Banana Split Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 large)
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1/2 cup milk1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
Few drops red food coloring
1/2 cup presweeted cocoa powder (not low calorie)
1 cup chocolate fudge ice cream topping

Preparation:

1. Allow butter an d eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and flour a 10-inch fluted rube pan or a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 dergees F. In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, combine banana, sour cream, milk and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.

3. In a small bowl, stir together 1 cup of the batter, the strawberry preserves, and red food coloring. In another small bowl, stir together another 1 cup of the batter and the cocoa powder. Spoon half of the remainning plain batter into the prepared 10-inch fluted tube pan (if using). Add strawberry batter. Top with remaining plain batter, then chocolate batter. ( If using a 13x9x2-inch baking pan, evenly spread all of the plain batter in the prepared pan. Spoon chocolate and strawberry batter into small mounds randomly over the plain batter. Use a narrow metal spatula to gently swirl the batters.)

4. Bake until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Allow 55 to 65 minutes for the fluted tube pan or 40 to 45 minutes for the 13x9x2-inch pan. Cool in tube pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Or place the 13x9x2-inch cake in pan on wire rack; cool completely.

5. In a small saucepan, heat ice cream topping just until it reaches drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cake.

Baked Apple and Panettone

Ingredients:

2 small panettone or 1 large,
4 large green apples,
2 TBSP soft brown sugar,
2 TBSP unsalted butter,
Confectioners’ sugar to serve,
Thick (double/heavy ) cream or vanilla custard, to serve.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Trim off the rounded top of one of the small panettone and slice the cake into four rounds, or cut four rounds from four slices of a large panettone. Put the rounds on the baking tray and lightly butter them.

Core the apples with an apple corer or a small sharp knife, making sure you remove all the though core pieces. Slice and butter the other small panettone, or some of the large one, before tearing it into small pieces. Stuff the panettone pieces into the center of the apples, alternating the pieces with a little brown sugar. Top with 1 TSP brown sugar per apple and a dob of butter.

Put one apple onto each panettone round and bake them for 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve warm, dusted with confectioners’ sugar and accompanied with thick (double/heavy) cream or vanilla custard.

Serve 4.

Enjoy!

Almond Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles

Ingredients
2 ½ cups crushed vanilla wafers (about 12 oz)
1 cup almonds
2 TSP ground cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
½ cup pumpkin puree
3 1/2 TSP rhum, whiskey or coffee liqueur

Preparation
Pulse vanilla wafers and almonds in a food processor until ground fine.
Combine ground vanilla wafers and almonds, sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.
With a rubber spatula, blend in melted chocolate, pumpkin and liqueur. Let stand 10 minutes to firm up.
Shape mixture into balls, refrigerate until firm.