Banana Sponge Cake

As always, I am looking for banana recipes. This cake is very simple and easy to make, and it is delicious, light and very fluffy. The first time I used a loaf pan, and the cake just disappeared…this time I made them into small servings, so we can better control the portions.

This cake is great to serve as a snack and it stays moist and fresh for a couple of days. You can always dress these cupcakes up by topping with your favorite frosting. I chose to keep it plain for the time being…

The cake/cupcakes will shrink a little once you remove them from the oven, but do not worry, it will not affect its texture. They will still be very light, moist and fluffy.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
¾ cup mashed banana
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup canola oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup chopped walnut

Method:

Preheat oven at 325F.

In a bowl sift the flour with baking soda, baking powder. In another bowl mix the eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, mashed banana and mix until ribbon stage.

Add the flour mix to the egg and banana mix, mixing gently. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the walnut and the oil.

Pour into the prepared muffin cup (approximately 18 cups) and bake for approximately 25 minute at preheated oven or until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

Cool on the wire rack and serve.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for banana sponge cake.

You might want to check out other recipes using banana, such as banana muffins with walnut or banana bread with chocolate chips.

Did you know that banana leaves, because of their size (large), flexibility and waterproof quality are often used as disposable plates in South Asia and Southeast Asia?

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

These pumpkin cupcakes are perfect for sharing, they are light, moist with a layer of crunchiness on the top, a family favorite!

Pumpkin, pumpkin, you see pumpkin everywhere…so by default I got a can of pumpkin from Trader Joe’s, actually two cans…and I left one on the counter thinking that it would be used rapidly…no…it has been sitting there for almost 10 days. So yesterday I decided that it was about time to find something different to make with the pumpkin puree, and… voila! Decided to make some cupcakes…

I did an extensive search on the internet and decided to use the Allrecipe recipe’s for the pumpkin cake as my template…I must confess that I made some drastic change besides what many have done by replacing part of the vegetable oil for apple sauce. In this adapted recipe I add more apple sauce, cut the sugar in half and topped it with some kind of streusel topping.

The cupcakes turned out great, light, moist, fluffy and healthier. Overall these cupcakes are very simple to make. If you wish to make it more cupcake like you can always omit the streusel like topping and go for your favorite cream cheese frosting/filling as recommended by the site. For everyday kind of recipe I prefer these cupcakes with the streusel topping, everything is done once the cupcakes are out of the oven and ready to be gobbled. Nonetheless, I plan to bake these cupcakes and decorate them for Thanksgiving with the cream cheese frosting so they will be appropriated dressed for the occasion

Ingredients:

Batter

½ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2½ teaspoons pumpkin spices

Topping

2/3 cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

Prepare 12 cupcake cups and preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl sift together all the dry ingredients of the batter. Set aside.

In a small bowl add all the ingredients if the topping and set aside.

In a large bowl combine sugar, oil and apple sauce. Mix and add in vanilla and pumpkin, continue to mix by adding one egg at a time. Slowly beat in the dry ingredients mixture.

Fill the baking cups until approximately 2/3 full. Sprinkle the top with the walnut topping mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 -25 minutes minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

I hope you enjoy this simple and healthier recipe for pumpkin cupcakes.

– For more pumpkin recipes, please check the recipes below…

Did you know that pumpkin contains high amount of fiber? The orange color of the pumpkin is due to high content of lutein, and carotenoids like the carrots. Moreover, it has been suggested that pumpkin medicinal properties include anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic and anti-oxidant.

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Taro Chips

I love taro…any way, form and shape…taro chips? Yes, I had taro chips before…where taro came together with a bunch of different roots (Terra Chips), the only problem that I find is that the chips were too salty and oily. So after seeing the recipe from Taste Hong Kong I decided to make some roasted taro chips myself.

Well, I was lazy and I did not use the hand held peeler, but a slicer…therefore the chips were a little thicker which at the end did not give me the kind of crunchiness that I expected but a fairly hardy texture. Not too bad… but next time I will definitely make them slightly thinner.

Ingredients:

½ lb peeled taro
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Slice the taro root and place in a big bowl. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently.
Spread the sliced taro to a silicone mate and bake in a 300 F pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes until the chips curl up and are totally dry, approximately 10 minutes each side.
Let the chips cool down before storing in an air tight container.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe and have a wonderful day.

Did you know that taro and taro leaves are toxic when raw but safe when cooked?

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Cinnamon Rolls in Cups

These cinnamon rolls come in cups…it is easy and less messy to serve. I used the water-roux method for the dough, therefore the bun is very soft and together with the crunchiness of the walnut, the sweetness of raisins…all this together blended with a layer of cinnamon…is absolutely delicious. Not to mention when these buns are in the oven, the whole house just smell SO good.
These buns can be stores in the freezer. To serve, warm them in the microwave.

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong
75 ml of water
15 g of bread flour

Dough
2 cups bread flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon butter
1½ teaspoon dry yeast
1 large egg and complete to 100 ml with heavy cream

1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 ½ tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped walnut

Method:

Water roux
Mix flour and water in a small saucepan. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches 65ºC/149ºF. The mix will turn to a paste and you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat, cover with a saran wrap film over the paste and leave until lukewarm.

Dough
Add the water roux and all the dough ingredients to the mixer, knead for approximately 15 minutes, the dough reaches a thin membrane. The dough will be slightly sticky. Let is rise for approximately 2 to 3 hours in a cover container or until it double its initial volume.

Assembly
Punch down, knead the dough and roll into a rectangular shape of approximately 13 x 9 inches. Spread the cinnamon, the sugar, walnut and raisins. Roll it and cut into 12 pieces. Place them in a standard size cupcake pan. Cover the buns with saran wrap film and let rise until double in size.
Bake in preheated 350°F oven for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve warm.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and have a wonderful week!

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Mochi Bacon Cheese Balls

A while ago, I posted a recipe for “mochi cheese balls”, which uses only Parmesan cheese. I adapted the previous recipe by adding Muenster cheese, which give the cheese balls more color and a softer texture due to the melted Muenster cheese. Moreover, bacon bites were added, so you can imagine the taste of these cheese balls. This is a very easy and simple recipe, whenever you want to enjoy a tasty snack or complement a meal, just place these frozen cheese balls in a pre-heated oven for about 25 ~ 30 minutes at 275F and you are ready to receive compliments.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup tapioca flour
1 ½ cup glutinous rice flour
4 eggs
1 cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup chopped Muenster cheese
½ cup Parmesan cheese
¾ cup homemade bacon bits

Method:

In a small pan add water, oil and salt, bring to boil and carefully add to the tapioca and glutinous rice flour. Mix gently until you can manage with your hands (be careful it is very hot). Alternatively add the eggs, the Muenster cheese and the Parmesan cheese until a dough is formed. Add the bacon bits (check the recipe here) and mix until the bacon is well incorporated to the dough. Make small balls (you can freeze at this point if you desire), bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 275F. Serve warm. Makes approximately 50 to 60 cheese balls.

Did you know that Muenster cheese was originally made by Benedictine monks in France? In US, this cheese in mainly used melted since it melts easily over low heat. Therefore used in grilled sandwich and hamburger.

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Kale Chips

I hope you all had a great weekend…and I am sooooo glad to be back. We had a family (from my husband’s side) vacation which was a cruise from NY to a couple of cities in Canada. As you may know family vacation can be pretty difficult but somehow we all managed and survived…the nice thing about this kind of trip is that you get to really know them…good or bad depending of where you stand.
Before the “family cruise” we spent the weekend in NY, and it was great…we visited Times Square and surrounding area, Central Park, got to eat at various nice restaurants and saw the Book of Mormon on Broadway. Another fun thing was that I was able to meet up with one of my friend from Brazil that I have not seen for more than 25 years and just recently we found each other on Facebook…so there was a lot to catch up and share old memories.

Anyway, I am back to my routine and today I want to share some healthy stuff.

I have been wanted to make this kale chips for a while after seeing so many versions on TV and internet. There are no secrets, they are very easy and simple to make, you just have to be careful not to over roast since they can burn easily. I keep the chips in a jar for a handful of healthy snack.

Ingredients:

2 bunch of kale
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper

Method:

Wash the kale and let them dry. Break the leaves into approximately 1 ½ in size section. Place in a big bowl, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Gently toss them and spread to a silicone mate. Do not over layer the leaves. Roast in a pre-heated oven for 5 minutes at 350F, flip the kale and let if roast for another 2 minutes. Turn the oven to 325F for another 5 minutes. Turn the oven off and keep the trays in for another 10 minutes.
Remove the trays and let the chip cool completely before storing in an air tight container.

And now my new gadget…

For the longest time I was intending to get a juicer, but what really pushed me to move faster was after reading Belinda’s post at Zomppa and now I am practically addicted to it, cannot leave home before having a glass of fresh vegetable/fruit juice. It is so energizing!

Did you know that kale is one of the most nutritious vegetable known? In Brazil kale is finely chopped, stir-fried and paired with feijoada, which is the Brazil’s national dish.

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Banana Bread

This is a very simple recipe for banana bread. Since my husband loves banana and we always get it at Costco, no need to mention that once in a while we end up with extra ripe bananas. This recipe was taken from Desserts Magazine’s kid’s issue, so you can guess that this recipe is a very simple and easy one :-).

Ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chocolate chips

Method:

In a bowl sift the flour, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl mix the egg, sugar, oil, mashed banana and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, mix gently until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Bake in a preheated 350F oven for approximately 75 minutes or until inserting a toothpick it comes clean.

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Roasted Cinnamon Almonds

This recipe has a story…I used to buy this kind of almonds at Costco mainly during holiday time, and I’d go through many many jars. Initially my husband did not care for it, so I knew that the almonds were all for me and I had a sense of how long the almonds would last me. But one day he decided that he liked the almonds and I could see the almonds in the jars disappearing in front of my eyes very fast. That was not the issue…the issue was that Costco stopped carrying the product, and he even called the Costco buyer in Seattle. Well, that was the end of my cinnamon almonds until I searched the internet and saw many different versions of it. In the end, all worked for better. Not only I could manage the amount of sugar, the cost of these roasted cinnamon almonds came much cheaper than the Costco ones…so I am all happy again with my almonds. Be aware, these almonds are addictive! You cannot stop eating them once you start, so be careful…you have been alerted!

I took these almonds to work and a lot of people asked for the recipe, so here it is…

Ingredients:

4 ½ cups almonds
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

Preheat the oven at 250F.

Add the vanilla extract to egg white and mix until slightly frothy. In another bowl mix the sugar, salt and the cinnamon, set aside.

Add the mix of egg white to the almonds and mix until all the almonds are covered with the egg white.

Add the sugar mix to the almonds covered with egg white and mix gently until all the almonds are covered with sugar.

Spread the almonds in prepared trays (I used 2 baking sheet) and bake for 1 hour at 250F, flipping the almonds every 20 minutes, so the almonds do not stick to the baking sheet.

Remove the almonds from the oven, let them cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Did you know that almond is not a nut but a drupe? A drupe is a fruit that has a fleshy part in the outside with a hard shell with a seed inside. So almond is mainly sold with shelled or unshelled.

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Lemon Blueberry Muffins

This is a very simple and easy recipe for muffins, since I have lots of lemons (they came from my sister’s backyard) I wanted to make something that uses lemon, and here I am with these muffins. They came out great, moist and lemony.

Ingredients:

½ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

1 cup blueberries

Method:

In a medium bowl sift all the dry ingredients. And in another larger bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon juice and eggs. Add the sifted dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Add the blueberries and mix gently. Spoon batter into the prepared muffins cups. Bake in a preheated 325F oven for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
Serve warm.

Did you know that there are studies showing that blueberries can lower cholesterol therefore preventing heart disease?