Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake (The Boondt)

Inspired by the Big Fat Greek Wedding, I pulled out my old bundt cake pan which I probably have not used in at least over 20 years. Still looks great, nice design, and sturdy. Cannot find another today exactly like that. Fire engine red, kind of wearing out, but the inside is solid non-stick, and it's really heavy duty. Actually someone gave me any idea to bake a whole chicken in the bundt, standing it upright. Not a bad idea, but somehow, I'd feel weird baking a cake in it afterwards. Certain wares, are made for certain things, and not to be used for anything else. I would not be able to get the propped up chicken out of my mind, next time I would bake a cake...also knowing that certain family members are vegetarian, and I could not lie to them that prior to the cake a chicken was basking in it, in the oven.

Getting back to the "Boondt." I loved the movie, and loved that one particular scene, where the future mother-in-law brings a bundt cake to the engagement party of the Greek family. Here's an excerpt from the scene.

Toula’s father introduces each and every family member to Millers and when all the introductions are through, Mrs. Miller holds out a bundt cake. Completely confused, Toula’s mother asks, “What’s this?”

“It’s a bundt cake.” Mrs. Miller says.

Completely dumbfounded, Toula’s mother repeats, “Boondt?”

“Yes, Bundt.”

“Boondt?”

“BUNDT!!!”

“Oh…It’s a cake!” She finally confirms. “This cake has a hole in it…”

 

So, without further adieu...let me introduce you to my BOONDT...Bundt Cake!



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Did I forget to mention, that this wonderful Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake, is topped with a yummy Caramel glaze? It is so easy to make, just like the cake too. Like I mentioned in previous banana bread recipes, I always have extra bananas left over, and when it gets down to the "magic 3" amount, and it has little brown spots on them, it's time to make something with it.


Hi Friends!
Yesterday, I was gone all day, and just now, I noticed I wiped out the entire photos, and recipes...so now I have to start back again to copy from my scribbled note the recipe, all over again.

Also, thanking everybody for the nice comments, regarding my BOONDT...bundt cake, with the caramel icing. The cake is all gone now, so on to my next adventure. So sorry, for any inconvenience, here's the recipe once more.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
3 ripe bananas mashed
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 oz pkg. Nestle semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease, and flour a 12 cup bundt pan. (you can use the cooking spray for baking)
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and dash of salt. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, butter, and the eggs, with an electric mixer, till nice and creamy. In a small bowl, mash the bananas. Add the ingredients from the medium bowl, which has the egg mixture, to the flower mixture, and mix at a low speed to combine. Now, mix in the bananas, the heavy cream, and the vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, by hand, and mix lightly. Pour into the bundt pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Lower temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, Top should be a nice golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before flipping cake over, on a plate. Cool for another 10 minutes, before drizzling on the glaze. Serve 6 regular sizes, or 8 larger slices.

Caramel Glaze


1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, melt sugar with the butter, on medium high heat, until it comes to a bubble. Add the cream, and vanilla, and lower the heat. Keep stirring until it thickens, and comes to a bubble. It should get a nice amber color, thick and gooey! Immediately take it off the heat, and with a soup spoon, start drizzling the cake evenly, all around. It will set in a few minutes, and will have a beautiful shine to it from the butter, and the cream. The flavor of the caramel, banana, and chocolate chips, will be fantastic.

Angel Food Cake with Fresh Berries

So, here we are, celebrating birthdays, and Labor Day weekend in South Beach  I call my family, "the skinny family." Everybody exercises, even the two little Chihuahuas, that has to be walked everyday, due to the "weight gain" that I am guilty of, watching them for a month, while they were vacationingng in Italy...and still didn't gain weight...and here I am, reading an interesting book called, WOMEN FOOD AND GOD by Geneen Roth, that can really inspire you. Getting back to the cake. I didn't have a plan, but I did have a lot of fresh berries, about to make a mixed berry sorbet, but instead, made an Angel Food Cake, knowing that it's light, low in calories, and cholesterol, and this is the kind of cake my daughter would love. I consulted with my "bible" the 1986The New Good Housekeeping cookbook that has everything from A-Z recipes, that are simple, and gourmet, you can dress it up, jazz it up, any way you like it, no funky ingredients, but if you are creative, you can make it your own. I did adapted it my way, the spiked flavor of the Limoncello was just the right touch, but, I think I will stick with the original recipe next time. No substitute, no gimmick. The cake turned out wonderful, the "birthday girl" was happy, and so was everyone else...and so ends, another Birthday Celebration!

Angel Food Cake-(original recipe

11/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup cake flour

1 2/3 cups egg white (12-14 egg whites, at room temp.)

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/4 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In small bowl, stir confectioners' sugar and the cake flour, set aside. In large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites. cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form: beat in extracts. Beating at high speed, sprinkle in sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. beating until sugar is completely dissolved, and whites stand in stiff peaks. Fold in flour mixture just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into ungreased 10-inch tube pan.Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert cake in pan on funnel, or bottle ; cool completely in pan. With metal spatula, carefully loosen cake from pan.; Place on cake plate.

Note: This recipe is from the New Housekeeping Book, first edition, copyright 1986. I love my no-nonsense book that has great basic recipes, and with a little imagination, can be updated, and adapted from the original.

I adapted the recipe, which I am happy with, but next time will add 2 extra egg whites, and be more careful about folding the flour in. Also I reduced the baking temperature, which worked fine. Here's the adapted version which I used.

Angel Food Cake-(adapted from the original recipe)

1 3/4 cup sugar 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cake flour

12 egg whites at room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup Limoncello, or fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a food processor, spin sugar till superfine. Sift half the sugar with the flour. Set the rest, aside. In a large metal bow, combine egg whites, Limoncello, (or lemon juice) salt, and cream of tartar. Beat with hand mixer on high. When halfway done, but still creamy, (not stiff) slowly add sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Keep beating until stiff. Follow the above recipe's instruction for baking, and cooling.

Glaze for berries

1 jar of fruit spread; strawberry, or seedless raspberry. Heat in small saucepan, and add juice of 1 lemon. Heat until it comes to a boil, and sieve through a fine sieve. Brush on berries, either separately, and place on powder sugar topped cake, or you can directly brush on top of the berries already assembled on cake. It is a light cake that is always a welcome dessert.

Hungarian Plum Dumplings-Szilvás Gombóc

Just can't compare this delicacy to any other type of dumpling The Hungarian plum dumplings, otherwise known as the Szilvas Gomboc. The only difference with these is the type of plums you use which would be in the prunus family, the smaller version, different shape, and more dark purple in color. They all are juicy and sweet in their season.

When I was growing up in Ohio, my mother, "may she rest in peace" made all these delicacies for us, never letting any of us help her, just to watch, and learn. Of course, little did we learn, we were always too eager to eat as soon as it was done. The kitchen always filled with the aroma of her wonderful cooking. She was an expert in fresh noodle making, and of course with all the fresh dough that she made magical things with, especially the yeast dough, what we call danish, filled with various fruit fillings. You could not even find these in a specialty bakery. It has to be home made, filled with love. When my children were little, here in South Florida, we were fortunate to have my "Mariska Neni"-Aunt Mariska, to make all the delicacies for us. She too let me watch, but never made it by myself, these ladies of Independence in the kitchen just did everything by themselves, and you were the audience, and "taste tester" and got to eat all the goodies. Wow, those were the good old days, it brings tears to my eyes, every time I think of it. I've attempted to make the dumplings, of course, years later, and still need to perfect it.

 Do not be fooled with the 20 minute preparation as some recipes call for it. Plan to have a messy counter, or board to work on, because you will literally need a bag of flour at your side to keep flouring the board, so you don't end up with a sticky dough that you have to scrape off the working area, you also don't want to put too much flour in your dough, otherwise you will end up with a heavy lump of dough that could be disastrous, and ending up with a chipped tooth, and a trip to the dentist. As for me, I did not want an audience, dealed with my own mess, taste tested by myself, and showed off the finish product, which really did turn out nice, with the right amount of ingredients to work with, and a nice finished portion of fresh plum dumplings.

Hungarian Plum Dumpling-Szilvás Gombóc

2 1/2 small Italian plums, or about 12 plums (see photo below)
4 or 5 large potatoes, or 8 small ones
4 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
Buttered bread crumbs, and oats (opt.) with cinnamon and sugar

Quarter large potatoes, or halve the small ones, cook them in their skin for better flavor, then peel them after they are cooked. Mash, with a potato masher. In a large bowl place flour, salt, and  mashed potato, make a dent in the  middle and add the egg. Mix with your hands real well, if it's a little dry, add about 1/4 cup of flour, a drop at a time, to make a pliable dough. Place dough on floured work surface, divide dough in half, wrap the second half of dough and put aside. Work with the first half, by rolling it, adding by sprinkling flour on top, so you can roll dough easier, to 1/2 in. Cut into 4 inch square portions, they don't have to be perfectly even squares at the end portions. Place 1 piece of fruit, if they are really thinly sliced, place 2 in the middle, fold up at the end corners, and roll, as if you are rolling a meatball, wetting your hands if necessary, and rolling the ball into a little more flour.

Drop the balls, one at a time into rapid salty boiling water, and wait until they come to surface after about a few minutes, probably 10 minutes, cook a few minutes, total time, about 12-15 minutes. You can taste test by scooping it out with a large slotted spoon, and cut into the middle. This way you will know that it is done, or it may need a few more minutes. Do not drain the dumplings into a colander, they might fall apart. Carefully take them out one by one, and place them into a skillet with about 2 cups of bread crumbs, 1 cup of oats (opt.), and about 2 tablespoons of sugar, a dash of cinnamon, but first and foremost, don't forget to melt, about half a stick of butter and then add the crumbs, and the sugar. Make sure you incorporate every piece of dumpling with the bread crumbs. Serve with additional cinnamon sugar, if desired. Yields about 12 dumplings, 6 servings.
 
Note: seriously, they turned out better than I imagined, and a lot easier with careful preparation. After all those years of observing, this is about the third time I made this by myself. Less intimidating, if you only make half the portion of the dough, and save the other half for another use. Dough freezes well, but do not keep it in the freezer for more than 30 days.



You can see the little lumps from the cooked potato, which is OK  Roll dough half an inch thick.



Cut, and slice plums  sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on them.

Cut into 4 inch squares, and place 1 piece of fruit in middle, fold corners over, and roll dough into a ball, enclosing corners.

You can see when they're ready, they will come to surface, but still cook them longer, and remove with slotted spoon.

Have skillet ready with breadcrumbs, oats. (opt.) sugar, and cinnamon, and melted butter. Heat thoroughly, and coat each dumpling

finished result. Really just amount of sweetness, dough really moist and flavorful

Extra fruit left over, and second portion of dough to be used for gnocchi, or freeze for next use.

No Bake Raspberry Marshmallow Cream Cheesecake

I've always wanted to adapt a nice no bake cheese cake, but I hesitated, until now. Forget the Jello no bake cheese cake. This version is fresh, light, and easy to make. If you don't want to use my marshmallow frosting/creme recipe with it, you could use jar of Marshmallow creme, but it won't be the same.

Showing off my milk glass plate which I mentioned before on my blog. What a lucky find...a real treasure. The raspberries are so refreshing in this cheese cake.You couldn't possibly fold in fresh raspberries into the baked version. This is why it's so light.

The whole pieces of  raspberries are folded into it...you can see the swirl of the organic raspberry spread folded in...Yumm!

I decided to cut this recipe out from the back of the Nabisco Grahams, but did not use the 8x8 square pan, instead I used my  8x8 removable sides Wilton cheesecake pan. Used less raspberries and my own marshmallow creme, from scratch.

Who would want to get ride of their Wilton cheesecake pan? I got lucky with this. I just love it, such good quality, can't complain about the price, either. Goodwill find $1.99

No sooner than cutting out the recipe from the back of the Graham cracker box, I stopped by at my other favorite thrift store...World Thrift, and came across this great book which has recipes from labels on jars, cans, boxes and I can actually recognize some of these recipes, from a hundred years ago..(just kidding)...from 1979. Wow, 31 years ago. It has some real good ones, but obviously I will be adapting them to a lighter, and healthier version. My daughter didn't like this book because it has no pictures of the foods in them. You don't need to have pictures, you can pretty much imagine what it's going to look like when you make it your own. I can hardly wait to reminisce with the "oldies" and make it up to date.By the way, how could you lose for $.95?

 No Bake Raspberry Marshmallow Cream Cheesecake

1 pkg. (6oz.) raspberries

8 Graham crackers (1/2 box) crushed in food processor

2 teaspoons sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 pkg. (8oz). light Philadelphia creme cheese at room temp.

1 cup of home made marshmallow frosting/creme

grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of the same lemon, after grating

2 Tablespoons of seedless organic raspberry spread

Mix graham crackers sugar and melted butter. Press firmly with a back of a large spoon onto the bottom and up the sides, 1 inches in an 8x8 spring form pan. Chill, in refrigerator, until cream is assembled. In a large bowl, make marshmallow frosting, according to recipe. Take out 1 cup to use, and save the rest for frosting cup cakes, or cake, or divide recipe in half to use. Beat creme cheese and marshmallow frosting, adding zest of lemon, and juice. Beat until light and fluffy. Fold in half the raspberries, and gently swirl in the raspberry spread, Spread evenly over crust, and decorate with the remaining raspberries. Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Makes about 8 servings.

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