I’m planning to change things up just a bit for 2017.  Recipes and travel thoughts seem to be the most popular topics.  So, Fridays will be recipe day.  Frankly, I have lots of recipes I could share, my biggest barrier has been remembering to take pictures to go with the text.  I’m going to work on that.  That means Thursdays will absorb some of the topics that were discussed on Fridays, including travel.  We don’t travel enough to dedicate a day every week to that topic.

I’m also going to try to expand on one of the past weeks accomplishments to make it the center of the Tuesday posts.  I’ll identify it in the heading.  (Hopefully soon I’ll be going back to edit the headings of some of the past posts because I’ve learned that having many posts with the same title is a problem.)  Mondays are going to stay the same for now, though I’m debating how to handle the menu aspect since significant chunks of the year aren’t particularly well planned because of all the activities going on.  I may try a few things and see how it goes.

Anyway, here’s your first Friday recipe of 2017.

Banana Cake
recipe courtesy of The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking

Ingredients:
2 large ripe bananas
2 Tbsp sour cream
2 large eggs
1½ tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
10 Tbsp butter, softened
1 cup chocolate chips (or the remainder of the bag after making Ganache)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Line the bottom of a non-stick springform pan with parchment paper.
3. Combine the bananas and sour cream in a food processor.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla.  Process until smooth.
5. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour through salt).
6. Add half the banana mixture plus the softened butter.
7. Beat until just moistened.  Then increase the speed and beat for another 1½ minutes.
8. Add the remaining banana mixture in two portions, mixing thoroughly after each.
9. Stir in the chocolate chips.
10. Spread evenly in the pan.
11. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 30-40 minutes.
12. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing.
13. Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar or frosting with Chocolate Ganache Glaze.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

Ingredients:
¾ cup heavy cream
1 1/3 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Bring the cream to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips.  Stir to melt.
3. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.  Stir until smooth.
4. For pourable glaze, cool to room temperature.  For frosting, let stand until spreadable.