Banana Bread

Let's face it: banana bread isn't bread, it's cake. Regardless, it's a great way to use up those poor bananas on your counter. I had five bananas ripening away, so I figured I had to use them. I quickly Googled this recipe and made some pretty tasty loaves. Other than the quantity of bananas, I doubled the recipe. Sorry about the crappy pic!

Recipe found here .

Vanilla Cupcakes with Royal Icing

At Easter I usually bring a trifle to add to the dessert table. I wasn't in a trifle mood this year, so I decided to make cupcakes. I used a recipe from the Joy of Baking website found here.

I thought these were good, but not super duper. The cake was very delicious, but maybe not as fluffy as I like. I did not have any cupcake liners, so I just buttered the pan, which made them nice and buttery. My younger brother was only so-so on these, saying it reminded him of corn bread. Weird.

I also used Joy of Baking;s royal icing recipe found here. My brother also wasn't into it, as he prefers a whipped frosting. I loved the icing, which had a refreshing lemon flavor.

I'll try a different recipe next time. There's always a good excuse to make cupcakes.

Tsoureki - Greek Easter Bread

Every year at Easter time, my mother makes a truckload of tsoureki, or Greek sweet bread. I think she makes the best tsoureki in town, but maybe I am a bit on the biased side. With a baby in the family now, and celebrating our first Easter with him, I thought it was important to bake something traditional for the holiday.

I sat down with my mom, and she gave me the ins and outs of her recipe. She even gave me the unique Greek spices that I didn't have in my spice rack. As you can see, there are some odd measurements here : a water glass of oil and 20 soupspoons of sugar. That's just the way it is in a home recipe I think. I eagerly tackled this, and was overjoyed with the results! I can honestly say it is a mirror image of my mom's bread. Sure the braiding isn't as well done, but I never braided anything before, ok? In-fact, I Googled how to braid bread to get the design right. Gotta love Google.

8 Eggs
20 soupspoons sugar
4 teaspoons yeast
1 water glass vegetable oil
1 water glass milk
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 lemon's zest
½ teaspoons anise
½ teaspoon mastihi
½ teaspoon mahlepi
sesame seeds
sliced almonds

1.Warm up the milk (not too hot!) , and add it to a medium bowl which has the yeast. Stir it up a bit. Add 1 cup of flour to that, stir and wait. This mixture is your proof, and will plump up in size and become all frothy and fluffy, in 15 minutes or so.

2.In a large bowl, combine your eggs, sugar, all spices, vanilla, zest and oil. Hand whisk to combine the ingredients together.

3.If your proof is ready, add it to the egg mixture.

4.With one hand, add flour to the mix, one cup at a time. With the other hand, mix the dough together. Keep adding flour until you get a nice soft dough. Your dough should be sticky, but also fairly smooth.

5.Cover dough with a clean cloth, and let rise for at least 2 hours, or until doubled.

6.Once your dough has risen, prepare your baking sheets. I used Silpat® sheets, but you could also line your baking pan with parchment paper, or use a non-stick spray. Sprinkle the baking surface with sesame seeds.

7.Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 5 equal parts each part represents a loaf. Form each loaf into a braid or whatever shape you like, and place on baking sheet. (Try braiding, as it is the tradition, and looks impressive!)

8.Let these loaves rise another 2 hours, or until doubled.

9.Once doubled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Apply an egg wash to the surface of each loaf, and sprinkle sesame seeds and sliced almonds on the top.

10.Bake for 22 minutes. (Test doneness by inserting a knife and making sure it comes out clear.) Do not over bake! If the bread browns to quickly, avoid burning by laying tin foil on top.

This bread is great for dipping in tea or coffee, or just simply munching on its own. You'll also love the aromatics that will fill your home – a very fond memory of my childhood.

Strawberry Soft Serve Ice Cream

For Christmas, my younger brother bought me a Cuisinart Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker. With my brother in law and his family over, I decided to whip up some strawberry ice cream. The machine works great -- it takes about 15-20mins to make some pretty tasty ice cream. The first time I tried it, I made vanilla ice cream, and it was delicious, but too soft. So this time, I had the machine go for 30 mins. A half hour is too long though, as the ice cream becomes too thick to come out of the dispenser. Regardless-- very delicious and successful! I can't wait to try it for some frozen desert pies and cakes. Way to go, bro!

Recipe from the Manual:

Strawberry Ice Cream
Makes about ten ½-cup servings
8 ounces very red, ripe strawberries –
fresh summer berries or frozen
berries, thawed
²∕³ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
²∕³ cup whole milk
1¹∕³ cups heavy cream

Mix the first 3 ingredients in a Cuisinart chopper, or blender to make a nice smooth mixture. Then add the cream. (I didn't have heavy cream--but coffee cream worked fine). Leave mix in the fridge until ready to use - delicious!

Vasilopita - Greek New Year's Bread

On New Year's Day, the Greeks have a really tasty tradition: You are served a delicious Vasilopita! There are 2 forms of this: a cake and a bread. Both are super yummy, and also share a lucky surprise - a coin! Whoever gets the coin is considered the lucky one for the year. (My mother in law got it this year, by the way!)

Although I do like the cake, I chose to make the bread version for my first attempt at Vasilopita. This is my mother in law's recipe. She showed me it during a spanakopita and bread lesson. My mother also makes a very tasty bread version, but I did not have some of the ingredients that she uses, so I opted for this recipe. The only thing is, I never got any really accurate measurements. Instead of 1 cup or 2 cups, my recipe lesson called for 1 water glass of this and 1 soup bowl of that. I couldn't remember exactly how big my mother inlaw's water glass and soup bowls were, so I played it by ear.

My sister in law was also making a bread version, and it was fun calling each other to see how our doughs were rising. I can tell you we both weren't fully confident until it got out of the oven. Not to worry, we both came up victorious in this sweet holiday adventure!

RECIPE - more or less!
2 bowls of flour (cereal/soup bowl)
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 cup vegetable oil (I used a dry measuring cup)
1 bowl warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 shot and a half of ouzo
some sugar
sesame seeds
icing sugar to dust

Get the Yeast Going
Fill your bowl up with warm water, and a little bit of sugar. I added close to a teaspoon, I think. Then add the yeast.

Mix the Dry Ingredients
While the yeast gets ready, add the flour, cinnamon, ground cloves and brown sugar. Stir it up and add the vegetable oil. With your hands, mix the ingredients together to form a crumbly mixture.

Forming the Dough
You can mix by hand, but with a baby in the house, I find it easier to use my beloved Kitchen Aid Mixer! With the dough hook going, add the water and yeast mix and then add in the ouzo. If the dough looks a bit dry, add some more water. I also added another swish of vegetable oil. Get this mixed until it forms a bowl and nothing sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Rise Dough, Rise!
Flip this fragrant dough on to a larger bowl, and add a drop of vegetable oil on top, so a skin does not form. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, or until doubled.

Punch and Rise Some More!
After this first rising, hand knead and punch away at the dough for a good 5-10 minutes. Save some dough for decorations later, and use the rest to form a nice sized loaf. I used I spring form pan for mine, but you can use a baking sheet too. I rubbed a bit of vegetable oil on the sides and bottom of the pan, and dusted the bottom with some flour and sesame seeds. Once you get your loaf in there, cut a slit into the top, and hide your coin, making sure to seal the dough again.

Some Coin Advice
Instead of a regular coin, try going to the coin shop and picking up an inexpensive collectible that no one is used to seeing. You can get some neat ones for less than 5 bucks! Wash the coin well, and wrap in tin foil. (I hate it when dough gets stuck on the coin, so this is a good tip!)

Decorate and Rise Again
Now you can decorate! Brush the loaf with an egg wash of beaten egg and water. Take the extra dough you saved and make whatever decorations you want to cover the top of the bread. I made some swirls. Once fully decorated, brush the loaf with the egg wash again, and top with sesame seeds. Set loaf aside for an hour and a half, or until doubled again.

Bake and Wait
After the second rise, place in a preheated oven, at 350 degrees for an hour. TIPS: keep an eye on it! If it rises a lot, you may need to lower the rack. Also, if it browns too quickly, lightly cover with foil.

Sugar Shower
Once the bread is baked, let it cool, and dust with icing sugar. I spritz the top with water to make a bit of an icing. This also helps the sugar from falling off the cake.

Now, cut and enjoy - on New Year's Day of course! Happy New year's and have fun finding the coin.

Karythopita - Greek Walnut Cake

For a long time I have never been a successful cake baker. I think I have been rushing the recipes, and therefore not giving the poor cake a chance to become what it should be. My other dilemma is that I do not make enough Greek dishes or desserts, which is a real shame considering both my husband and I are proud Greeks. So armed with a Greek cookbook (that my sister in law lent me), I was ready to tackle a Greek dessert.

Karythopita is a spiced walnut cake topped with a sugar syrup. It is a truly moist and delicious treat that my mom has mastered , thanks to a great recipe from one of my aunts. Unfortunately, I don't know that recipe, so I used a recipe found in Greek Cookery - 200 Mediterranean Flavors. I really needed the recipe to workout since I was going to serve it to my aunt who was in from Greece, and lucky for me, it was very successful -- phew!

Beat 1 cup of olive oil with 1 1/2 cups of sugar. To this, add 6 eggs, 1 cup milk,3 cups ground walnuts, 1 tbs cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves. Then add 2 cups of flour that have been mixed with 2 tsp baking powder. Add this batter to a greased baking dish and bake in a 350° oven for about 45 minutes.

While the baked cake is still hot, poke a bunch of holes over the top with a toothpick for the syrup to soak through.

For the syrup, bring 2 cups of water to a boil, and then add 2 cups of sugar. Boil for 5 minutes to create a light syrup. Pour the syrup over the cake while the cake is still nice and hot. Let sit, and cut after it cools.

I was really happy with this recipe. I used a Corning Ware dish, but I would suggest using a real cake pan or Pyrex dish for better results. As well, I think I should have left the cake in for a bit longer (for some reason I removed it after 35 mins, but another 5-10 mins would have been fine) My mom also mentioned that she uses semolina in addition to the regular flour, and the cake turns out more airier. I will definitely keep all of this in mind for Karythopita : Part 2!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

One of the easiest cakes to make is Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I decided to make this as a dessert for a little brunch I was doing, and it was a tasty and simple decision! It's topped with a brown sugar and butter combo that goes great with pineapple, and the cake is always super moist. Needless to say, you should definitely keep some pineapple on hand so you can make this in lightning fast speed.

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Lightly butter an 8inch cake pan. Melt 1/2 cup of butter and to it, add 1 cup of dark brown sugar and stir to blend. Add this to the bottom of the cake pan. On top of this tasty layer, place some pineapple rings. Set aside.

For the cakey goodness, separate 4 eggs. Whisk the egg yolks lightly and add the juice of one lemon. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites, and add a pinch of salt. Once the egg whites become stiff, gradually fold in 1/2 cup caster sugar, and then the egg yolk mixture. Sift 1 cup of flour and 1 tsp baking powder. Carefully fold this into the egg mixture.

Pour the fluffy batter over the brown sugar and pineapple layer and bake for 30mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center.

While the cake is still hot, invert onto your prettiest of plates, and enjoy savoring this tasty tropical treat.

Recipe from: 1000 Best Every Recipes by Martha Day

Hokey Pokey

Today I made Hokey Pokey! I was watching my number one food idol, Nigella Lawson, and she was whipping up a collection of fast eats. Since I had 10 minutes to spare, I decided to give hokey pokey a try -- a honey comb candy that is like sponge candy or the inside of a Crunchie Bar. Mine turned out not bad at all -- very tasty and sticks to your teeth! The problem I had was that the top was very sticky. How can I stack pieces in a container if they stick? I may have used too much syrup, and perhaps spreading it out was not a good idea. You should just plop it on parchment and let it be. I will try again next time, and will cover it in chocolate. I want to make the next batch drier and less sticky. Either way, it is a fun thing to make!


Hokey Pokey, Foodnetwork
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Put the sugar and syrup into a saucepan and stir together to mix. You can't stir once the pan's on the heat, though.

Place the pan on the heat and let the mixture first melt and then turn to goo and then a bubbling mass the color of maple syrup - this will take 3 minutes or so.

Off the heat, whisk in the baking soda and watch the syrup turn into a whooshing cloud of aerated pale gold. Turn this immediately onto a piece of baking parchment or greased foil.

Leave until set and then bash at it, so that it splinters into many glinting pieces.