This moist, flavorful banana bread is my favorite banana bread recipe to date. It has the perfect texture. Not mushy or gummy like so many banana bread recipes out there. I like to add chocolate chips and/or toasted pecans to make it extra delicious.
Favorite Banana Bread
by Mari Vasseur
Moist, flavorful banana bread with chocolate chips and optional pecans
1 ½cups (191g)all purpose flour, sifted, plus 1 teaspoon for the chocolate chips
1teaspoon baking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoon fine sea salt
½teaspooncinnamon
¼teaspoonground nutmeg, preferably freshly ground
1cup (200g)packed brown sugar
⅓cup (70ml)avocado oil or neutral oil of your choice
2largeeggs, room temperature
½cup (113g)sour cream or full fat Greek yogurt, room temperature
1 ½teaspoonspure vanilla extract
¾cup (170g)mashed bananas(about 2 medium bananas)
½cup (60g)coarsely chopped toasted pecansoptional
2tablespoons (15g)chopped pecansoptional
1 ¼cups (213g)semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (165ºC). Line the bottom an 8 x 4-inch or a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until well blended.
In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla until creamy and well blended. Stir in the bananas until incorporated. Mix in the flour mixture just until combined. Do not over mix. Stir in the 1/2 cup of pecans if using. If using chocolate chips, set aside 1/4 cup (43g) for the top and toss the remaining 1 cup (170g) of chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of flour, then mix them into the batter.
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the loaf with the chopped pecans or 1/4 cup (43g) of chocolate chips. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Ever since a certain celebrity cut a hole from the middle of her favorite olive oil cake back in 2020, the internet has been obsessed with olive oil cakes. I must confess that I was a fan of olive oil cakes long before that. I first tasted one at a restaurant years ago and fell in love. The flavor and texture was so delightful, that all it needed was a dusting of powdered sugar on top. Now that the dust has settled, I’m sharing my favorite orange olive oil cake recipe. Not because it’s trendy, but because it’s a really delicious recipe that tastes like spring.
I made cute little orange scented, personal cakes that are really just elegant cupcakes. The recipe is easily adapted to your tastes. You can switch up the orange flavor and substitute with lemon or any citrus of your choice. Even if you don’t like olive oil, you’ll still like these little cakes. I used light olive oil, rather than extra virgin olive oil, for a more subtle olive oil flavor. It’s also able to withstand higher temperatures. Feel free to use your favorite olive oil or replace it with the oil you prefer. Grape seed, avocado, canola and vegetable oil are some examples of oils you can use as a replacement.
This recipe contains almond flour. It helps with texture and flavor, so it’s a necessary ingredient. Almond flour can be pricey, but it’s good to have on hand. Adding it to your baked goods will make them more moist and tender. To find almond flour click here,
Mini Orange Olive Oil Cakes
Mari Vasseur
Soft, tender mini orange cakes brushed with orange syrup & dusted with powdered sugar
Heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour a 12 serving muffin pan.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, orange zest and vanilla extract together until smooth. Gradually mix in the olive oil and beat until creamy and well blended.
Stir in the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the milk and orange juice. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.
Fill the prepared muffin pan cups 2/3 full with batter. Do not overfill or cakes will be more difficult to remove.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops look light golden, but still moist and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. They bake very quickly, so check them a few minutes early to avoid over baking.
Cool the cakes in pan for 5 minutes. Remove them from pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Brush the warm cakes with orange simple syrup and allow to cool completely. When the cakes have cooled, dust with powdered sugar.
Orange Simple Syrup
In a small saucepan, stir together the sugar, orange juice, lemon juice, and orange zest. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar is dissolved.
If you love chocolate cake, this is the post for you! Chocolate cake is one of the best comfort foods there is. I’ve tasted many over the years, but my all time favorite was one I had growing up. I’ve spent years trying to duplicate the moist, nostalgic cake from my childhood. I noticed that nearly every chocolate cake recipe on the internet is a variation of the century-old recipe from the Hershey’s Cocoa tin. I think many people have passed it down as a family recipe, each grandmother adding her own personal touch. Even some celebrity chefs have claimed it as their own. It’s an easy, delicious, moist recipe and its popularity is well deserved. You can tweak the flavor additions a bit to make it your own too. It’s a recipe that’s hard to mess up.
This cake is topped with the ultimate silky, smooth, deeply chocolate frosting. I developed this recipe mostly because I couldn’t find a chocolate frosting recipe that didn’t taste gritty and/or look speckled from the cocoa powder. Swiss meringue buttercream with melted chocolate added is one alternative. But, while it is smooth, silky and perfect for piping, it’s missing that deep chocolate richness. Another option is chocolate ganache. It looks rich and creamy in those viral videos, but it’s a little too rich and overpowering to use as frosting in my opinion.
I think this frosting is the one! It has the best of both worlds, velvety but not too rich. You’ll notice that this frosting contains maple syrup. The syrup gives it a very subtle maple flavor in the background, but mostly, it helps to make the frosting silky and gives it shine. You can adjust the sweetness level of the frosting by choosing the chocolate you prefer. I used bittersweet chocolate, which I think is just right. This recipe makes enough frosting to frost a 2-layer 6-inch cake. You can easily double the recipe for larger cakes.
Vintage Chocolate Cake
by Mari Vasseur
Rich moist classic chocolate cake with silky chocolate buttercream frosting
1 ⅛cup (145g)all purpose flour, siftedPlus more for dusting the pans
½cup (45g)unsweetened cocoa powder, siftedPlus more for dusting the pans
1teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonbaking soda
¾teaspoonfine sea salt
1 ⅓cups (265g)sugar
1largeegg
1largeegg yolk
⅔cup (155ml)buttermilk
⅓cup (70ml)vegetable oil
1 ½teaspoonspure vanilla extract
⅔cup (155ml)hot coffee or espresso
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
½cup (148ml)pure maple syrup
3tablespoons (45ml)water
¾cup (67g)unsweetened Dutch process or dark cocoa powder, sifted
½teaspoonespresso powderoptional
1 ¼cups (283g)unsalted butter, softened
1cup (113g)powdered sugar, sifted
⅛teaspoonfine sea salt
8oz (227g)dark, bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped*not chocolate chips
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottoms of two 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the insides and dust with a mixture of equal parts flour and cocoa powder. Wrap the cake pans with damp cake strips if you have them.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the sugar and stir until well blended.
Combine the the egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Whisk lightly to combine.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and beat, on low speed with an electric mixer, until combined. Stop the mixer. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add the hot coffee and stir until well combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, dividing batter evenly between the pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes without cake strips or about 28-32 minutes with cake strips.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes then remove the cakes from the pans and transfer to a cooling rack.
Trim the cake layers to your desired thickness, from 1-inch to 1 1/2-inches thick. Fill and frost with chocolate buttercream frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
In a small saucepan over low heat, whisk together the maple syrup, water, cocoa powder and espresso powder until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Melt the chocolate in a medium-sized heat safe bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm.
In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth and pale. Add the powdered sugar and salt and continue beating until smooth and well combined. Gradually add the the cooled maple syrup mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Stir in the melted chocolate until well blended. Smooth out any air bubbles by stirring gently with a rubber spatula.
Notes
*For smoothest results, use chopped bar chocolate and make sure chocolate is completely melted. Do not use chocolate chips. Chocolate chips do not melt completely and can make your frosting lumpy.
Sending sunshine your way with these cute, delicious bite-size mini cakes. Lemon Buttermilk Cakelets are tender and moist with a burst of fresh lemon flavor. They’re easy to make and they bake up quickly. They make an adorable addition to a spring teatime, baby shower or summer picnic.
½cup (115ml)vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
2largeeggs
2teaspoons lemon zest
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
½teaspoon pure lemon extract
½cup (118ml)buttermilk
Icing
1 ½cups (180g)powdered sugar, sifted
1tablespoon (14g)unsalted butter, melted
3-4tablespoons (45-60ml)fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Lemon Simple Syrup
Measure the juice of 1 lemon. Add enough water to equal 1/4 cup (89ml). In a small saucepan, simmer the lemon juice and water mixture with the sugar and lemon zest, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool, then strain out the lemon zest.
Cakelets
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour a 24-serving mini muffin pan* or use liners.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together until well blended.
In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, eggs, lemon zest and extracts together until smooth and well blended. Mix in the flour mixture in 2 additions alternating with half of the buttermilk after each addition. Stir just until combined. Do not over mix.
Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. (I used a portion scoop). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 8-10 minutes. Be careful not to over bake to avoid drying out the cakes. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan and transfer them to a cooling rack. (Repeat with any remaining batter.)
Icing
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Whisk until smooth. Spoon the icing over the cooled cakes.
To the indecisive German baker who invented marble cake, I thank you! Marble cake, sampler platters and tasting flights are the perfect solution for those times when you just can’t decide. Let’s take one more decision off the table. No longer will we have to decide between chocolate and strawberry cookies. These marble cookies are the best of both worlds. Chocolate and strawberry are opposites in many ways, but complement each other so well. After all, who doesn’t love chocolate covered strawberries?
The dark chocolate cocoa powder gives these cookies a deep chocolate flavor. Freeze dried strawberries provide the sweet strawberry flavor and color. I crushed the strawberries with a mini food processor, but you can also use a mortar and pestle, a clean spice grinder or a sturdy plastic bag and a rolling pin. When you crush the 1 1/2 cups of freeze dried strawberries called for in the recipe, you’ll end up with about 1/3 cup of strawberry powder. To find freeze dried strawberries, click here.
This recipe makes about eighteen cookies but you can also make nine large cookies. Follow the instructions in parentheses for large cookies.
1 ½cups (35g)freeze-dried strawberries, finely crushed to a powder(1 1/2 cups before crushing)
⅓cup (28g)dark unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until pale and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract in three separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next. On low speed, mix in flour mixture just until combined.
Divide the dough in half. Leave half of dough in the bowl and place the other half in a separate bowl.
Add the freeze dried strawberries to half of the dough and mix just until combined. Add the cocoa powder to the other half of the dough and mix just until combined.
Roll the dough into 1 1/2 teaspoon size balls. (For large cookies, roll the dough into tablespoon size balls.) To form the cookies, place two chocolate dough balls and two strawberry dough balls in your hand in a checkerboard pattern. Roll into a ball. Repeat with the remaining dough balls and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Place the dough balls about two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, until cookies are set and edges are golden. (For large cookies, bake 14-15 minutes.) Transfer to cooling rack. (For large cookies, cool on cookie sheet one minute, then transfer to cooling rack.
A good scone has a way of making you feel elegant, especially if you pronounce it ‘skon’ instead of ‘skōne’. I went to a lovely tea recently where scones were served, along with an array of dainty tea sandwiches and desserts. The scones were round with pink sugar sprinkled on top. Pretty pink food is always so promising. Unfortunately, the scones were hard, dry and bland. No amount of clotted cream slathered on them could help. There’s nothing elegant about a dry, hard bite of a scone that you have to struggle to choke down. Scones should be dense and slightly dry and crumbly, but there’s no reason we can’t make them more delicious. It’s fun to add fruit, chocolate, herbs, nuts or whatever you like to make them more delightful. These Raspberry White Chocolate Scones are tender and buttery with bursts of flavor from the fresh raspberries and white chocolate. I added pink sparkling sugar for texture and, of course, to make them look pretty!
Raspberry White Chocolate Scones
by Mari Vasseur
Tender scones with fresh raspberries and white chocolate, topped with crunchy sparkling sugar.
½cup (118 ml)cold heavy cream plus extra for the tops of the scones
¼cup (57g)cold sour cream
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
¾cup (128g)white chocolate chips or chunksNot chopped white chocolate
¾ cup (113g)fresh or frozen raspberries
Pink or white coarse sparkling sugar
Instructions
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until well combined. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips or with a pastry blender until pea size pieces form.
In a small bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, sour cream and vanilla until well blended. Stir the cream mixture into the flour mixture until a shaggy dough forms. Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and raspberries.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a 1-inch thick round, about 6 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut the dough into 8 wedges.
Place scones 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Chill the scones in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Brush the tops of the scones with heavy cream. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake until the edges look golden brown, about 20-24 minutes. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack.
Notes
*To find pink sparkling sugar, click here.This recipe was updated on 3/23/2023.
Does anyone else remember those old peanut butter cup commercials where two people on the street would collide and a chocolate bar would miraculously end up inside of a jar of peanut butter? Then the person carrying the open jar of peanut butter would say, “Hey you got chocolate in my peanut butter!” and they would suddenly discover it’s a delicious combination. The real question is, why was anyone walking around outside with an open jar of peanut butter? I miss those silly commercials.
If you love chocolate and peanut butter together, you’ll absolutely love these tarts. The creamy peanut butter filling and the silky chocolate ganache topping are perfect together. The chocolate cookie crust adds a nice crunch. I used heart shaped tart pans to make the tarts a little more special for Valentine’s Day. To find the tart pans I used, click here. You can also use round tart pans if you prefer.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Tarts
Mari Vasseur
Personal peanut butter tarts with chocolate cookie crusts and chocolate ganache topping
3ounces (85g)bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cupplus 2 tablespoons (88ml)heavy cream
Chopped peanutsoptional
Mini peanut butter cupsoptional
Instructions
Crust
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. (180ºC). Place four 4-inch tart pans with removable bottoms* on a baking sheet.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix the crushed sandwich cookies with the melted butter until well combined. Press the crumb mixture into the tart pans.
Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool completely.
Filling
In a medium-sized bowl, beat the peanut butter and softened butter until smooth. Add the remaining filling ingredients and beat until smooth and well blended.
Fill the cooled tart shells with the filling. Refrigerate the tarts until set, at least 2 hours.
Topping
Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl.
In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream over medium-low heat just until bubbles form around the edges. Do not boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let sit two minutes then stir until smooth.
Spoon over the peanut butter filling. Add toppings if desired. Refrigerate until chocolate is set. Carefully remove tarts from pans.
These Apple Spice Cookies were one of my most popular cookies last fall so I decided to bring them back a little early this year. The combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in this cookie dough will remind you of cinnamon rolls and apple pie and inspire you look forward to fall.
The apples in this recipe are cooked briefly on the stovetop to bring out the flavor and create the perfect texture. Dropping raw apple chunks into cookie dough or cake batter is usually not a good idea. If you’ve ever baked an apple pie, you know that apples release liquid as they cook and that liquid will end up in your baked cookies, creating soggy spots. So definitely don’t skip this step!
These gorgeous, golden brown cookies are perfectly delicious on their own, but extra credit goes to the Brown Butter Icing for taking them over the top!
Make sure to head over to Instagram to watch the video of these Apple Spice Cookies being created: Click here
Apple Spice Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Spice cookies with fresh apples and brown butter icing
1 cup (4 oz or 113g)chopped apples (1/4-inch pieces)I used one large Granny Smith apple
1tablespoonsugar
¼teaspoonground cinnamon
Apple Spice Cookie Dough
1 ½cups (6 3/4 oz or 191g)all purpose flour, sifted
½teaspoonbaking soda
½teaspoonsalt
1teaspoonground cinnamon
¼teaspoonground nutmeg
½cup (4 oz 113g)unsalted butter, softened
1cup (7 oz or 200g)packed brown sugar
1 largeegg
1 largeegg yolk
½teaspooonpure vanilla extract
Brown Butter Icing
2tablespoonsunsalted butter
½cup (2 oz or 57g)powdered sugar, sifted
½teaspoonpure vanilla extract
pinchfine sea salt
1-2tablespoonswhole milk
Instructions
Cooked Apples
Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add apples, sugar and cinnamon to the skillet.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 4-5 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool completely. Drain any excess liquid from the cooled apples.
Apple Spice Cookies
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract, one at a time, until well combined
Stir in the flour mixture, just until combined.
Fold the the cooled apples into the cookie dough.
Divide the dough into 12 equal golf ball size portions and place them 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake until golden brown, about 11-13 minutes. Let cool 1 minute on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Brown Butter Icing
In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant. When brown specks start to form in the bottom of the pan, remove from heat.
Immediately transfer the browned butter to a small bowl. Whisk in the the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, salt and 1 tablespoon milk. Add more milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies.
Notes
NOTE: If your cookies spread too much when baking, refrigerate dough for 30 minutes, then bake as directed.
In early September, I saw someone announce the fall season on social media. In addition to people pointing out that it was too early for the announcement, the word police corrected the person with the word autumn. Since both terms are correct, we can call the season whatever we prefer. I think autumn is a pleasant sounding word, so I’ll use it for the rest of this post. Whatever you call it, these Pumpkin Spice Muffins are a perfect little celebration of the season. They have just the right amount of warm spices, making them so fragrant that your kitchen will smell like cozy autumn heaven.
I originally made them in mini loaf pans, but I thought they would be cute as muffins too. They’re so cute and delicious that I often give them as holiday gifts. This year I decided to try them in ramekins and I loved the results! I used 6-ounce ramekins, but you can use 8-ounce ramekins, any size mini loaf pans, a muffin pan or even an 8 or 9-inch loaf pan. Keep in mind that baking times will differ. To find the ramekins I used, click here.
Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Caramel Filling
by Mari Vasseur
Tender pumpkin spice muffins with caramel filling and luscious cream cheese frosting
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour seven 6-ounce ramekins or six 8-ounce ramekins or any mini loaf pans of your choice.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves until well blended.
In a separate large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together, with an electric mixer at medium speed, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Beat in the pumpkin purée and vanilla extract until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined.
Divide the batter evenly into the prepared ramekins. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.
Cool completely if serving in ramekins or remove from pans after cooling for 10 minutes. Continue to cool on wire rack.
Make 3/4-inch wells in the center of each muffin. Fill with caramel sauce. (For loaves, poke multiple holes with a skewer. Fill with caramel sauce.) Top with cream cheese frosting and pumpkin seeds
Cream Cheese Frosting
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together, with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and well blended. Do not over beat.
Add the vanilla extract and salt and beat until combined. On low speed, gradually beat in the powdered sugar incorporated. Add the heavy cream and continue beating at low speed smooth. Remove any bubbles by gently stirring with a spatula.
1 ¾cups (7 7/8 oz or 223g)all purpose flour, sifted
1tablespoon baking powder
½teaspoonfine sea salt
½teaspoonground cinnamon
7tablespoons (3 1/2 oz or 100g)cold, unsalted butter, cubed
½cup (4 oz or (118 ml)cold sour cream
¼cup (2 oz or 59ml)cold heavy creamPlus more for tops
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1cup (about 7 oz or 200g)chopped fresh peaches, patted dryPeaches should be ripe but still firm, not over ripe.
egg wash (optional)1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water
Icing
¼cup (2 oz or 57g)salted butter
½ cup (3 1/2 oz or 100g)packed brown sugar
⅓cup (2 5/8 oz or 78 ml)heavy cream
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or with your fingertips until pea size pieces form.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, heavy cream and vanilla.
Mix the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until a shaggy dough forms. Fold in the peaches.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Press the dough together and fold it over onto itself a couple of times.
Pat or roll dough into a 7-inch round. Cut dough into 8 wedges. Transfer to the prepared baking pan. Brush the scones lightly with egg wash or heavy cream.
Bake until golden brown, about 18-22 minutes. Transfer the scones to a cooling rack.
Caramel Icing
Melt the butter a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Whisk in the heavy cream and heat until bubbly. Remove from heat. Set aside to cool slightly. Drizzle or spoon the icing over the cooled scones.
If you haven’t noticed already, I love little cakes. Mini cakes are not only cute and charming, they’re likely to make you very popular. This recipe makes two darling Mini Hummingbird Cakes, one to keep and one to share. Hummingbird Cake is a delightful way to use your ripe bananas. The version I’m sharing here also contains pineapple, pecans and coconut. This fruity, nutty combination reminds me of spring and would be perfect for Easter or a spring picnic.
Mini Hummingbird Cake
by Mari Vasseur
Hummingbird Cakes filled with bananas, pineapple, pecans and coconut, topped with cream cheese frosting and decorated with graham cracker crumb moss and fresh chamomile flowers.
Green gel food colorI used Americolor avocado green**
Yellow gel food coolI used Americolor lemon yellow***
Vodka
6graham crackers (two squares each), crushed
Fresh pesticide free chamomile flowers
Instructions
Hummingbird Cakes
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottoms of four 4-inch cake pans**** with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon until well blended.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar and oil with an electric mixer, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract in three separate additions, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the bananas, pineapple, pecans and coconut until combined.
Transfer the batter to prepared cake pans, about 1 cup of batter in each pan. Place the filled cake pans on a baking sheet.
Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes. Cool the cakes in pans 10 minutes then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
Trim the cakes to 1-inch thickness. Fill, stack and frost the cakes with cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth and pale. Beat 1 tablespoon (15ml)of heavy cream, the vanilla extract and salt into the butter until well combined. On low speed, beat in the powdered sugar a half cup at a time, until well combined.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix cream the cheese with remaining 1 tablespoon (15ml) heavy cream, with a spatula until smooth. On low speed, beat the cream cheese mixture into the butter mixture until smooth and well blended. Smooth out any bubbles by stirring by hand with a spatula.
Decor
To make the graham cracker crumb moss: In two small bowls, dilute 1/8 teaspoon of each gel food color with a few drops of vodka. (Vodka will dissipate as the crumbs dry.) Place the graham cracker crumbs in a plastic food bag. Add diluted food colors a little at a time and seal the bag. Shake the bag and gently massage it to distribute the color. Add more diluted food color as needed until desired your shade of green is reached. Spread the crumbs out onto a parchment lined baking sheet to dry. Apply the crumbs to bottom edges of the frosted cakes.
Notes
*Chop the coconut flakes to achieve a finer texture. This step is optional.**To find the avocado green food color gel I used, click here.***To find the lemon yellow food color gel I used, click here.****To find the 4-inch cake pans I used, click here.
We’ve all needed a little cheering up at times, especially this past past year. These cute, happy tarts won’t take your problems away, but they can certainly make you smile, especially if you make them for someone else. They’re super easy to make and they taste better than the ones in the box we ate as kids. You can use store bought pie dough if you want to streamline the process. Any flavor of jam or preserves you have on hand works too!
Feel free to have fun decorating these little cuties. The possibilities are endless. You can use edible glitter, purchased candy eyes or even add mustaches. Happy baking!
