Banana Cake in 5-Cup Rice Cooker

I was intrigued when my mother in law told me that the salesperson at the store she usually buys cookware gave her a little recipe handout for our Panasonic rice cooker. It wasn’t long before I put a quick cake together to try this method of baking. I think the major benefit of baking with a rice cooker is the cake will definitely be moist since there’s the whole steaming aspect of it. This also means that not much fat needs to be put into the recipe which is great. I actually felt pretty good about giving baby a little of this cake even! The only disadvantage would be that the top of the cake usually doesn’t have the golden colour that is so pretty on cakes baked in the oven. However, this is remedied easily since the cake is flipped over onto a plate/platter anyways, and the parts touching the pot are the golden brown colour.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup Flour
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
3 Eggs
3 tbsp. Oil
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 1/4 Cup Bananas (mashed)
3 tbsp. Milk
1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar

DIRECTIONS:

Separate egg yolks (into a large bowl) from egg whites (into a small bowl), setting the egg whites aside.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Beat egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar together at high speed. Add oil and continue to beat.

Add in mashed bananas and milk.

Lower speed of the electric mixer and add in the flour mixture slowly until combined.

Beat egg whites, gradually adding the cream of tartar and 1/4 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.

Slowly fold egg whites into the flour mixture. Do not over-mix.

Brush a thin layer of oil evenly onto the rice cooker inner pot, then pour in the batter.

Choose the cake menu option on the rice cooker and bake for 40 minutes.

Remove inner pot and allow to cool slightly before turning over to remove from the pot.

Strawberry Summer Cake

Since today is the first day of summer, I thought it would only be fitting to blog about a strawberry summer cake that I made a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, now that I am back at work, I think that baking will be put on the back burner. I have however been surprised by how much I have been baking recently so I still have a few other recipes that I plan to share in the near future.

I thought this cake was super easy to make and was a great way to make use of some strawberries. The whole family seemed to enjoy it, particularly with a scoop of ice cream!

from Smitten Kitchen
INGREDIENTS:

6 tbsp. unsalted Butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 cup + 2 tbsp. Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 lb. Strawberries (hulled and halved)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch pan.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes.

Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined.

Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. Let cool in pan on a rack.

Toasted Coconut Cake

I made this dessert in another attempt to find a dessert that hubby likes. I was pretty disappointed after he informed me last time that he didn't like cookies...I mean...how can anyone not like cookies? Anyways...I digress...I married him after all.

In the coming weeks, I will have to warn my readers (hopefully, there are a few readers) that there may be some gaps in entries. My lovely family actually took me out to eat a couple nights in a row anticipating that I will probably be cooped up in the house for a while after the birth of the baby. Also, the fact that cooking in general is pretty tiring right now makes it a welcome change to me. I honestly don't anticipate I could put together a theme night in the near future in any case. There is also the possibility of me going into labour at any time, in which case, I think it would be a reasonable excuse to have gaps in entries as well.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/3 cups unsweetened Flaked Coconut
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup + 3 tbsp. Coconut Milk
2 large Eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups Flour
1 cup + 1/2 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F and grease or line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.

Spread the coconut onto a baking sheet and toast until outside edges of pan have browned. Remove from the oven. Mix the coconut around on the baking sheet to mix in the browned coconut and set it aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk vegetable oil, 1 cup of coconut milk and egg yolks until evenly blended.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add flour to coconut milk mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in 1 1/3 cups toasted coconut. Reserve the rest of the coconut for topping the cake (after it has baked).

In a third bowl, whip egg whites with remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until they hold a soft peak. Fold in whipped egg whites.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until top turns light brown and springs back when touched.

While still warm, brush top of cake with remaining 3 tbsp. coconut milk and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of toasted coconut. Let cool completely before slicing.

Apple Coffee Cake

I have always loved dessert with warm fruit. It is definitely a weakness of mine. Particularly being pregnant, desserts have been even more of a friend to me. I've found that I could have dessert with every meal it seems! When I came across this recipe, I couldn't wait to try it because it seemed like a cake variation of apple pie which is one of my favorite desserts. Thankfully, it didn't disappoint! Even hubby who doesn't really like eating sweets said it was good. He did however have to point out that it would've been much better with some ice cream though...

INGREDIENTS

5 Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tbl of cinnamon

3 cups All Purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. of vanilla
4 eggs
1/4 tsp. of salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven at 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking dish. In a medium bowl, toss sliced apples, 1/3 cup of sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, 2 cups sugar, baking powder,vanilla, eggs, salt, orange juice, apple sauce, and vegetable oil. Using an electric mixer, blend together until mostly smooth 5 minutes. Pour half the batter into baking dish and arrange apple slices on top.

Pour and spread the rest of the batter on top of the apples. Bake for 60 minutes or until done. Cut coffee cake into squares and serve warm (preferably with ice cream). Enjoy!