Lovin' From the Oven

Caramelized Pecan Banana Bread

by 13 Comments

banana-4 banana banana-2 banana-7 banana-3 banana-5 banana-6

I think I’ve fully adjusted to living in the bay area. It took a month, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got a good chunk of it down.
–I love being able to walk from my apartment to go shopping, the post office, the grocery store, or grab dinner.
–The radio stations in my car are set to Nor Cal stations.
–I actually go out to bars here every once in a while because I love the crowd (not to drink, though. I’m pretty much a grandma. And by crowd, I mean my DB’s classmates).
–I bring a sweater or scarf with me everywhere because no matter how hot it looks outside, that breeze will kill you.

But the things I’ll never get used to?
–Calling the BART just plain ol’ BART.
–Worrying about parking everywhere I go.
–Seeing Giants gear everywhere instead of my dear Lakers.
–The word “hella.”
–My nearest Nordstrom Rack & Forever 21 are a half hour drive away from me.

I’m sure there’s plenty to add to both lists, but let’s talk about this banana bread.

This banana bread was delightful. The caramelized pecans really did add a sweeter crunch to the bread. In retrospect, I probably should have added some kind of streusel on top. Banana bread is just ten times better with a topping. The bread was sweet without being overly sweet, heavy without being too dense, and about as moist as can be. I’d recommend adding a touch of cinnamon next time I make these. From What Katie’s Baking.

  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 to 4 medium)
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups AP flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the Caramelized Pecans:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup pecan halves
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two medium loaf pans or one large loaf pan.
  2. For the caramelized pecans: Melt the tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the sugar, pecans, and cinnamon, and mix until evenly coated. Set aside and let cool.
  3. For the banana bread: Mix together the sugar and butter. Add eggs and stir. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla, beating until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Add in the nuts. Pour into prepared pans.
  4. Bake smaller loaves for about 1 hour, large loaf about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

by 12 Comments

IMG_3312

IMG_3320

IMG_3331

IMG_3344

IMG_3381

IMG_3368

Hello. My name is Kim. I graduated from UCLA, have 7 years experience working with kids and clerical/front desk work, was supervisor of a museum store, and bake whenever I’m bored. Want to hire me?

Hah! I wish it was that simple. I’ve been on the job hunt ever since I moved up here on Monday. Okay, I know that you don’t normally find a job in a week, but here’s to wishful thinking! Patience.. patience.. patience.  My goal is to turn in an application a day, in hopes of finding a job that will suit me. Until then, I’ll bake my little heart away.

I’ve always been a fun of coffee cakes; they’re light, versatile, and easy to pack. The best part? The crumb topping! My cake may look a little off to you because I baked it in a bundt pan rather than a tube pan. Note to self: Bundt pans are not made for inverting twice. It doesn’t really matter what it looks like, just as long as it tastes good. And oh boy, this coffee cake tasted like a buttery soft cloud of joy.

From The Meaning of Pie.

Streusel: (you will divide this between 2 bowls)

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped

  1. Mix together the flour, both sugars, and cinnamon. Take 1½ cups of this mixture and set it in a separate bowl. This second bowl will be for the inside of the cake and I will call it LAYERING streusel. In this second small bowl of layering streusel, add an additional ¼ cup of brown sugar and mix it in. Set aside. 
  2. Add the butter and pecans to the original bowl. This will be the TOP streusel. Using a food processor or your hands (the best tools in the kitchen!), work the butter into the TOP streusel mixture until all of the topping is moistened. Set aside.

Cake:

  • 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1½ cups sour cream (divided use)
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 1¼ cup sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10 cup tube pan. In a bowl, combine the eggs, 1 cup of the sour cream and the vanilla.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt for about 30 seconds. Next, add the butter and 1/2 cup remaining sour cream and mix on low until just combined. Turn up the speed of the mixer to medium and mix for an additional 30 seconds.
  3. Slow down the mixer and add the first egg and sour cream mixture in 3 separate additions, beating for 30 seconds and scraping the bowl after each addition to make sure everything is combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional minute.
  4. Add 2 generous cups of batter to the bottom of the prepared tube pan and spread it evenly. Evenly sprinkle half of the LAYERING (not nuts) streusel on top of the batter. Add one and a half cups more of the batter on top of the streusel. Sprinkle on the rest of the LAYERING (no nuts) streusel. Top with the remaining batter and sprinkle on the TOP (with nuts) streusel.
  5. Bake for approximately 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the pan to a rack and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 30 minutes before removing.
  6. Re-invert it so that the streusel side is on the top.

Zucchini Bread

by 2 Comments

DSC_7132

DSC_7123

DSC_7163

DSC_7165

Zuchinni.. Zuchini… Zucchini.. ahhh, I definitely would have gotten kicked with that word at a spelling bee. Come to think of it, I’ve only been in a spelling bee once and it wasn’t on purpose. In second grade, I remember trying to spell “chimpanzee” wrong in the qualifying round on purpose so that I wouldn’t have to compete with kids outside of my classroom, but I spelled it right on accident. Imagine my surprise! You bet I spelled the first word wrong in the official competition so that I could sit down and get away from the audience. Hey, I was young. And scared. Being in front of people was so not my thing. It wasn’t then and it isn’t now.

Speaking of grade school… the first time I made zucchini bread was in my first grade classroom. We were given the ingredients in a ziploc bag and were told to mix it by shaking, pinching, doing whatever our heart desired to get it done. We gave back our ziploc bags to the teacher and she returned it as a mini loaf twenty minutes later. All I remember back then was pure heaven. Curious as to if I still loved it as much as I thought I did, I gave it a go in my kitchen.

Sure enough, the results were just as how I remembered it. Don’t worry, it doesn’t really taste like zucchini. My DB even ate a bite and he HATES vegetables!

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup apple sauce
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 cups grated zucchini
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  1. Butter two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. Mix together the eggs, oil, apple sauce, vanilla, and both sugars in a large bowl.
  3. Add flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon into the mixture. 
  4. Gently stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick omes out clean.
P.S. As of today, I’m officially a Berkley-an! Whoo hoo! I’m still working on putting together my apartment, but here’s a sneak peak at one of my cubbies on my Expedit bookself, courtesy of Easy Canvas Prints: 
IMG_4001

Remember my brownie roll out cookies? Well, I decided to choose one of the pictures from that shoot for my canvas because 1. my DB loves anything Star Wars (can’t you tell by his bobblehead?) and 2. the background matched my tiffany blue themed kitchen.

IMG_3998

IMG_4005

The canvas was smooth, the perfect size, and even better than I expected. The colors seemed a bit darker than my actual photo, but it wasn’t a big deal. I loved the mirroring method on the sides of the canvas. If you want, you can make your own canvas print here. Enjoy!

Categories