Tennessee Banana-Black Walnut Cake with Caramel Frosting courtesy Paula Deen Yield: 12 servings Cake: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 2 ripe bananas, mashed 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup chopped black walnuts* Frosting: 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more as necessary 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1 (16-ounce) box confectioners sugar 2 cups finely chopped black walnuts, for garnish (optional)* Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans. For the cake: In a medium bowl, stir together flour and baking soda; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together shortening and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add flour mixture, mix until just combined. Stir in black walnuts. Pour into prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool in pans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare frosting. Melt butter in small saucepan. Add brown sugar and 1/3 cup cream. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Transfer to a large bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat in confectioners' sugar a little at a time until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add 1 tablespoon heavy cream at a time until consistency is right. Sandwich 2 layers of cake with frosting. Frost the outside of the cake. Press chopped black walnuts on the sides of the cake, if desired. *Cook's Note: DO NOT substitute English walnuts for black walnuts. BANANA SPICE CAKE Yield: 12 servings Bananas, pecans and currants give rich flavor to this recipe. Baking 1 hrs. 20 min. 3/4 cup currants or raisins 1/4 cup orange-flavored liqueur or orange juice 1 1/4 cups sugar 1 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted* 2 eggs 2 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 3 medium bananas, peeled, chopped 1/2-inch 3/4 cup chopped pecans Topping Ingredients: Vanilla ice cream, if desired Caramel sauce, if desired Instructions: Heat oven to 325°F. Combine currants and orange liqueur in small bowl; let soak 30 minutes. Drain well. Set aside. Combine sugar, butter, eggs, orange peel and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Beat until well mixed. Stir in soaked currants, bananas and pecans by hand. Spoon into greased and floured 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 80 to 90 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove sides of pan. Cool completely. (Cake may dip slightly in center upon cooling.) Top each serving of cake with ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce, if desired. *Substitute LAND O LAKES® Soft Baking Butter with Canola Oil. Calories: 330 Banana Cake Cockaigne Adapted from Joy of Cooking Grease and flour 2 round cake pans (8 or 9 inch) or one 9X13 inch rectangular pan. I usually line pans with waxed paper before I grease and flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Mash two ripe bananas, or enough to make one cup. Add 1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (fat free is OK) ot buttermilk and 1 teaspoon vanilla Sift together: 2 1/4 cups flour (Cake flour) 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt Cream in a large mixing bowl: 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup butter Add 2 eggs, one at a time, Add the flour mixture, alternating with the banana puree, STIR until smooth after each addition. ( DO NOT OVER MIX...THINK MOISTEN) Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake at 350 until the cake springs back when touched, about 30 to 40 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if serving warm or frost with a chocolate frosting, mock whipped cream frosting. or a cream cheese frosting. I make it with the Mock Whipped Cream Frosting and sprinkle the filling and top with a crushed Heath Bar. Mock Whiipped Cream Frosting Ingredients: 2/3 cup milk 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup sugar 2/3 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon vanilla combine milk, 2 tablespoons flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in 1-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil (4 to 6 minutes). Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Cover surface with plastic food wrap; cool completely (1 hour). Beat 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup butter and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in large bowl at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Continue beating, gradually adding cooled flour mixture and scraping bowl often, until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cake. Banana Cake Mocha Frosting: 6c powdered sugar 1/2c cocoa 1/2c butter, softened 1/2c brewed strong coffee Sift powdered sugar and cocoa` together. Add softened butter and mix on very low speed till incorporated. Add coffee and beat till smooth.

People define things to suit themselves. I was talking about the various ways people actually use the word. The problem with a technical distinction on an old word is that it's based on what some new guy thinks it should mean rather than what people mean when they actually say it. Technical distinctions are easier when the word started as something recently specific and branched out from there. OTOH, it can go the other way. We were talking about Wagyu beef awhile back. IIRC, the word just means "beef" in Japanese, but, according to Annie, it means a certain breed here. Google says: Sourdough--leaven for making bread, consisting of fermenting dough, typically that left over from a previous batch That would fit the way it's used in Bbstx's SIL's granny's recipe. Merriam-Webster says: sour·dough: a type of dough that is allowed to ferment before it is baked and that has a slightly sour taste. Full Definition of SOURDOUGH: a leaven consisting of dough in which fermentation is active That might fit the recipe. Wikipedia says: Sourdough is a bread product made by a long fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeasts. Nope. Granny's doesn't have wild yeast. All of these are imprecise specifically because there are so many different shades of meaning in common usage. If you want San Francisco style sourdough, a really long fermentation time is required to get it to be that sour. The rule of thumb is less starter/longer ferment/more sour or more starter/shorter ferment/milder flavor.

Hi. There was no crust on it. When they brought it, they brought out a large plate with the small brie on it. There was a sauce and the caramelized onions on it. The sauce tasted more to wine than any sweet jam. No, it wasn't really sweet. Can you eat the rind? This wheel of brie was just about 1-2" across. Come to think of it, the sauce was a little thick, reduction perhaps? Anyway, DH loved it. Marg

Ina Garten's Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing Ingredients 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 2/3 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature 2 tablespoons brewed coffee 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup good cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing: 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1 cup creamy peanut butter 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 3/4 teaspoon teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/3 cup heavy cream Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and two sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended. Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (one rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans and allow to cool completely before frosting. Frost each cupcake with the peanut butter icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts if desired. _________________________ Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing: Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth. 2006, Barefoot Contessa at Home, All Rights Reserved © 2016 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.