Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Here is a simple banana cake recipe using a cake mix that is easy and delicious. It can be baked either in a 9×13-inch pan or in a bundt pan (my preference).

My husband is having a slice with ice cream and just declared it "one of the best" banana cakes ever; hearty praise from a true cake lover!

\"Cake Recipes\"

The purist in me wishes cakes made from scratch with whole wheat flour and other more wholesome ingredients were met with such excitement, but sadly they're not. The savvy realist within me admits that cake mix recipes often turn out better than from scratch cakes. They are more consistent, with better texture, especially when you know how to "doctor them up." And in the final analysis, life is too short to eat anything less than delicious cake.

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Have I mentioned that I am a huge fan of Anne Byrn, The Cake Mix Doctor? Everything I've ever made from her cookbooks has turned out great, but I've been reluctant to admit it, until I learned that Jamie Lee Curtis recently declared The Cake Mix Doctor her favorite cookbook on the Rachel Ray Show!

This recipe is from The Cake Mix Doctor Returns. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I omitted the additional 1/4 cup of sugar, replaced the 1/2 cup sour cream with plain yogurt, and skipped the 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans to keep it friendly for those who have nut allergies. I also added 2 tablespoons of flour which is a trick my mother learned from her Home Ec teacher decades ago to help cake mix cakes be less crumbly.

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Serves 16 to 20 or 12 to 16 as a bundt cake

Vegetable oil spray for coating the pan

Flour for dusting the pan

1 cup mashed bananas (from 2 or 3 very ripe bananas)

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup sugar (optional)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla

1 cup (6 ounces) miniature chocolate chips

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

2 teaspoon confectioners' sugar, for dusting on top

Position an a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 13×9 inch metal cake pan (or bunt pan) with vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour, shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place the mashed bananas, cake mix,flour, sugar (if using), oil, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on medium speed until the mixture lightens and is smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, if necessary. Stir in the chocolate chips.( If you are intending to bake the cake in a bundt pan, stir in the pecans too, if you are using them.)

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. If you are baking the cake in a 9×13-inch pan, scatter the pecans (if using) evenly over the top and place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until is deeply golden brown on top and the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 43 to 48 minutes (50 to 55 minutes for a bundt cake). Remove the cake from the oven and immediately sift the confectioners sugar over the top so that it melts to form a glaze. Let the cake cook for 20 minutes, then slice and serve while still a little warm. (If you are using a bundt pan, allow it to cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out of the pan and sprinkle with the sugar.)

Storage: Store this cake, covered, at room temperature for up to three days or for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Martha McKinnon is a health coach and yoga instructor who believes that eating great & losing weight can be simple & delicious when you focus on nourishing the whole you - body, mind, & soul. Her website is http://www.simple-nourished-living.com. Stop by for a free copy of her E-cookbooklet full delicious granola bar recipes.

Simple Cupcake Recipes for Kids

Cupcakes have become a favorite to kids all over the world and not just adults, and what's more than eating cupcakes for kids but to make them? There are a number of simple cupcake recipes for kids to enjoy and to help you with. No matter what the season, cupcakes are an ideal snack and you can decorate them all sorts of ways.

You can begin with a box cake mix, but this is not much fun. Here are some great ideas of cupcake recipes for kids to help you with. These are great ones that you and the kids can do from scratch. This can be a great idea to do to create memories.

Cake Recipes

Lemon Cupcakes

• 3 ½ oz butter softened
• 2 tsp lemon rind
• 2/3 cup fine sugar
• 3 ½ oz. cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 c. flour
• ½ c. all purpose flour

Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees, and place cupcake liners in a muffin pan. Bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until a fork or toothpick is inserted and comes out completely clean. Let your cupcakes cool down completely before you start to frost them. When it is time to decorate, don't hold back. Let you children go crazy and put decorations from sprinkles to little candies on them.

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6 oz of flour that self rises
• 5 oz. sugar
• 5 oz of butter that has been softened
• 3 eggs

Once you have your oven pre-heated to 350 degrees, place cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Place eggs in a cup and beat them with a fork. Place the remaining ingredients in the bowl and continue mixing for about two minutes, or until the batter light and creamy. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes. Before frosting them, allow them to cool down completely.

These are just a few of the many delicious recipes for cupcakes to bake with your children. There are more to find and you can begin on the Internet. There are many sites that are designed to give kid friendly recipes that are easy and fun to make as well.

When it comes to decorating your cupcakes, you can go nuts with this. Add food coloring to the frosting to make it fun colors and even add candies of all sorts. Let your children pick out something that they want and make them feel more involved in the whole process. This can be something fun to do with your children and can create memories to last.

Simple Cupcake Recipes for Kids

Sonya Kissi is a registered pharmacist practicing in Ohio. She's also the founder and managing partner of KissiCakes-n-Sweets, LLC, a privately owned Bakery in Dublin, OH that specializes in gourmet cupcakes, home made cookies, pies, cheese cakes, sweets and treats for every occasion. Find out more about her delicious cupcakes at http://www.kissicakesnsweets.com

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Here is a simple banana cake recipe using a cake mix that is easy and delicious. It can be baked either in a 9×13-inch pan or in a bundt pan (my preference).

My husband is having a slice with ice cream and just declared it "one of the best" banana cakes ever; hearty praise from a true cake lover!

Cake Recipes

The purist in me wishes cakes made from scratch with whole wheat flour and other more wholesome ingredients were met with such excitement, but sadly they're not. The savvy realist within me admits that cake mix recipes often turn out better than from scratch cakes. They are more consistent, with better texture, especially when you know how to "doctor them up." And in the final analysis, life is too short to eat anything less than delicious cake.

Have I mentioned that I am a huge fan of Anne Byrn, The Cake Mix Doctor? Everything I've ever made from her cookbooks has turned out great, but I've been reluctant to admit it, until I learned that Jamie Lee Curtis recently declared The Cake Mix Doctor her favorite cookbook on the Rachel Ray Show!

This recipe is from The Cake Mix Doctor Returns. I made a few changes to the original recipe. I omitted the additional 1/4 cup of sugar, replaced the 1/2 cup sour cream with plain yogurt, and skipped the 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans to keep it friendly for those who have nut allergies. I also added 2 tablespoons of flour which is a trick my mother learned from her Home Ec teacher decades ago to help cake mix cakes be less crumbly.

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Serves 16 to 20 or 12 to 16 as a bundt cake

Vegetable oil spray for coating the pan

Flour for dusting the pan

1 cup mashed bananas (from 2 or 3 very ripe bananas)

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup sugar (optional)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla

1 cup (6 ounces) miniature chocolate chips

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans (optional)

2 teaspoon confectioners' sugar, for dusting on top

Position an a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 13×9 inch metal cake pan (or bunt pan) with vegetable oil spray. Dust with flour, shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.

In a large mixing bowl, place the mashed bananas, cake mix,flour, sugar (if using), oil, sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat on medium speed until the mixture lightens and is smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, if necessary. Stir in the chocolate chips.( If you are intending to bake the cake in a bundt pan, stir in the pecans too, if you are using them.)

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. If you are baking the cake in a 9×13-inch pan, scatter the pecans (if using) evenly over the top and place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until is deeply golden brown on top and the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 43 to 48 minutes (50 to 55 minutes for a bundt cake). Remove the cake from the oven and immediately sift the confectioners sugar over the top so that it melts to form a glaze. Let the cake cook for 20 minutes, then slice and serve while still a little warm. (If you are using a bundt pan, allow it to cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out of the pan and sprinkle with the sugar.)

Storage: Store this cake, covered, at room temperature for up to three days or for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Simple Banana Cake Recipe

Martha McKinnon is a health coach and yoga instructor who believes that eating great & losing weight can be simple & delicious when you focus on nourishing the whole you - body, mind, & soul. Her website is http://www.simple-nourished-living.com. Stop by for a free copy of her E-cookbooklet full delicious granola bar recipes.

Easy Dessert Recipes - 3 Simple Tips

Always finding ourselves short of time in today's world, easy dessert recipes are more important than ever. Have you ever wanted to make a wonderful and delicious dessert to magnificently top off a gathering meal but found yourself short on time? Or maybe you are new to making desserts and need some help? I'm sure it happens to all of us now and then.

As a dessert lover myself, I always try to make sure that the dessert I make will at least result in some words of praise from my guests. One of the best things about having great dessert is not just that it gives you that wonderful feeling, but it also makes you happy when you see how much your guests or family members are enjoying it. But how do you do that if you are new and find dessert-making difficult, or if you're constantly busy and making dessert is too time-consuming?

Cake Recipes

This article gives you some simple tips for making life simpler by choosing the right easy dessert recipes, and some advice for making almost any dessert recipe easier.

1. Recipe Size

Often we overlook the fact that the dessert recipes we make can be downsized to fit our needs. This can be as simple as taking a normal dessert recipe and dividing all the ingredient portions in half or in quarter, but not every recipe may be so appropriately scaled down. When searching for easy dessert recipes, be on the look out for the serving sizes listed for each recipe. Some recipes are specially designed for a small number of guests and these will save you a lot of hassle and worry.

Small dessert recipes are easier to make and they bake faster too. This is especially so if your kitchen isn't as big as you want it to be, or you don't have enough large bowls. Also, keep in mind that desserts are normally eaten after a large, full meal, and smaller easy dessert recipes will go well with the guests. If you have any guests who are trying to keep control of their weight, they will thank you for this too.

2. Ingredients Required

The best easy dessert recipes to choose are preferably those with convenient ingredients that you can easily find in your local store. If you are in a rush, then you might want to opt for an easy dessert recipe that can be made with the ingredients you already have on hand in your pantry or refrigerator. Recipes that require fewer ingredients will generally be easier to make. Try searching for recipes with three to five ingredients for maximum easiness in making.

3. Component Substitution

Many long-winding recipes can be made easier to some extent by simple component substitution. If certain components of a particular easy dessert recipe can be store-bought, it will save you a lot of time and effort. For example, when making a tiramisu, instead of having to make the ladyfingers and cheesecake filling from scratch according to the recipe, it would also be possible for you to buy pre-made packages of ladyfingers from the store, and ready-to-eat cheesecake filling too. Then just add coffee syrup or other flavoring according to your tastes, and assemble it for a quick tiramisu dessert.

Some people may frown upon this saying that those ready-made components do not make a dessert that tastes as good as the ones you make yourself. Well for me, I feel that this in itself is an art. It takes a certain amount of knowledge and experience to know which brand of ingredients is of the best quality and go well together. Of course easy dessert recipes that are made from scratch will often taste better, if done right, due to the effort and thought put into them. But the difference is not always that large, and there are times when we don't always get things done right. If you're just a beginner who is just starting out, then this is a good place to start too.

Try these three simple tips for making easy dessert recipes even easier, and they will save you a lot of effort. You will even find that you have more time to enjoy yourself in the kitchen.

Easy Dessert Recipes - 3 Simple Tips

Art Young is a mysterious pastry chef and baker extraordinaire who has a special passion for home cooking. He is currently traveling the world in search of the secret ingredients for making the ultimate dessert...

Visit http://www.easydessertrecipesblog.com/ for more.

Quick and Simple Red Velvet Cake Recipe

Are you tired of the usual chocolate cake for dessert or teatime? Do you want to try something new to bake to add some variation in your usual snack food item at home? If you are after a unique look and taste in cake, you should try making red velvet cake. This luscious sweet treat has that distinct red exterior, mixed with white topping. At first glance, you might think that it is complicated to make such a kind of cake. Looks can indeed be deceiving, though, because a typical red velvet cake recipe uses simple ingredients that you might find in your kitchen cabinet. Moreover, the procedure in baking this cake is quite a breeze, too.

If you have an upcoming family dinner at home, you might want to have this ruby-colored cake as part of your menu. The excellent color of the cake is also ideal for a Christmas treat; you can bake tiny red velvet cupcakes and have them as Christmas presents for your friends and relatives. Whichever way you like, this cake is simply a marvel to the eyes and a delight to the taste buds.

Cake Recipes

Here is a recipe for red velvet cake that you will find quite easy to make. The ingredients are not difficult to find in the supermarket, which adds to the convenience in preparing the batter. When it comes to the cooking procedure, you will find that the instructions are simple, too. Check out this classic recipe for a scrumptious velvet cake.

Classic Red Velvet Cake Recipe
Anyone will love the rich taste and fabulous look of this ruby-colored cake. Here are the ingredients for the batter and the frosting.
Batter:

Softened butter, 1 stick
White sugar, 1 1/2 cups
Large eggs, 2 pieces
Red food colour, 2 oz.
Whole milk, 1 cup
Baking soda, 1 teaspoon
Cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons
Cake flour, 2 1/4 cups
Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
Baking soda, 1 teaspoon

Frosting:
All purpose flour, 3 tablespoons
Whole milk, 1 cup
White sugar, 1 cup
Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
Butter, 1 cup

Prepare the batter by creaming the sugar and the butter. Blend the two ingredients thoroughly in a mixing bowl. Next, add in one egg at a time, beating continuously after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder and the red flavouring. Whisk vigorously until the cocoa powder has dissolved. Pour the cocoa mixture to the sugar and butter mixture. You may use an electric mixer to blend the ingredients well.

Next, add the flour and the milk alternately. Stir continuously to make the batter smooth and fluffy. Drop in the vanilla extract and the baking soda. Stir gently before transferring the batter to the greased round pans. Bake the mixture for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

While you are baking the cake, you can already prepare the frosting. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Pour in the milk and the flour. Stir well. Then, add the sugar and the vanilla extract. When the frosting mixture turns sticky, remove the pan from heat.

Cool the cake for 10 minutes, over the wire rack. Afterwards, spread the frosting on top of the cooled cake.

This simple recipe for red velvet cake is ideal to make whether for a special gathering with relative and friends, or a regular teatime with the family. Try making this recipe and enjoy the fabulous taste of the cake.

Quick and Simple Red Velvet Cake Recipe

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