It was my turn to bring the Friday snack to work, which I look forward to, as it gets me into the kitchen. I had a few bananas ripening up on the counter, so I figured I should use them in whatever I decided to bring. When searching for something tasty to make, I came across these on Miss.Cupcake Face. They sounded wonderfully appealing to me, they became my choice.

I’m so happy I made these! They have a lot of flavour, a great cakey (and sooo moist) texture (more like cake than muffins), and the frosting is incredible. I changed the recipe a bit, using equal quantities of banana and pineapple, and I think it was a wise choice. I found the pineapple flavour to be very noticeable, especially given the juicy chunks of crushed pineapple that are scattered throughout each cupcake. The banana does play a predominant role, but that’s something I’m okay with. I wanted a banana flavour, with just hints of others. The toasted pecans are a necessity, adding a great crunch to the cupcakes and that oh-so-wonderful nutty flavour. I also fortunately upped the cinnamon.

And the frosting? Droooooooool. Again, I upped the cinnamon, and thankfully so. I reduced the amounts of all the ingredients too. I don’t know how much frosting people take on their cupcakes, but even with my reduced recipe and a heavily iced cupcake, I still have at least a cup of this stuff sitting in my freezer right now (which I will of course eat from sporadically with a spoon and nothing else). It’s definitely a cream cheese frosting, and the cinnamon is very noticeable.

These are excellent and versatile cupcakes (I’m thinking next time of adding coconut and using a white chocolate frosting), and good enough to serve at any type of occasion.

Is this what a hummingbird cake would likely taste like?

Pineapple Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from Miss.Cupcake Face
Printable Recipe

CUPCAKES
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups canola oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 medium sized bananas)
1/2 cups crushed pineapple (juice not included)
1 cup pecans, toasted & coarsely chopped

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, salt, baking soda & cinnamon. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until everything is combined. Slowly add the sugar mixture into the flour mixture. Add the bananas, pineapple & pecans. Mix until incorporated. Divide batter between the cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.

FROSTING
3/4 cup butter, slightly softened
8 oz cream cheese
5 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
Half and half cream, enough to get the consistency you like

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined. Add the vanilla and the cinnamon.

If you like this, you might also like:

Banana Bread with Hazelnuts
Banana Gumdrop Loaf
Caramel Apple Cupcakes

When I stumbled upon Once Upon a Plate‘s recipe for Wild and Mild Mushroom Lasagna, I knew I had to make it. It’s been sitting in my must-eat-recipe backlog for a long time, just waiting for the perfect occasion. The time finally came when I had my family over for a Mother’s Day/sister’s birthday meal.

My mother made a great spinach salad, filled with pralined pecans, cranberries, red pepper and mango:

This lasagna did not disappoint. I made some changes to the recipe, like using more dried mushrooms in the bechamel, and adding onion to the mushroom filling (as well as adding more fresh mushrooms, thankfully, as the filling was rather sparse), and I’ve taken some liberties in rewriting the recipe for clarity’s sake (some info was missing, or so I found).

The bechamel sauce in here is so wonderfully tasty…packed with earthy, rich mushroom flavour! Make sure to chop those reconstituted mushies very well, as they’ll always stay a little bit tough. I found adding wine to deglaze the pan imparted a lot of flavour, so I wouldn’t skip that part. Next time, I might try making a bit more sauce – perhaps by another half – because I loved it so much and could’ve done with a bit more.

Same with the mushroom filling. Next time, I think I would go as far as doubling it, as there wasn’t enough sliced mushrooms between the layers. The onion addition was a good one as well, the flavour really carried over.

The thyme really stands out in this recipe, especially the next day. I might be tempted to make this a day ahead of time, just to let all the flavours flourish. The leftovers were particularly tasty! (Speaking of that, that’s why the cut portion photos are so lame…I didn’t take the time to take pictures hot out of the oven, so what you see isn’t the lasagna in its most appealing state )

I was really pleased with this dish and think it’s a great vegetarian option, as well as an excellent crowd pleaser. The instructions make it look longer and more complicated than it is – it’s actually quite easy to prepare.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna
adapted from Once Upon a Plate
Printable Recipe

BECHAMEL SAUCE
3 oz dried mushrooms, soaked for 1/2 hour in 1 cup hot water (I used a “forest mix” of dried mushies)
2 1/2 cups milk or half & half (I used 1 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups 15% cream)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

MUSHROOM FILLING
2 lbs fresh mushrooms, mixed and sliced (I used a combination of button, shitake and oyster mushrooms)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil, divided into 2 parts
4 tablespoons butter, divided into 2 parts
3 to 4 chopped garlic cloves, divided into 2 parts
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese for topping
1 tablespoon of Cognac or extra dry sherry or white wine
3/4 cup grated Parmesano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for passing at the table
kosher or sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

1 pound of Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles
fresh thyme for garnish (optional)

BECHAMEL SAUCE
1. Put dried mushrooms in hot water. Let sit for 30 minutes.

2. Melt butter over low heat.

3. In a separate pan, (or in microwave) heat milk gently.

4. Whisk flour into butter, stir for a few minutes to cook flour, without allowing mixture to gain color.

5. Slowly add warm milk, still whisking. Keep whisking over low heat until smooth and thickened.

6. Grate fresh nutmeg over and stir in. Let the sauce cook very gently over a low flame, as you continue with the recipe.

7. Chop the reconstituted dried mushrooms rather finely (reserving mushroom water).

8. Heat 1 part butter and 1 part olive oil in a large frying pan. Saute the chopped wild mushroom & 1 part of the chopped garlic in the oil and butter, then salt and pepper generously. Saute until most of the mushrooms are a good medium brown. Stir in the Cognac, sherry or wine at this time, if you are using, and allow to cook off for a moment or two, until the strong alcohol scent has dissipated.

9. Pour in the reserved water from soaking the mushrooms, taking care not to allow any sediment (sand, etc.) to go into the frying pan. Turn up heat and stir until mushroom liquid has nearly all evaporated.

10. Transfer the contents of the pan (chopped mushrooms and any bit of juice) to the bechamel sauce, stir and retain over low heat; stirring occasionally; add a bit more milk or cream if sauce becomes too thick. The bechamel will turn a deliciously looking tawny to deep brown color.

MUSHROOM FILLING
1. Wipe out the frying pan, and heat the remaining butter & olive oil.

2. Saute the onion until translucent, then add the remaining garlic, dried thyme and sliced fresh mushrooms, salt & pepper them, and cook until nicely browned and liquid has evaporated. If the pan is very dry add a tablespoon or two of water or chicken broth.

3. When mushrooms have finished cooking, toss the minced parsley in the pan, stir and set aside.

ASSEMBLING THE LASAGNA
1. Though not indicated on the box of “no-boil” lasagna noodles, I soak each noodle in a bowl of hot water for about 1 minute for this particular recipe.

2. Lightly oil 9×14 lasagna pan.

3. Pour about 1/4 cup of milk or half & half into bottom of baking pan; this provides added moisture while baking so noodles will become tender.

4. Place noodles next, then follow with the bechamel sauce (cover noodle completely), a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan, then arrange 1/2 cup of the cooked sliced domestic mushrooms on top.

5. Repeat layers 3 to 4 more times, ending with sauce and grated cheese.

6. Finally sprinkle generously with grated Mozzarella.

7. Cover baking dishes with foil (not resting directly on the lasagna ingredients, but rather ballooned on top and sealed around the edges), and bake in a 350-degree (F) oven for approximately 45 minutes. I check at 30 minutes, then watch carefully from that time forward. Sauce should be bubbling vigorously, and all layers of noodles should be tender when pierced with a toothpick or tip of sharp knife.

Allow lasagnas to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with additional thyme sprigs.

If you like this, you might also like:

Asparagus and Mushroom Bread Pudding
Butternut Squash and Pecan Lasagna
Sour Cream Mushroom Pasta

So it’s been a while, been though I had claimed it wouldn’t be. We just haven’t been cooking or baking as much these days…combine this with the fact that there are numerous keys no longer working on our keyboard and you get very little inclination to write.

I did do some kitchen-stuff this past weekend though, so I’ll suffer through non-functioning letters to write about the birthday cake I prepared for my sister’s birthday (the meal, a wild mushroom lasagna, will follow shortly, but dessert always takes precedence!): Dorie Greenspan’s Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake with Cappuccino Swirl.

This cake is one good cheeseake – an exellent go-to recipe whenever you’re looking for an utterly decadent, rich cheesecake. Even the simple graham cracker rust is fantastic! The whole thing is amazingly smooth, feeling like velvet on the tongue. It’s verrrry chocolately, and tastes even better the net day, so I recommend you make it a day in advance.

I took Dorie’s “Playing Around” tip and added a cappuccino (well, coffee, since I didn’t have any instant cappuccino powder) swirl to it. Visually, it didn’t add much, but taste-wise, it added what I consider to be a necessary dimension to the cake. It definitely cut the sweetness of the cake as well.

The cake says it serves 8, but those would be some big pieces! It would easily serve 12, if not more.

It’s a perfect cheesecake, and a breeze to prepare. If chocolate and coffee is a dream combination for you, you’ll love this cake.

Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake with Cappuccino Swirl
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
Makes 8 servings (more like 16!)
Printable Recipe

CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FILLING
1 1/2 pounds (three 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

CAPPUCCINO SWIRL
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (I used instant coffee)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons boiling water.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 1/2- or 9-inch springform pan and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

CRUST
1. Stir the crumbs, sugar and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the crumbs into the pan and, with your fingers, press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan and as far up the sides as they’ll go. Freeze the crust for about 10 minutes.

2. Bake for 10 minutes, only until the crust is lightly set and just tinged with color. Cool on a rack or refrigerate while you make the filling. Keep the oven at 350 degrees F.

FILLING
1. Cut each bar of cream cheese into quarters and toss the pieces into a food processor, along with the sugar. Process, scraping down the bowl 2 or 3 times, for a full 2 minutes. You’ll see how dramatically the cream cheese changes; it will look like white velvet at the end of its beating. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt and give the batter 4 longish pulses, the scrape down the bowl and pulse 2 more times. Pour in the chocolate and pulse and scrape a few times to blend the batter well.

2. Remove the bowl from the processor and rap it hard on the counter a couple of times to de-bubble the batter. Scrape the batter into the cooled crust.

3. Bake the cheesecake for 35 to 40 minutes if you are using a 9-inch pan or 45 to 50 minutes if you are using an 8 1/2-inch pan. The top should be puffed and set, but if you tap the pan gently, the center of the cake will still be a little shaky–that’s just fine. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow the cheesecake to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 8 hours or for up to 3 days.
Run a blunt knife between the crust and sides of the pan, then open and remove the sides of the springform.

CAPPUCCINO SWIRL
1. Make a cinnamon-espresso syrup by whisking together 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and mixing in 2 tablespoons boiling water. Cool to tepid or room temperature.

2. Spoon about 1/3 of the cheesecake batter (I did this prior to adding the chocolate to it) into a measuring cup with a spout and stir in the syrup. Pour the remaining batter into the crust, then pour over the cappuccino batter, pouring so that it creates a swirl pattern in the chocolate. For good measure, take a tableknife and give the 2 batters a few extra swirls.

STORING
Wrapped well, the cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It can be frozen for up to 2 months; defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.

If you like this, you might also like:

Cheesecake Pops
Super Layer Chocolate Cake
Cinnamon Squares