cooking

Sex, City And The Bananas – How To Make Magnolia’s Bakery Famous Banana Pudding

cooking

If you are older than a teen you must remember that famous scene. Carrie and Miranda sitting in front of a Magnolia Bakery, eating cupcakes and talking about boys! Actually, about one boy in particular – Aidan, who was, in my opinion, much better choice than Mr.Big but that’s not the topic of this post.

Magnolia bakery shot to fame and achieved pop culture status with less than a minute (17 seconds to be more precise) footage of Carrie Bradshaw eating cupcakes. This now famous bakery is known for their fresh bakes from scratch, such as – cupcakes, cookies, cakes, chocolate bars and their popular, signature banana pudding.

Good news is, you don’t need to go all the way to New York City just to taste Magnolia’s Bakery insanely delicious banana pudding. I mean, you can go. You should go!! But, if you are not near New York City at this moment and you can’t travel, you’ll be happy to know that you can make banana pudding in your own kitchen.

And I’m not talking about some sorry substitute for this famous pudding. Oh, no! I am talking about real, original, one of a kind Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding, straight from their kitchen and their cookbook. Yep, Magnolia Bakery is giving away their actual recipe in their cookbook.

You’ll also be happy when you find out that you really don’t need fancy ingredients to make this dessert. You don’t even have to be experienced in the kitchen. You just need few basic things and some spare time on your hands to enjoy in your pudding.

So, if you love bananas, cookies, Magnolia Bakery, Sex and the City or just want to make something sweet, you want to make this. Believe me. It’s simple. It’s tasty. It’s almost cake-like. Try it. You won’t regret it.

Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 ripe bananas, sliced
  • 11-ounce box of vanilla wafers 
  • 3 cups of heavy cream
  • 1 package of instant vanilla-pudding mix
  • 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 ½ cups of ice-cold water

Method:

Step 1: In a medium sized bowl whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and the cold water. Place the pudding mix in another medium sized bowl and slowly whisk in the liquid, whisking until there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Cover and refrigerate until firm at least an hour or overnight. 

Step 2: In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or using a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium speed for about 1 minute until the cream starts to thicken. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-whip. 

Step 3: Carefully add the pudding mixture to the whipped cream and mix on low speed until blended and no streaks of pudding remain. 

Step 4: Using either a trifle bowl or a wide glass bowl with a 4- to 5-quart capacity, spread one-quarter of the pudding over the bottom and layer with one-third of the cookies [save 4 to 5 cookies for the garnish on top] and about 1 to 1 1⁄2 of the sliced bananas — enough to cover the layer. Repeat the layering twice more. End with a final layer of pudding. Garnish the top with additional cookies or cookie crumbs.

Step 5: Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours. Cookies should be tender when poked with a knife. It’s best served within 8-12 hours of assembling because bananas will start to brown.

How to keep bananas from browning:

The reason the recipe says to serve within 8 hours is that the bananas will turn brown as they oxidize. There are a couple of things you can do to make not brown as fast:

1) Pick bananas that are barely ripe.
2) Brush them with some lemon juice. Any fruit juice helps (pineapple, apple, orange). This can change the flavor slightly so brushing them is better than soaking them. Even water neutralizes the ph and will slow down the browning if you rinse them in water.
3) Rinse them with club soda. The advantage here is that it won’t affect the taste. Don’t use tonic as it has a bad taste.
4) Try to keep them airtight. The less contact with the air the less they will brown.

Traditional Recipes – Bosnian Kljukusa

cooking

Even those who love change tend to enjoy the things that are familiar to them. The things that remind them of childhood, family, summer vacations, travel, friends, or earliest ways of life. This is why home made meals and comford foods are so popular.

These are the foods we grew up on, and even when times are changing, we can count on our tasty classics to carry us along. Some foods simply say “home” to us, and they always make us feel better about life. But, finding the time and energy to prepare home-cooked meals can sometimes feel like a daunting task.

At the end of the crazy and busy day, eating out or ordering in might feel like the easiest option although not the healthiest one. But cooking at home doesn’t have to be complicated and can even take less time than eating out.

I believe that delicious, home made food need not be complicated nor take hours and hours. Just keep it simple. There are plenty of quick, easy and wholesome meals that just scream “comfort food”, you can cook at home in less time than it takes to travel to a restaurant or wait for a delivery.

Today I will show you great, simple and delicious recipe for a traditional Bosnian meal “kljukuša”. Kljukuša or kljukusa is a traditional Bosnian dish made with potatoes, eggs and flour. Baked until crispy and golden outside and soft inside, it’s the best summer meal when you are in a hurry and crave some “comfort food”.

Kljukusa can be described as a hash brown potato dish, and if you like hash browns this is recipe for you. Make it, try it, taste it and let me know what you think about this dish.

Fresh Cucumber Dill Salad With Sour Cream

cooking

Let’s talk about nutritients today. Cucumbers are packed with them. In just a single cup of cucumber slices, you’ll get 14% to 19% of the vitamin K you need for the day. You’ll also get vitamins B and C along with minerals like copper, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.

Cucumbers are also great for hydration.  Each one is about 95% water. That’s important because your cells need enough water to work right. All that water in cucumbers doesn’t just hydrate your cells. It also fills your belly, and that may help you eat less. A cup of sliced cucumbers has just 16 calories. That means it has very low “energy density.” People who eat more foods with low energy density often find it easier to lose weight.

Cucumbers have a unique set of antioxidants, including flavonoids, lignans, and triterpenes. They not only protect cells but also lessen inflammation that’s linked to arthritis and other long-term conditions. Their antioxidant activity helps slow or stop heart-related disease. And some research seems to show that the unique mix of nutrients in cucumber seeds could help improve your cholesterol numbers, which could have a direct impact on heart health. 

Cucumbers are a refreshing, nutritious and incredibly versatile addition to any diet. Fun fact: did you know that cucumber is a fruit?

Dill weed is native to the Mediterranean and southern Russia but can be grown in most parts of the world. The feathery green is often added to salads or soups, or used as a garnish. Some people also use dill to gain certain health benefits.

In traditional herbal medicine, dill has been used to help manage and prevent digestive ills and bad breath, and also to lower cholesterol and blood sugar. Dill is packed with micronutrients that provide health benefits – vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, folate, calcium, manganese, and iron.

When buying dill, look for fresh, green feathery fronds that have been freshly cut. Dill has a fresh, grassy taste that some food experts describe as a combination of fennel, anise, and celery. Many people are familiar with the taste of dill pickles, which have a much more intense flavor that combines salt, vinegar, and dill. Dill, alone, has a more delicate taste.

Let’s make this cool salad now, shall we?

This is the best easy, creamy cucumber salad ever! When you’re looking for an easy summer salad that highlights fresh garden cucumbers, this is it. Healthy, creamy cucumber salad with sour cream and dill takes just 10 minutes, a handful of simple ingredients, and can also be made ahead of time. You’re going to love it!

Ingredients:

  • 4 cucumbers, skinned and sliced
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • salt

Instructions:

1. In a large serving bowl, combine cucumbers, salt, dill and sour cream. Whisk well to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour before serving (the longer this salad marinates in sour cream and dill the tastier it is). Serve and enjoy!

Something to remember:

– taste each cucumber before chopping it up. If you find a bitter one, don’t put it in your dish

– if you have time, store in the refrigerator for a few hours to let the flavors blend

– you can also add some vinegar or lemon juice if you like

– you can replace sour cream with Greek or plain yogurt

– you can also use dried dill

– make sure your cucumber slices are thin

– you can skin the cucumbers or leave the skin on

This salad is so delicious and easy to make. It smells and tastes like summer. Love it!

Fluffy Lemon Cake

cooking

How do we call one simple batter that transforms into perfect creamy cake? We call it – pure perfection! Or Fluffy Lemon Cake. This cake is so delicate, light, not too sweet but sweet enough to satisfy your sweet tooth. It’s delicious and there is something so refreshing about the citrus flavor. It reminds me of summer and Amalfi Coast.

This lemon cake is so easy to make from scratch. You just need few basic ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Every bite of this creamy lemon cake is bursting with lemon flavor and it’s made from scratch in 10 minutes or less.

The cake batter is very thin, similar to a crepe batter, and all you have to do is pour it into a baking dish, place it in the oven, and enjoy in magic of baking (and lemony smell that will fill your kitchen, top to bottom).

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs, room temperature (separate yolks from whites)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted melted butter
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp lemon zest
  • powdered sugar for dusting cake

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170 C degrees. Grease a 8×8 inch baking dish or line it with parchment paper.

2. Separate eggs. Mix whites until stiff. Set aside.

3. Beat the egg yolks with sugar until light. Add melted butter and vanilla extract. Continue beating for a while and then add the flour and mix it until fully incorporated.

4. Add lemon juice and lemon zest then slowly start adding lukewarm milk and mix until everything is well mixed together. Gently add the egg whites, and fold them using a spatula.

5. Pour batter into baking dish and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the cake is firm to the touch. The baking time could depend on the oven, so take a peak at around 30 minutes and see how it looks.

6. Sprinkle some powdered sugar after cake has cooled.

How to serve?

Make sure your fluffy lemon cake is completely cooled before you dust the top with the powdered sugar. You can add some citrus zest as garnish to really make the presentation stand out.

Some questiones answered:

1. Egg Whites

When you add the egg whites to the batter, don’t fold the egg whites in completely so that it’s a smooth batter. You need to leave those white bits in there.

2. Baking Time

Each oven is different so baking time will depend on your oven. I baked this cake for 40 minutes and, as you can see, it’s nice and brown on top. Some people have said that after 20 minutes the cake is done, but for some other people it was 70 minutes.

One trick is to touch the top of the cake to see if it’s firm. Make sure it’s firm to the touch, and not jiggly. If it’s jiggly it’s not cooked completely. The important thing to remember is that the cake needs to be a bit golden on top and firm to the touch.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Recipe

cooking

A few months ago, I said: “I’m going to make some banana bread.” The rest is history. Everyone fell in love with this wonderful banana bread and I’ve been baking it ever since. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I can stop making it. Yesterday I made two of them. There are no leftovers for today.

Banana bread is one of those classic, vintage, retro, comfort food recipes. It fills the whole house with warmth, happiness, and makes everything better. Banana bread is true magic.

The beauty of banana bread is you don’t need a lot of ingredients, a fancy mixer, a lot of bowls and dishes. Banana bread is simple. You just need a bowl, a basic mixer or a fork to whisk the eggs and a wooden spoon to mix the batter.

You can toss in it whatever you like – a cup of chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips which I prefer to use because they give banana bread that wonderful choco flavor.

Did you know you can use your electric mixer to mash bananas? Break or slice the spotty bananas into large pieces and place in the bowl of your stand mixer– or use a regular mixing bowl and your hand mixer. Begin beating on low, then gradually increase to medium-high speed as the bananas break down into mashed banana.

When you have some spotty leftover bananas in your kitchen, don’t hesistate to bake this banana bread, you won’t regret it. This is the best banana bread recipe I ever tried, and I tried some, believe me. If you still haven’t tried banana bread or you are still searching for your perfect recipe, look no further. Try this one.

It is simple, easy to make and you will fall in love with it.

The best bananas to use for banana bread are those that are over-ripe. The yellow peels should be at least half browned, and the bananas inside squishy and browning.

Ingredients:

  • 3 to 4 very ripe bananas (with brown spots, peeled)
  • 1 egg
  • pinch of salt
  • 50 g butter or 50 ml oil
  • 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (or 2 cups, depend if you like more chocolate or less)

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl mash bananas with mixer (or a fork) until completely smooth. Stir in beaten egg, melted butter or oil and a pinch of salt. Mix all well with mixer or a wooden spoon.
  • Stir in the sugar, flour, baking powder and mix all together. Add chocolate chips.
  • Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 or 30 minutes (depends on the oven) at 180°C, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve.

STORAGE SUGGESTIONS: This bread is moist, so it will keep for two or three days at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator for five to seven days, or in the freezer for up to three months or so. 

FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: Instead of all-purpose flour you can use the whole wheat flour, you can use an equal amount of all purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.

OIL OPTIONS: I use vegetable or sunflower oil but you can also use coconut oil, grapeseed oil or even olive oil (might lend an herbal note to your banana bread).

Overall, this is a SUPER easy recipe for classic banana bread. The batter takes about 10 minutes to throw together, the bread stays moist for days, and nothing beats the smell of fresh banana bread in the oven!

Did you make this banana bread? Let me know how it turned out for you!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

cooking

I wonder, is there anyone out there who doesn’t love cookies? I often say – cookies are good for the soul because eating them will make you feel good. There is no dessert that comes in more shapes, sizes, flavors and textures than cookies.

I’m a big cookie lover. I love searching for recipes, experimenting and I find making them is just fun. It also relaxes me. But what if you feel lazy and don’t want to bake but still crave for some good cookies? Well then, I might just have perfect recipe for you.

If you love chocolate and peanut butter, you’ll love these cookies. You just need few ingredients and 15 minutes to make them. Simple as that. Try them..you won’t regret it. They are sweet, simple, quick and just a perfect lazy day dessert.

No baking, no heating the oven. Just simple but delicious no bake chocolate peanut butter cookies.

Ingredients:

– 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

– 3 cups oats

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– 1/2 cup butter

– 1/2 cup milk

– 2 cups sugar

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Preparation:

1. Mix together the peanut butter, oats, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. It doesn’t have to be perfectly mixed because it will all come together in a pot.

2. Heat the milk and butter in a pan over medium-high heat, until the butter is melted. Whisk in the sugar, salt, and cocoa until smooth. Bring to a boil, cook for 2 minutes, until you see large bubbles, stirring often.

3. Stir in the peanut butter and oat mixture, and continue cooking for 1 minute longer, stirring constantnly (until the mixture is still fluid but starting to hold a shape).

4. Remove from the heat (but leave the pot near to keep the mixture warm). Scoop the mixture with the spoon, and drop onto wax paper or aluminum foil. Allow to cool and become firm.

5. You can store your cookies in an airtight container for up to one week (but, they won’t last that long because they are so delicious).

* You’ll get around 35-40 cookies from this mixture.

Enjoy and let me know what you think when you make them yourself.

Divine Berry Clafoutis

cooking

Imagine something magical. Something creamy. Something fluffy. Something sweet and elegant. Imagine hot summer in your aunts perfect garden. Imagine summer in France. Now imagine super quick dessert that is so easy to make you just won’t believe it. This dessert is called clafoutis but you don’t have to imagine it because you can make it all by yourself.

No matter what’s the level of your culinary skills, you can’t go wrong with this summer recipe. Clafoutis [kla-foo-tee] is a baked French dessert made of thick egg batter and fresh fruit, usually black cherries but you can put anything you like and the result will be equally good.

Clafoutis originated in in the rural region of Limousin, France and spread all over the France in the nineteenth century. This custardy dish became so popular all over the country that everyone fell in love with this rustic fruit dessert with a rich and savory texture that hovers between cake and custard.

Clafoutis comes from the verb clafir, meaning “to fill”. This dessert is true to its name because clafoutis is made by filling the baking pan with a sweet (but not too sweet) egg batter and fruit on top. Traditionally, clafoutis is made with un-pitted black cherries. When heated, the cherry pits infuse the batter with an almond flavor.

Some say that a clafoutis made with anything other than cherries is called flaugnarde. Clafoutis or flaugnarde, you can put any fruit you can imagine, like berries, peaches or apples, to name just a few.

If you have some leftover berries in your fridge and would like to indulge in a perfect, elegant and easy dessert keep reading. Especially if you love French culture and food and healthy recipes. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying this is the healthy recipe. But, you know, it’s not unhealthy either.

It’s not too sweet, it’s fruity and light. You can serve it warm, cold or at room temperature and you can even make it in advance. One thing I can guarantee you – there won’t be any leftovers for tomorrow.

Berry Clafoutis

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes (depends on the oven)

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

– 1/2 tablespoons of butter

– 1 cup milk

– 3 eggs

– 1/2 cups sugar

– 1 tablespoon vanilla

– 2/3 cups all purpose flour

– 1/8 teaspoon salt

– 2 cups berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

– powdered sugar, for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Place a pie dish in the hot oven with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Let it melt and spread it evenly to coat the pie dish.

2. In a bowl add eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla and blend well (with hand mixer) until combined and foamy. Add flour and salt and mix for another 1 minute.

3. In the hot pie dish, pour half batter and let it sit for 2 minutes until batter is set (this will help the berries remain in the middle). Spread berries in an even and generous layer on the set batter and sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons sugar. Pour remaining batter on top of berries. Smooth the top (you can do it with the back of the spoon).

4. Bake for 30 minutes (depends on the oven so make sure to check it every now and then). Knife should come out clean when it’s baked, and the edges will be golden brown. Clafoutis will also rise while baking and deflate as it cools.

5. You can serve clafoutis warm after baking. You can also serve it at room temperature or cold. Don’t forget to sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving.

Bon Appétit!