Inspiration with a side of coffee cake please.

 

 Yesterday was national coffee cake day. I missed it. I thought about it, but I missed it. To celebrate a little late, I wanted to share how I changed up my favorite coffee cake recipe and some quotes that have really resonated with me over the past week. Heather from  La Feem was so sweet to tweet me a link to these. And they have really made me think and want to do a little mental spring cleaning. In with the good and out with the bad. With a side of coffee cake of course. Will you join me?

 

Bannana chocolate chip coffee cake

Adapted from this Ina recipe

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 bananna, mashed
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
• cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, bannana and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed. Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 1 cup chocolate chips or more :). Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake to a serving plate and dust lightly with cocoa powder.

This is just a sampling of the quotes, you can find the rest here.

• Your thoughts cause your feelings
• We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.
• Thoughts that bring about good feelings mean you are on the right track. Thoughts that bring about bad feelings means you are not on the right track.
• Whatever it is you are feeling is a perfect reflection of what is in the process of becoming
• You get exactly what you are FEELING
• Happy feelings will attract more happy circumstances
• Choose your thoughts carefully .. you are a masterpiece of your lifeSince it's friday, let's go think happy thougts of the weekend, make coffee cake, and enjoy a cocktail.

Thanks to Heather and Ina for the inspiration

xoxo

d

Ps. and thanks to Torrie for your sweet post today. You can see it here

Monday. Better late than never...

So the weekend was great. And I have to start out by screaming: "I MET INA GARTEN". Here I go again...blah blah blah...Ina Garten....blah blah. But seriously, it was so great! I talked about the book signing a while back. Well thanks to my mom and two sweet little girlies....we headed up to South Coast Plaza Mall (my all time fav), had lunch at Lawry's (yum) and met Ina. Ya we go way back now. Way back to last Friday. I do have to say that I met some lovely ladies who let me sneak back in line with them. And if it wouldn't have been without their kindness, I never would have gotten in, thank you! It was a completely mixed group of "Ina lovers", young, old, people trying to look like her (you know the black or navy standard button up) sporting Ina style and a ladylike bob. When I finally made it up to her, I was so excited and nervous:

me: "Thank you so much for the beautiful recipes and inspiration, YOU really are the one who has taught me how to cook and love "good" food"

Ina: "Well thank you for coming to the signing and expressing such kind words"

me: nervous and excited..."uh...gee Ina your hand must be getting sore"

Ina: Laughing a bit.."well that's like saying there is still not a line of lovely people in line....I hope you enjoy the new book""

me: "Oh I ALREADY have!!"

{me just nervously chatting away + one sweet PATIENT niece}

Ugh...am I completely lame or what?! "Gee Ina your hand must be sore"? It was like meeting a cooking rock star, and she seemed so kind and sweet to top it off! Love her! Now if I can just figure out how to hang out in her kitchen with her (In a non stalker way!). Something like how Gwyneth did and make homemade ricotta for brunch (which is SUPER easy by the way). Thanks to Pretty Mommy for that link!

Enough Ina gushing, and let's celebrate by having a piece of her  Old Fashioned Banana cake from her new book:  How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips.

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• Cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)
• Walnut halves, for decorating

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan. MIX bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar in bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add oil, eggs, sour cream. vanilla and orange zest. Mix until smooth. STIR together flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack and cool completely. SPREAD frosting thickly on top of cake and decorate with walnut halves. Slice and serve

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (1/2 pound)

MIX cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don't whip. Add sugar and mix until smooth. Enjoy with friends! This would make a great layered cake for a children's birthday party, just double the recipe!
 
Hope you all had a great weekend too!!
 
xoxoxo
d
 
***we will go with meal planning Monday on TUESDAY this week :)***
 

Ina! Ina! Ina!

I am such an Ina Garten dork....I love her. And her book comes out today!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to browse the pages. She has the most simple, good, yummy recipes and I am pretty sure that most of my cooking skills I have learned over the past five years of watching her show. Here's to you Ina!! I cannot post this without mentioning her other books that I also LOVE and are over used in my kitchen.

So run out and pick up your copy....I know you want to.

xoxoxo

d

Be inspired.



via the love shop.



Since I haven't gotten around to my meal planning for the week yet (nobody is perfect, especially me!), I thought I would share this print with you. I think it is lovely ....it got me thinking about inspiration to do what you love or aspire to. What inspires you?

and I think it would look nice in my home too...don't you agree?

xoxox
d

When you need a buzz.



{Photo here.}

Ever have those days when you feel pissed wronged? I know you have....and you think to yourself, I need a buzz. I'm talking chocolate buzz friends (although a glass of champagne would make a great accompaniment). Well have I got a recipe for you. It is called a honey bee cake. It is a warm chocolaty, honey, goodness that will surely turn the wrongness to right, well as long as you are on a sugar high. This cake makes a cute birthday cake or an elegant dinner party decadence. Without further ado I give you Nigella Lawson's Honey bee cake. Dig in. 

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
• 1 1/3 cups soft light brown sugar
• 2 sticks soft butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda (baking soda)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 1 cup boiling water

Sticky Honey Glaze

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Bees 

• 1 ounce yellow marzipan
• 12 flaked almonds
• Special equipment: 9-inch springform tin

Take whatever you need out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come to room temperature, and while that's happening, melt the chocolate from the cake part of the ingredients list in a good-sized bowl, either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and butter and line a 9-inch springform tin. Beat together the sugar and soft butter until airy and creamy, and then add the honey. Add 1 of the eggs, beating it in with a tablespoon of the flour, and then the other egg with another tablespoon of flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, and then the rest of the flour and baking soda. Add the cocoa pushed through a tea strainer to ensure you have no lumps, and last of all, beat in the boiling water. Mix everything well to make a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin. Cook for up to 1 1/2 hours, though check the cake after 45 minutes and if it is getting too dark, cover the top lightly with aluminium foil and keep checking every 15 minutes. Let the cake cool completely in the tin on a rack. To make the glaze, bring the water and honey to a boil in a saucepan, then turn off the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate, swirling it around to melt in the hot liquid. Leave it for a few minutes, then whisk together. Add the sugar through a sieve and whisk again until smooth. Choose your plate or stand, and cut out 4 strips of baking paper and form a square outline on the plate. This is so that when you sit the cake on and ice it, the icing will not run out all over the plate. Unclip the tin and set the thoroughly cooled cake on the prepared plate. Pour the glaze over the cold honey bee cake; it might dribble a bit down the edges, but don't worry too much about that. The glaze stays tacky for ages (this is what gives it its lovely melting gooiness) so ice in time for the glaze to harden a little, say at least an hour before you want to serve it. Keep the pan of glaze, (don't wash it up), as you will need it to make the stripes on the bees. Divide the marzipan into 6 even pieces and shape them into fat, sausage-like bees' bodies, slightly tapered at the ends. Using a wooden skewer, paint stripes with the sticky honey glaze left in the pan from icing the cake. About 3 stripes look best, and then very carefully attach the flaked almonds at an angle to make the bees' wings, 2 on each one. They might snap as you dig them into the marzipan bodies, so have some spare. I'm afraid to admit, I also like to give them eyes by dipping the point of the skewer in the glaze and thence on the bees: they look more lovable with an expression, which is somehow what the eyes give them, but then this is where the Disney effect comes in. If a more imperial dignity is required, forgo the dotting of the eyes and present this as your Napoleonic Chocolate Cake.

xoxoxoxo
d

p.s.. Make sure you don't share with the wrong doer.

p.s.s They will be jealous.

Sunday, eat coffee cake.

Good morning. One of the best things about weekend mornings, brunch, etc is that you can eat cake for breakfast. Great right? I know you want to! I thought I would share one of my favorite tried and true coffee cake recipes from Barefoot Contessa. Here it is:

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.
Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners' sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

recipe via food network

You can have your cake in the morning and eat it too.

xoxoxo

d

Ina Garten.

I can't hardly hold back my excitement. Ina Garten "Barefoot Contessa" has a new book! She has taught me so much about the beauty and importance of great simple food. Here new book "How easy is that" will be available in october!! And to top it off she will be at the Williams-Sonoma at South Coast Plaza on Friday, November 12....I hope that I am not to nervious to meet her. She is quite a domestic role model. I think I will celebrate by cooking my way thru her wonderful books until I meet her.