MangiaMore: BANANA blondies

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RER 7.15.14

It's becoming abundantly clear why I cannot lose a pound. Not one. Not a single one. I can’t stop baking!

You know the expression, “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”? Like, I really can’t agree with it. I can think of  a zillion billion things that taste way better than how I imagine skinny would feel (I can only imagine friends… I know what strong and healthy feel like, but not ‘skinny’ per se).

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These banana blondies just happen to be one of those delightful things that might just outweigh thin. Cookies and Cups is making it impossible for me to drop any weight and achieve that “tasty” skinniness.

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RER 7.14.14

First of all, I would not describe these as blondies. They’re something more like a moist flavorful cake with a healthy smear of delish brown sugar frosting. They were buttery and dense, like a blondie, but they didn’t have that cookie-like crumble; they were just smooth and bouncy like this banana cake.

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RER 7.14.14

-->Secondly, if there is an option of browning your butter instead of using plain-old butter, always, always go the browned butter route. Just the smell of browned butter is lusty—sensual, seductive and sonorous. It makes everything ten times more scrumptious and infinitely amplifies sex appeal.

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RER 7.14.14

-->C: This frosting was a jaw dropping. So wonderful, I wanted to take some off of the blondies to eat with other goodies. The luscious icing had some sugar heating involved like the frosting of my caramel cake and the deep yumminess of browned sugar like the pear cake but somehow, it outshone both and was utterly mouth-watering perfection. There are no words.

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Finally, the combination of the cakey base and the smooth and creamy caramelized brown sugar frosting was practically out of control. Like ridiculously, wildly, disgustingly delicious. Every bite (I cut the blondies into tiny tiny itty bitty square, aka bites) was like heaven. The banana flavor was just strong enough to linger on the tongue and waft delicately into hearts. The frosting sealed in the moistness with a rich and creamy caramel note, pulling out the beautiful moments of browned butter in the bar. And with these powers combined, the banana blondies were practically invincible.

I think this is what skinny feels like…

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7.14.14

RER 7.15.14

re.CAP: PEAR almond cake & cinnamon brown sugar buttercream

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RER 6.11.14

For some reason, I have recently been in a strange baking frenzy. I can’t even tell if it started with the Caramel Cake or if that was just one of the data points on the graph. Whatever it is, we just don’t need baked goods at all times in our house. I guess, I just have had sweet thangs on my mind. 

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So, my friend and I coordinated, and we made a cake. The intentions were all good. After  reviewing other recipes (which might crop up later), we decided on a Pear Almond Cake with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream from Country Cleaver.

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Unfortunately, after cutting the pears, everything went a little down hill but there was definitely no dip in fun. First, I couldn’t find the blades for the food processor to chop up our pears to bits and transform them into a smooth puree. Not a problem; we used a different machine.

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And then, the oven didn’t work. Yes, correct, the oven was NOT working. The light went on, it beeped, but it never got warm. I put my head in there and nothing  happened. In fact, it felt cooler in there than it did in the kitchen. All was not lost, batter and greased pans were rushed to my friend’s residence and baked there.

From then on it was almost smooth sailing, until it appeared we did not have enough frosting to hold the cake together and maintain an aesthetic façade. Frenzy ensued while more browned butter was made and watched cool to whip up another half batch of frosting.

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RER 6.11.14

With less than no time to spare, the cake was completed but we had zero seconds to taste it. It was a long wait, but enduring the torture until after the gym to taste our cake was completely and utterly worth it.

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Now this cake, dubbed a ‘fall cake,’ had some of those autumnal notes like the spicy cinnamon, aromatic almond and toasty pear, but something about it felt lively and fresh. It was light enough to be a tidy summer treat, but decadent and layered enough to be comfortable in cooler temperatures. The grainy sweetness of the pear was subtle and coddled by the warmth of the almond extract, while the raw brown sugar and browned butter created texture in the frosting. I mean, it was just plain delicious.

RER 6.11.14

RER 6.11.14

This just goes to show that things do not always start out smooth, but pushing through can have sweet results (see what I did there?). I can not wait to make this cake again (I should say this time just I participated, mainly measuring and taking pics), maybe with a few adjustments per usual! Shout out to my friend for good times and scrumptious cake. Looking forward to our next baking adventure!

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6.11.14

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