Ba-na-na-na-na Cake

I was going to wait a whole week before I went ahead and wrote my next post, but as a new "blogger" I simply couldn't put off my excitement. I always thought that I would stick to cookies when baking, but I've found that to leave all the other categories of decadent desserts out would be a baking sin. Baking is humdrum when there is only one genre to choose from. Therefore, I decided to break my cookie focus, and begin an adventure into "uncharted territory" with this recipe for Banana Cake. The title, I assure you, is not a typo. I know how to spell "Banana" but I couldn't resist reference to comedian, Demetri Martin's one-liner, and this is how it goes.

"It makes me feel stupid whenever I try to write the word 'banana,' because I don't know when to end it. It's like how many '-na's' are on this thing? Because it's like bana, keep going, bananana, damn!"

Tangent set aside, I love bananas. It wasn't always so, but along with a lot of other things that I no longer hate but love, the banana has taught me that tastes change. Or perhaps it was a texture-thing in the case of the banana. Anyways, I love it now and that's exactly why I am posting this recipe. Gosh, it's one of those distraction-prone days, I think.

This recipe is a very good one. I found it on allrecipes.com. If you aren't already familiar with the site, I'm telling you, it's amazingly useful. I utilize it to find the perfect recipe because you can further narrow your search by relevance and rating. I could ramble on about the wonderful features of allrecipes, but then you would miss out on the encore presentation that is my banana cake, and why exactly I decided to post it! So it all started with some overripe bananas, gosh, how does that even happen when I love them as I do? Well it did, as simple as that sounds, and I looked up banana recipes when I realized I couldn't eat them as fast as they were ripening. Truth is, I don't much like bananas once they've entered that brown-spotted stage-it's all about the firm, barely ripe phase.
Though a much lighter version than banana bread, I feel that this recipe does not pail in taste to its bread counterpart. Bake this cake, and you might never go back to making banana bread again!
As adapted by Carol on allrecipes.com
RECIPE:
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter (or margarine works too)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour milk
1 cup mashed bananas
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together butter or margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt, soda, and baking powder. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Add sour milk and bananas to the batter. Beat together well.
3. Line two 9 inch round cake pans, or one 9 x 13 inch pan with wax paper; the pans can be greased and floured instead, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 17 to 20 minutes for the layered cakes, or for 25 to 40 minutes for the sheet cake.

Note: I baked the recipe as is using 2-9 inch round baking pans. To make your own buttermilk (aka sour milk): mix 2 tablespoons white vinegar per every cup of milk, and let sit for 15 minutes or until it begins to curdle. I did not make my own frosting for this recipe, but I recommend a cream cheese frosting.

Ginger Snaps

First post! I'm giddy with excitement about what tumultuous fanfair this is starting.
I thought this was the perfect recipe to start with. After all, it was the first time I felt completely smitten with a recipe. I found the recipe off of allrecipes.com. I tend to use that site as a source for many of my recipes. You may think of ginger snaps as a holiday kind of cookie but I disagree. This cookie deserves more recognition than it gets and has become my personal every-day-kind-of-cookie. Take that chocolate chip! There's just something wonderfully wholesome about the mixture of spices-cinnamon, cloves, ginger-that makes this cookie special. This recipe is a keeper and is one I feel does not need to be tweeked in any way. The recipe is taken verbatim from allrecipes except for the honey. I added honey (thanks to my dad's beekeeping hobby) although the recipe calls for molasses. I researched that honey can be substituted cup for cup for molasses. I have made the recipe with molasses and I personally don't like the taste. I love this recipe...this is my new go-to cookie.

rolled dough, coated in sugar and ready for the oven

As adapted by Elaine on allrecipes.com
RECIPE:
Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses (pure honey)
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Roll each ball in white sugar before placing 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until center is firm. Cool on wire racks.

Note: I rolled the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. I baked them at 300 degrees for 15 minutes for a crispy cookie, and 13 minutes for a chewier cookie.