Tag Archives: peanut free

Raspberry Cream Cheese Banana Bread

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The robin makes eye contact with me. Our neighbor’s porch light illuminates half of her body, the other half is consumed by the night. It is 1 am. Dirty water bottles sit in the sink, and half-eaten airport snacks decorate the counter along with boarding passes we no longer need. I stare at the robin from inside, a closed window separating us. She watches me and cocks her head to the side as she balances delicately on the fence. It is odd to see her standing on the old wooden fence so late at night. Are you welcoming me home? Do we know each other? I know her. She has visited me before. A reminder she is still present. I look away first. Her gaze is more than I can bare. I’m working on it I try to tell her. She doesn’t believe me. I wrote her name in the sand along with yours! What good will that do? You think the universe will save her? You are such a child. I am tempted to open the window and spray her with the sink hose. I’m trying, I scream. Try harder she says. I look up and she is gone.

Cream Cheese Raspberry Banana Bread

Makes 2 loaves

The recipe was adapted from my grandmother’s cream cheese banana nut bread. A traditional banana bread recipe with the addition of cream cheese and raspberries which adds a nice tartness to this moist bread.

Ingredients:

¾ unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ¾ cups sugar

2 large eggs

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ cups mashed bananas

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup raspberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease and flour 2 8×4 inch loaf pans. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer beat together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until creamy.  Slowly add the sugar. Beat the sugar, butter, and cream cheese until light fluffy.  Scrap the bottom and sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure the ingredients are well incorporated.  Next, add the eggs one at a time until combined.  Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stop the mixer and fold in the bananas, vanilla, and raspberries. 

Divide the batter equally into the two prepared loaf pans.  Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.  If the bread is browning too fast cover the top with aluminum foil to prevent further browning.  Cool the bread in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove bread from pans and allow it to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy! *Loaves can be frozen. Wrap loaves in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Place in a Ziploc bag and freeze until ready to use.  Allow it to thaw at room temperature overnight before serving

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake + 5 Easy Cake Recipes

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I found this cake recipe in my grandmother’s binder of saved recipes. This recipe was likely cut out of newspaper- maybe The Boston Globe or the Lowell Sun. It appealed to her and she kept it. I wish I knew more about her process of what hold onto and what to release. Not just her recipes. Drawings, cards, photos, and holiday crafts given to her as a present. Clothes, jewelry, and books. Mass cards, wedding invitations, and birth announcements. Love letters and apology letters. Save this, toss that, keep it forever. How did she discriminate between things that were hope-chest worthy and things immediately delegated to the trash can sitting behind the kitchen door? Wouldn’t it be easier just to release it all? Nothing to hold onto at the end. Nothing remains for those left behind. Their hearts are never left with tiny painful fissures of something they can no longer access. Nor do their hearts experience the fullness of memory of the love that once held them safe. Which is better? It’s hard to say. I wouldn’t know.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake

This cake is easy to make and tastes great alone or with ice cream. If you are up for it, drizzle the cooled cake with chocolate ganache.

Adapted from my grandmother’s sour cream blueberry cake.

Makes 1 10-inch tube cake.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½  cups chocolate chips

2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ¾ cups sugar

6 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325F.  Lightly butter your tube pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper and place on bottom of tube pan.  Next, lightly flour the pan.  Set it aside.

Using a medium size bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Using a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand held mixer, beat butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add the sugar in 3 additions, beating on high for 1 minute after each addition.  Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.  Add the eggs, one at a time beating on medium high after each addition. Nex add the vanilla extract.

Turn the speed to low and add the flour in two additions.  After the first addition, add the sour cream. Then end with the flour. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Fold in the chocolate chips. 

Pour the thick batter into your prepared bowl and smooth the top.  Bake the cake until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, 75 to 80 minutes.  Place the cake on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Next, invert the cake onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Enjoy!

5 Easy Cake Recipes

Looking for a nostalgic cake recipe? Try this.

Love lemon? Head to the Vanilla Bean Blog for a glazed Meyer lemon snack cake recipe.

Need an easy chocolate cake recipe? Head here.

Coconut lovers head here.

I made this olive oil cake recently and it is so easy and so delicious. Give it a shot!