Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers

A classic to bring back those childhood memories. Effective this week, we'll be running recipes for TWO WEEKS. I've received some feedback that trying to do a recipe a week was a bit difficult (on the budget, the waistline, as well as on the schedule.)

How creative can YOU get with banana pudding? 

The Pancake is Not Just for Breakfast Anymore!

 

Maria from IL

 

" The pancake cake was a recipe I'd been wanting to try for a while since it was the one pictured on the cover.  It was super easy to make the pancakes, but I was nervous about flipping them.  I managed to get five 8-9" pancakes out of the recipe and assembled the cake the next day.  My kids loved the 6" extra pancake by itself and I think I will use this recipe for regular pancakes from now on!  I think for the filling though, I may use a sweet filling versus the more cheese/yogurt flavored filling, which was good especially with the maple syrup on top, but I think it was a bit too powerful.  Love this dessert though!" 

Cake for Breakfast?

This week, we'll take one look at the book cover for our recipe inspiration.  How will you shake up this recipe and make it your own?

Playing Catch Up

We all have busy lives and sometimes you 'want' to bake, but your schedule just allow you the time to do so.  This is your make-up week.  Select one of the recipes you missed (or if you haven't missed a week... make your favorite again) to make and share! 

Creamy Chocolatey Goodness!

 

Maria from IL

 

"This was quite a challenging recipe for me to do mostly because I had to make the vanilla pastry cream for the filling.  After two tries,  the first forgetting to put sour cream and whipping cream into it.  I was successful! Instead of making one large 9x13 pan, I separated it into six mini chocolate éclair pies.  It turned out great!  I used graham cracker crumbs instead of whole crackers.  Suffice to say, it will be different next time!  It's a yummy and rich dessert.  I love it!"

 

 

 

Sue from NJ

 

"Chocolate Éclair Pie.  It's one of those moments when mine doesn't look like the photo in the cookbook.. but yummy it is!!  I can see how it can only get better looking the more I try it and I most definitely will.  I used boxed crackers,  but will attempt making the ones in the book in the future.  I let the glaze cool too much before spreading and I believe my cream could use more practice... but it tastes great!  I'm still having fun trying new recipes..thanks!" 

Chocolate Eclair Pie

This week, we'll honor Brent's Grandmother with one of her family classics, the Chocolate Éclair Pie.  The recipe is found on page 121, although, you'll need to refer to page 117 for the pastry cream recipe.  Pie is great any time of year!

Bake or No Bake? You Made Your Decision!

This week, our Beekman Bakers had a choice of a baking recipe or a no-bake recipe.  Let's see what they decided...

 

Liz from CA

 

"I was excited to try olive oil poundcake and make good use of an impulse purchase - Tunisian olive oil from Trader Joe's.  My oven is having some trouble, and the cake ended up a little brown.  I had reservations about photographing the cake and posting it, but then drew inspiration from Julia Child and decided to "never apologize!"  I trimmed the sides and ends off the cake, iced it, and served it up.  Oh, the no-bake cookies were simple and fun." 

 

Missy from MA

 

"My olive oil pound cake may not be the prettiest thing but it was delicious!  The citrus combination was perfect and the cake's texture is quite light and airy compared to a typical butter pound cake.  This recipe FILLED my loaf pan and nearly oozed over while baking but I think I stopped short of whipping the egg portion of the mix enough.  It deflated once I removed it from the oven.  Also, I had to bake my cake around 12 minutes longer than the recipe suggests.  The tart and sweet glaze was the perfect topping.  We took it to a dinner party last night and everyone love it!"

 

Reynaul from VA

 

"These cookies were so easy to make, my 2 1/2 year old loved helping me stir these up.  I didn't have crunchy peanut butter on hand, but they came out yummy all the same!  They don't make a whole lot which is great and you can make so may different variations with the nuts, dried fruits, adding chocolate chips, etc.  This will definitely stay in the rotation!" 

 

Maria from IL

 

"The AITC No-Bake Cookies were SUPER EASY!  I even had my daughter help.  She loved it!  We used Peanut Butter and Company's Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter instead of the crunchy peanut butter and we also added about 1/3 of a cup of chocolate chips.  They came out great!  We scooped the cookies and formed them into balls for easier consumption.  I put them in the fridge to have them set a bit more solid.  Definitely making these on a regular basis!" 

 

Maria from IL

 

Note:  Maria was super ambitious this week and made both selections!  Good for you, Maria! 

 

"The Olive Oil Pound Cake was super easy too!  I decided to do what I did with the lemon-Toasted Poppy Seed Cake and bake these into mini-loaves for easier sharing.  I was able to mostly fill about 3/4 full 10 loaves and 6 half full loaves.  Suffice to say, the 3/4 loaves were the way to go!  They baked for about 29 minutes with the less filled pound cakes being a bit browner than the others.  The icing came out a bit thick and I needed more to spread them on the rest of the mini loaves.  They turned out great!"

 

Sue from NJ

 

"I was so happy that my selection, the Olive Oil Pound Cake was one of the selections this week.  I actually had attempted this cake in the fall.. a huge disaster back then.  I am so happy I was able to be successful this time... how flavorful and moist!  I did extend the amount of time the eggs and sugar were mixed this time and the cake could have used a couple more minutes for the center/top to fully bake (so close!), but overall, a moist cake!  My husband mentioned it would be awesome to grill the slices and add fresh fruit in the spring/summer.  As always, I'm enjoying my baking experiences with the Beekman's!  Thanks!"