Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

       Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


       I had some bananas sitting on my counter that were getting seriously brown, I had to take action.  But what to make?  Banana bread seems so predictable, so why not cupcakes and since chocolate and bananas go so well together, top them with chocolate buttercream.  The funny coincidence with this is that it was national cupcake day, but I didn't know it until I had already decided to make the cupcakes!  I guess they were just meant to be.

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

For cupcakes:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (enough for 1 cup)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp half and half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder and flour in a bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add mashed bananas and vanilla, beat to combine.

Add 1//3 of flour mixture, mixing until just combined.  Then add 1/2 of the half and half, mixing in.  Then add another 1/3 of flour, mixing as before and then the rest of the half and half and finally the last 1/3 of the flour.

Line 24 muffin cups with paper.  Divide batter up equally (an ice cream scoop works great for this).

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare frosting.

Cream butter.

Beat in powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time.

Beat in cocoa.

Beat in vanilla and half and half.

Frost cooled cupcakes.

ENJOY!


Shared at 4 Little Fergusons on 12/16/11.
Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/20/11.
Shared at Chef in Training on 12/20/11.
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/22/11.

Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      I love Italian food!  I especially love pasta dishes, I could eat pasta every day.  I sometimes think that I was Italian in a previous life.  So it should come as no surprise that I wanted to make pasta for dinner last night.

     The dish that was coming to mind for me was pasta with vodka cream sauce.  I had never made it before, but I really wanted to give it a try.  So I spent some time looking at different recipes to see how it was done and then I went to work on my own version.

     It turned out to be delicious, definitely a "keeper" recipe.  I used my homemade marinara sauce in this recipe,  but you could certainly use your favorite jar of sauce.  I also used half and half, partly to keep it a little lighter and partly because that's what I had on hand.  Feel free to use cream if you prefer.

Pasta with Vodka Cream Sauce

• 4 cups marinara sauce (click on the link for my recipe or use your favorite jarred sauce)
• 2/3 cup vodka
• 1 cup half and half (or cream, if you prefer) 
• crushed red pepper, to taste
• a couple of big handfuls of parmesan cheese
• hot, cooked short pasta (I used penne)

Pour marinara sauce into a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  When sauce is heated, add vodka (I always turn the burner off before I add alcohol to the pan).

Bring mixture up to a simmer and then add crushed red pepper, to taste.

Stir in half and half.

Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add parmesan and stir in.

Add hot pasta and combine.

Serve immediately.

ENJOY!


Shared at It's a Keeper on 12/15/11.
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/15/11.
Shared at 4 Little Fergusons on 12/16/11.
Shared at Food Corner on 1/3/12.

Homemade Puff Pastry

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      Did you know that you could make your own puff pastry?  Did you know it's not that hard?  Did you know that it only has five ingredients?  Well, it's all true.  I learned how to make puff pastry last winter when I took an awesome cooking class.  I was amazed at how easy it was to make.  If you make your own pie crust, you would find it extremely easy.

     There are a couple of things you should know before you get started.  First of all, make sure that all of your ingredients are REALLY cold.  You need to put the flour and butter in the freezer for an hour and the water needs to be ice cold.  The other thing is don't overwork the dough and don't use too much water.

     Look for an upcoming post with a recipe for a savory tart using your homemade puff pastry.

   

Puff Pastry

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cake flour
• 1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup ice water

Mix the flours together with the salt and freeze for 1 hour.  Cut the butter up into 1/2 cubes and freeze for 1 hour.

Put cold flour and butter into a large mixing bowl.

With a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until you have 1/4 in pieces of butter.

Add enough cold water to the flour mixture until the mixture almost holds together (I needed to use a little more water than that, probably 2 tbsp more).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and press together to form a rectangle.  There should be large chunks of butter showing.

Roll the dough into a rectangle that is about 5x7 inches.

Fold the narrow end inward to meet in the center and then fold the dough again so that there are four layers.

Turn dough 1/4 turn and repeat the process.

Repeat the process two more times for a total of four turns.  After the last turn, fold the dough accordion style.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes.  Then use as you normally would use puff pastry. 

ENJOY!


Shared at It's a Keeper on 12/15/11.
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/15/11.
Shared at 4 Little Fergusons on 12/16/11.
Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/20/11.
Shared at Chef in Training on 12/20/11.

Lemon Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

        Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


      I love pound cake!  I have a recipe for plain pound cake that I've often made, but I had never made a lemon pound cake.  I'm not sure why because I love lemon baked goods, but I guess it just never occurred to me to give it a try.  Well, last night....it finally occurred to me....why not try my hand at a lemon pound cake?  I should be able to do that.  So that's what I did!

     This cake is good all on its own, but it would also be delicious topped with strawberries or lemon curd to make it even more lemony.  The recipe makes two loaf size cakes, so you can have one now and freeze one for later.  Which is great this time of year.  If you find yourself needing a dessert, you'll have something on hand.

Lemon Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 tsp vanilla
• zest and juice of one lemon

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.  

Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.  Add flour mixture and half and half alternately to butter mixture making sure to start and finish with the flour.

Mix in vanilla, lemon juice and zest.

Divide batter between two loaf pans that have been greased and floured.

Place pans in a cold oven and set temperature to 325 degrees.  Bake for one hour without opening the door.

Remove from oven and cool in the pans for 15 minutes.  Remove cakes from pan and finish cooling on a rack.

While cakes are cooling, make glaze.  Put powdered sugar in a small bowl and stir in lemon juice one tablespoon at a time until a thin glaze has formed.  Drizzle over both cakes.

Slice and serve.

ENJOY!

Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 12/13/11.
Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 12/13/11.
Shared at Food Corner on 12/14/11.

Shared at Gooseberry Patch on 12/14/11.
Shared at It's a Keeper on 12/15/11.
Shared at Miz Helen's Country Cottage on 12/15/11.
Shared at4 Little Fergusons on 12/23/11.