Sweet Testing: Bananas Cake

About a month ago, I predicted that I would soon be making this cake, and, like a well-trained Kreskin, my prediction became manifest when I baked this mound of banana chocolate deliciousness for my very own birthday! Well, really it was a co-creation between me and my mom, due to it's complex nature. It is, by all accounts, mine included, a damn fine cake, but it is time consuming. (Just time consuming, not difficult.) It comes from the new Baked cookbook Baked Elements and it contains not one, not two, not three, by four different parts (cake, filling, icing, glaze). I recommend splitting it into two days or getting a co-baker/sous chef to help you out. I promise; It will be worth the effort. I mean, come on, it's banana + peanut butter + chocolate (squared). What's not to love??? Actually, it reminds me a lot of the peanut butter and banana sandwiches that I used to have as a kid (and sometimes as an adult), but, you know, with chocolate added. So good!

You can find the complete Bananas Cake recipe after the jump.

The Recipe Project

The Recipe Project, a collaboration between the band One Ring Zero and some of today’s hottest chefs, is at once funny, interesting, and completely unexpected. It asks the question, if chefs are the new rock stars, why not set their recipes to music? And that is exactly what is does. Chefs including David Chang, Chris Cosentino, Tom Colicchio, and Mario Batali provide the recipes and One Ring Zero performs the music, singing the recipes word for word over a wide ranging musical genres. There is a rap version of Brains and Eggs by Chris Cosentino, a pop edition of Peanut Butter Brunettes by Chandra Moskowitz, and a Mario Batali spaghetti recipe that is set to polka music. There really is something for every musical taste (no pun intended)! Also included are interviews and essays by chefs and food writers on how music (and food) has influenced their work and lives. You can check out an operatic version of Peanut Butter Brunettes (the only dessert recipe in the book) below. You can hear a sample of the original, along with more info on the project, by visiting the Recipe Project website, right here. To order the book online, click here.

Sweet Testing: Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

I have had a craving for a Peanut Butter and Banana Creme Pie for a long time, ever since I first heard about it last year, so I was really happy when my father picked this as his dessert of choice during a recent visit. I was doubly happy when I searched the internet for a recipe and discovered that my favorite bakery, Baked, has their own version of this delicious treat! And let me tell you . . . it was soooo good!! I cheated a little bit and used a Whole Foods brand gluten-free pie crust, which I highly recommend for people with gluten allergies. Usually, I don't really care for store bought pie crust, but this one is a definite winner AND it's gluten free! So, because I wanted to make the pie edible for people with gluten allergies and because I was short on time, I didn't end of making the vanilla wafer crust that goes with this recipe, but I'm sure the pie would be even more amazing with that added element, although it was pretty damn good without it! For that reason, I can't really speak to the ease of the crust preparation, but the filling was super easy to assemble and came together quite quickly. Easy and a total crowd pleaser. What's better than that?

(p.s. For Baked fans, another teaser video for the new cookbook has been released. It features one of my favorite things: baked goods with miniatures. To watch it, click here.)

(p.p.s. Sometimes I feel like every recipe I make is from Baked. Someone seriously needs to hide their cookbooks from me!)

You can find the complete recipe after the jump.

Sweet Testing: Heaven and Hell Cake

I love the feeling you get when you make a cake and it actually turns out to be as good as you hoped it would be. There's always that worry that a cake won't live up to the hype or to its mouth-watering photos. I am happy to report that this cake did not let me down! It was sooo delicious and a really big hit! We did end up halfing the cake section of the recipe, though. Word on the street was that this cake was so rich, so decadent, that it was almost too much to handle, so we only made one angel food layer and one devils food layer and halfed each. You still have the same number of layers, they just aren't as thick. We made the same amount of peanut butter and frosting, though. Using all the peanut butter wasn't a problem, but we has gobs of frosting leftover, so, if you end up halfing the cake part, you may want to half the frosting as well. I was worried about how all these changes would affect the taste, but, even at half the size, it still had such a great flavor! I was pretty much blown away by how good it turned out!

We also made a minicake for my brother's gf, using gluten-free flour. I'm not sure how it turned out, as far as taste goes, but I thought it looked cute! :-)

Happy baking!

You can find the full recipe after the jump.

Sweet Testing: Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks

I don't know what it is, but sometimes I enjoy the things I bake more the next day. Maybe I spend so much time in the kitchen that by the time the cake/cookies/whatever comes out of the oven, I'm pretty much sick of them. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself and the food that I'm bound to be disappointed once I finally get around to taking a bite. Maybe, sometimes, foods just need to rest a bit in order for the flavors to really settle in. You know, like how soup is better if you make it the night before. Anyway, these cookies were definitely a better the next day kind of thing for me.

I made these classic goodies for a party and almost didn't bring them because I thought they were so boring, but the next day and the day after that . . . and the day after that, I couldn't stop shoving them in my mouth! I'd plan on eating one and end up chomping down five, one after another! This recipe made A LOT more cookies then I expected, so I brought the leftovers to work and they were quickly gobbled up. People actually came back for more, so they must have been fairly good, right? I know. This whole post is not exactly ending up as some huge ringing endorsement, but they're easy to make and they're tasty.

After writing this post, I came across Carolyn's review of these cookies on Food Gal and quickly realized that my big mistake was using chocolate chips instead of chopping the chocolate myself. I usually follow instructions, but I was short on time and I didn't think that it would make a huge difference. Apparently, the chopped chocolate transforms an ordinary cookie into something more like a peanut butter cup! So, there you go! I'm sorry Baked for not listening to you! It won't happen again! :-)

Recipe after the jump.

Alison Nelson's Chocolate Bar

The Web site for Alison Nelson’s Chocolate Bar is jam packed with designs I love. I really like the look of the Atomic Chocolates and the stylishly-packaged chocolate bars, whose labels are designed by artists like Rolito and Nathan Jurevicius. I'm especially interested in trying the Retro Bars, which come in flavors like malted milk, salty pretzel, and peanut butter caramel. So many choices! You can find stores in New York or Dubai or you can order online by clicking here.

(Pictured above: Stencil Bars. Below: Retro Bars, Graffiti Bars (designed by graffiti artists), Artist Bars, Atomic Chocolates)

Nestle Toll House Swirled Morsels

photo courtesy of Anna Kashkanova

Okay, I admit it. I don't know when Nestle introduced these swirled chips. It could have been last week or it could have been ten years ago, for all I know. If this is old news to some of you, excuse my delayed reaction, but I'm SUPER excited about them!! In the right dessert, they look so cute! It actually comes across as if you've done something really fancy, when really, all you've done is pour a bag of chocolate chips into your batter. Well, they aren't just plain old chocolate chips, really. Each chip is swirled with either white chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel. From a purely visual standpoint, I like the black and white chips the best. They stand out the most, although I've always had a soft spot for chocolate and peanut butter! If you need some inspiration, Nestle includes a whole slew of swirled-chip recipes on their site. Click here for more pictures/recipes and here for additional information on the chips.

LARABAR: Yummy and good for you!

Larabar, creators of what have to be the world's healthiest fruit and nut bars, have recently introduced two new flavors, both of which are, like their previous snack bars, inspired by classic desserts. The two new additions, Peanut Butter Cookie and Coconut Cream Pie, fit in nicely amongst the older bars like Banana Bread and Cinnamon Roll.

For those of you who don't know, Larabars are made of all natural ingredients. There are only a handful of ingredients on the wrapper and you'll be able to pronounce and recognize each one! That's because there are no added sweeteners or chemicals in Larabars AND, for those of you shun dairy products, they're vegan! I tried the Coconut Cream Pie bar last night and I have to say, it may be my new favorite flavor! It was pretty tasty. Don't get me wrong; It's not a candy bar, if that's what you're craving, but it is a pleasant and healthier alternative. For more information, click here.

Little Circles of Heaven

When I started this Web site, my friend Nancy asked me if I was familiar with her chocolate chocolate chip cookies. When I replied that it wasn't ringing any bells, she said "ask Dean about them." Curious, I asked Dean if he remembered Nancy's cookies, thinking that there was no way he would still remember, considering that it was years ago. Here is his reply:

OMG. How could I ever forget those cookies. They were the absolute BEST!!! They were little circles of heaven.

After that endorsement, I knew that I had to have the recipe!

Here are the specifics. Straight from the source:

1 box Duncan Hines devil's food cake mix (yes, the brand does make a difference!)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

I usually end up eating half the batch as they come out of the oven.

Mix it all together, bake in oven at 350 for 10-12 minutes. The cookies look wrinkly.

Also extremely tasty with peanut butter chips and, separately, teeny tiny marshmallows for smores cookies. I also like them with the standard chocolate chips and loads of shredded coconut.

Old-Fashioned at Miette

I don't know what kind of cake this is, but I want it! That was the first thought that went through my mind when I saw this cake on Miette's Web site. It's called an Old-Fashioned and, after doing a quick search, I discovered that it's a chocolate cake with a meringue frosting that is topped with a candy-coated peanut. It has a sweet retro feel, hence the name, and you can never go wrong with red, black, and white. Actually, all of the cakes at Miette are quite lovely.

Also, a friend of mine bought me some of their peanut butter cookies once and they were surprisingly good! There was a lot of flavor packed into that little cookie!

Miette is based in San Francisco, but you can order some of their less delicate products, like the peanut butter cookies, via their online store.