Banana Split Cupcakes

Hubby’s birthday was recently, so a friend and I made him banana split cupcakes as a surprise. These turned out absolutely amazing, and I’ll definitely be making them again. Cupcake recipe is from a family member so I can’t share it exactly, but here is a similar recipe using a box mix; icing recipe is from Betty Crocker. The wrappers can be found on Etsy (the seller has fixed the spelling error on the wrappers, but double-check your download when you buy it, just in case).

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 box yellow or white cake mix
• 1 large box instant pudding, banana flavor
• 3 over-ripe bananas (like you’d use for banana bread)
• 1 tsp. banana extract

Buttercream Icing Ingredients

• 6 cups powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 4 tsp. vanilla
• 6 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled (do all or half as dark chocolate)
• 6-8 Tbsp. milk

Toppings

• strawberries, sliced
• peanuts, chopped

Directions

1. Prepare cupcakes as directed on the box, adding the pudding mix, bananas, and banana extract.
2. Cook according to directions and cool.
3. Sift powdered sugar into a large bowl.
4. Add butter and mix with electric mixer on low speed until blended.
5. Stir in vanilla and chocolate.
6. Gradually add milk, stirring until combined. Stop when frosting is at the desired consistency.
7. Frost cupcakes with a good layer of frosting, using either a piping bag or knife.
8. Immediately after frosting each cupcake, add some chopped nuts and a few slices of strawberry.
9. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.

Spicy Asian Beef

Felt like homemade Asian food the other day and I had a nice slab of sirloin steak for hubby and I. Came across this recipe. Slightly modified it, and we served it with asparagus and coconut rice. (for the coconut rice, simply replace the water with coconut milk and cook as normal, add salt and pepper to taste at the end)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup medium-dry Sherry (I used flat champagne because it’s what we had)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (can reduce or leave this out if you don’t want spicy)
• 2 lbs. sirloin or other steak, cut into cubes
• 1 Tbsp. oil or butter

Directions

1. Mix soy sauce, sherry, sugar, garlic, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour over cubed beef, stir to coat. Marinate for about 20 minutes.
3. Heat a skillet on medium heat, and melt butter (or add oil, if you prefer).
4. Add steak to skillet, and cook for about 5 minutes for medium-rare.
5. Rest for 5 minutes and serve.

Sour Cream Corn Cakes

I recently acquired a 50 lb bag of corn flour, so I need some recipes to use it. Hubby and I did quiche for dinner, and I wanted something to go with it. Since it’s a breakfast-like food, my mind went to pancakes, but that didn’t seem right, so I decided on a more savory option of griddle cakes. I also have a ton of fresh herbs, so I threw some in as well. This was my first attempt at making a baking recipe of my own, and I could not stop eating them! You can also replace the garlic and rosemary with anything else you may want to flavor it. I’m thinking some orange zest and vanilla would be a good sweeter option. If you come up with any good flavoring suggestions, let me know, I’d love to try it!

Ingredients

• 2 cups corn flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 Tbsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 tsp chopped garlic, smashed (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Sift together the dry ingredients (corn flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar) and set aside.
2. Mix together the wet ingredients (sour cream, egg, and milk). Mix in garlic and rosemary (or other flavorings).
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Batter will be thick and lumpy.
4. Two cooking options – either cook on the stove like pancakes or melt some butter in a cast iron skillet and cook in the oven like cornbread.

Basil Whipped Cream

strawberry shortcake with basil whipped cream

Makes about 2 cups of whipped cream. This really took our strawberry shortcake to a whole new level. It was like the difference between getting it at a diner and getting it at a five star restaurant. We used pound cake and macerated strawberries for the shortcake, shown above.

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1-2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions

1. Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.
2. Tear or chop basil and add to cream, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.
3. Strain herbs from cream and chill for at least 2 hours.
4. Whip until stiff peaks form. (I used my stand mixer on speed 6, it took only a few minutes)
5. Add sugar a bit at a time and whip on reduced speed. Once the sweetness is where you want it, you’re done!

Caramel vodka cider

Ingredients

•  1 gallon apple cider
• 750 ml bottle caramel vodka (I used UV salty caramel apple vodka)
• 2 sticks cinnamon

Directions 

1. Combine all 3 ingredients in a large pot on the stove.
2. Cook on medium until just below boiling.
3. Turn heat down to low. When you can smell the cinnamon, it’s ready to drink.

Keep on low to keep warm, or chill and serve cold.