one I can't handle). I'm probably the only one in the library with an electric toothbrush on my desk (behind my monitor - not next to the reference books, thank you very much). But last month I had more dental issues and mega sensitivity on one of my molars. My dentist said they need to cover the exposed nerves with a "buckle."

And what did I think when I hear "buckle"? Novocaine? No...Fruit Buckle!!

However, I later learned that my dentist was probably talking about the buccal surface of the tooth...oh well, I'm calling this My Buckle for My Buccal!

Got peaches? Got nectarines? Got blueberries?
Got bad gums or need dental work?
Make this buckle! (and then brush and floss your teeth)

Recipe:
Peach Buckle
from Everyday Food

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake

When I saw this cake on Blue is Bleu's blog and instantly knew I had to make it! Audrie is so great! I've enjoyed her blog for a long time and you should definitely check it out! Audrie said she got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen's blog.

Not much to say...besides MAKE IT.
It's big. It's chocolate. It's cake. It's good. It's rich (1 stick of butter and 16 ounces of sour cream!) but not crazy, oozing rich. And my middle layer of cinnamon, sugar and chocolate chips didn't end up on the bottom! That's a good thing.

My co-workers really liked this when I brought it in last week. It an easy treat to make and really delicious. Definitely give it a try!

And thanks to everyone for your well wishes about my Dad and our lengthy Father's Day visit to Urgent Care! I so appreciate it! He tells me he is feeling a bit better now...it's such a pain (literally) to get old. Dad now uses a cane to help him around, and I've nicknamed him (with love): The Turtle. He has a backyard full of summer crops (I'll profile those soon), and luckily my mom is helping him out!

Recipe:
Cinnamon-Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake
from Smitten Kitchen

Sorry Cake Slice & TWD

Sorry Cake Slice Bakers and TWD...my baking plans this weekend were destroyed by getting a bit sick myself, and then an adventure in urgent care with my parents. I thought I would take my dad out to lunch for Father's Day...only to be met by my mom who said we needed to take dad to urgent care for his swollen leg and pain in the knee. That turned into a 4 1/2 hour crazy day where most of the time was spent trying to "find" digital x-rays. Oh dear. Having x-ray vision would be most helpful for doctors...

Anyway, sorry I missed Cake Slice and will miss TWD! Can't wait to see what you have made!

- mary the food librarian

Edamame Hummus (Ellie Krieger)

Yo Soy lover of Soy.

Come on, I'm Japanese American and grew up eating tofu by the square plastic tub-full. If my family laid those out cartons end to end, I'm sure we could reach the moon and back.

And I love the edamame. I just like saying the name. I like eating the whole edamame with sea salt and popping those beans out of their pod.

And I love hummus. Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans and me are friends. You remember Little House on the Prairie? Laura Ingalls' husband was Almanzo Wilder. My "English is my Second Language" mom always (I mean always) called him "Garbanzo." I can't look at hummus without thinking of Pa, Ma, Mary and Half-Pint.

So, when I saw this double soy delight by everyone's favorite Ellie Krieger, I was sold.

Edamame Hummus
From Ellie Krieger

2 cups shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions (for this recipe, I bought the shelled edamame, not the whole beans)

1 cup silken tofu, briefly drained of excess liquid
(I used Mori-Nu Silken Soft Tofu. 1 cup is about 1/2 a package.)

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

3 cloves garlic (Holy smokes, I used too much garlic or my cloves were extra large. I would cut this in half and then add more if necessary)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice, plus more, to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, plus more, for garnish

I whirled it all in a food processor for 2-3 minutes. Added lots of black pepper and topped with extra edamame.

I sliced some cucumbers for a super low-fat "chip." Make this delicious double soy treat!
It's Soy Soy good. (ha ha ha)

Recipe:
Edamame Hummus From Ellie Krieger/FoodNetwork Website

Fresh Cherry Upside-Down Cake

I missed a week of the Farmer's Market and was stuck buying produce at the local supermarket. And that is a crime during the summer. I picked up a $6 bag of cherries...and they sucked compared to what I can get at the Farmer's Market. Sad. So, I baked with them!

Here is a fresh cherry upside-down cake from Bon Appetit. Find the recipe here on Epicurious.

Placing these cherries (cut side down) on the bottom of the pan was probably the most time consuming part of the cake. Luckily, Racheal and Lee just sent me an awesome cherry pitter!!! Thank you Racheal & Lee! You saved me a zillion hours of work!

The bottom (later the top) layer of the cake is a combo of butter and brown sugar with cherries on top. I think there is too much brown sugar (3/4 cup), but my co-workers liked the big o' layer. You melt the butter in the pan over low heat on the stove (see left photo). This always makes me nervous but it worked out fine.

The recipe says to use a 9" x 2" pan, but I used my 9" x 3" pan. If you have one, please use it. The second photo is from the oven, and this cake totally rises. I think it might overflow in a 9" x 2" pan.

Make this cherry cake with your cherries...and go to your farmer's market for the best stuff! :)

Recipe: Cherry Upside-Down Cake
from Bon Appetit, June 1997