This past Saturday night, Rachel and I treated ourselves to our own sweet little holiday party. We dressed up (she wore some fabulous sparkly gold heels and I put on my favorite faux fur coat) and overloaded ourselves in desserts at the all-you-can-eat “Chocolate Decadence” buffet at the Ritz Carlton in DC.

We sat in the beautifully decorated lobby, sipped champagne and ate some very decadent treats. I especially loved the raspberry brownie sundae, chocolate crêpes, two chocolate fountains and chocolate banana cake. The only downside was that we didn’t even get to try everything because it was just too much. (I know, too much chocolate? I guess there is such a thing!) This chocolate feast was available for a few weeks during December, so if you missed in this year, definitely plan for it in 2012!

(Sorry the photos are so dark – mood lighting!)

Last Sunday, a group of DC bakers and bloggers contributed to another bake sale to benefit DC State Fair. We set up at the Zorba’s Cafe patio and attracted folks on their way to the Dupont Farmer’s Market. Although all the desserts were fantastic (I loved the oatmeal cream pies and stupid cookies), with early morning bake sales, it is also a good idea to have some breakfast options as well. So I made these simple but flavorful peanut butter banana muffins. You already know how much I love the combination of peanut butter and banana, and I loved the idea of putting a banana slice on top of these (although it did brown a little the next day).

As always, I also had a great time with the other volunteers, Jenna, Sylvie, Ashley and Rachel. Follow these ladies…they’re seriously fabulous.

Of course, for the bake sale everything needs to be individually wrapped. Here are the muffins all ready to go…

 Find the muffin recipe here.

Gosh, don’t you just love the comfort of a peanut butter and banana sandwich? They remind me of my dad….one of his favorite foods that I often shared with him when I was little. There’s a creaminess and a stickiness that’s just so simple and delightful.

So I made it into a cupcake… banana cake (one of my favorite bases) with a fluffy peanut butter cream cheese frosting. But I couldn’t stop there. Before frosting the cupcakes, I topped the cakes with a little swirl of nutella. But, of course!

These are a little decadent, but the banana and the peanut butter keep them humble. Something I really love about these cupcakes. They’re totally unpretentious.

One Bowl Banana Cupcakes

• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 3 cups flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line enough muffin tins with paper liners for 30 cupcakes.
2. Mix the ingredients in the order listed in a large bowl, starting with the wet ingredients and moving to the dry ones.
3. Bake for twenty minutes, rotating the pan mid-way.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat the cream cheese and the butter together.
2. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and continue to mix well.
3. Slowly add the sugar and beat until incorporated.
4. Pipe on to cupcakes.

I had a great time this morning at the DC Food Blogger Bake Sale for Haiti. About 22 bloggers raised almost $1000 for Doctor’s Without Borders!! Also, I finally had the chance to meet some more of the crowd that I’m slowly getting to know. It was a fun group and I think we all enjoyed meeting each other, setting up and seeing what everyone brought.

I didn’t take pictures of everything, because I know some other people did (with their much nicer cameras). But I’ll link to everyone’s posts about their recipe. Check out:

Florida Girl in DC: Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes and her funny adventures with caramel.

One Bite At a Time: Alejandra was a pro and made 4 things! Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies (a big hit! lots of ooh’s and ahh’s), Granola Bars, Simple Lemon Cookies (so good! will be making these soon) and caramel apple cider cookies.

Macheesemo: Nick wrapped his blondies (filled with all sorts of yummyness) in beautiful parchment paper and string.

French Twist DC: Though she was eying the macarons made by One Vanilla Bean, she brought adorable little pineapple upside down cakes.

Shaw Girl: One of our fearless organizers made lavender cookies, some dipped in dark chocolate. Awesome.

The Passion Fruits: Everyone loved their mint brownies and icebox cookies!

Not Derby Pie: Brought chewy toffee blondies and many friends to eat them up too.

Modern Domestic: Couldn’t be there to sell, but brought perfectly packaged lemon cupcakes and salted chocolate thumbprint cookies.

Don’t Forget the Flour: Thank goodness she brought muffins because everyone was looking for something savory that early in the morning!

That’s my round up for now, but if I missed you, please comment and I’ll update! And of course, my recipe is below…

One Bowl Banana Cupcakes

• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1-1/2 cups milk (I only had about a 3/4 cup of milk, so I used heavy cream for the rest…shh!)
• 3 cups flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line enough muffin tins with paper liners for 36 cupcakes.
2. Mix the ingredients in the order listed in a large bowl, starting with the wet ingredients and moving to the dry ones.
3. Bake for twenty minutes, rotating the pan mid-way.

My Favorite Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 eight-ounce package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-5 cups confectioners’ sugar

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth
2. Add the vanilla extract
3. Gradually add the sugar and beat until incorporated
4. Stick your finger into the bowl and lick away
5. Just kidding… maybe… spread on cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

I hope you’ll come out to this bake sale for Haiti next weekend! I mean, how can you say no to this red velvet cake?

Sunday, March 28th • 9am-11am • Patio of Zorba’s Cafe

I think I’ll make my banana cream cheese cupcakes, which are perfect for spring. So, stop by while you’re at the Dupont Farmer’s Market and grab something sweet!

If you’re interested in learning more or getting involved, contact Shaw Girl, who has been awesome in coordinating this.

Nothing tastes sweeter than apples baking in the oven. I love the fall smell and the taste of this simple apple, banana, walnut bread.

Apple Banana Walnut Bread

• 2 large, very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 5 small mackintosh apples, sliced
• 1 cup of walnuts
• Additional honey, for drizzling

1. Slice the apples and spread them out on a baking sheet and drizzle honey over them. Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes, or until apples are moist and tender. (This is the part that smells delishhh!) Remove the apples from the oven and lower its heat to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas and mix in sugar until combined. Add honey and eggs and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix until combined. Finally, stir in the walnuts.
3. Grease an 8″ round cake pan (mine’s silicone and very easy to use), and arrange a layer of the baked apple slices on the bottom of the pan. Pour the banana-walnut batter into the pan. Arrange another layer of apples on the top. Bake the cake in the 350° oven for an hour and ten minutes.

This bread is perfect for breakfast or even a light dessert. I brought it into my office and everyone loved the combination of the three flavors.

This recipe is adapted from Sugarlaws. Mine doesn’t look as pretty, but I’m sure tastes just as good.

Banana is a subtle yet creamy flavor and I love the way it looks with the little flecks. My banana bread and cake are both so moist and absolutely perfect… for everyday or for special occasions.

Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel

Perfect for breakfast… or dessert.

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large bananas, peeled, mashed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1-1/2 cups  flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Add bananas, egg and lemon juice; mix until well blended.
4. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in separate bowl.
5. Add flour mix to banana mixture, mixing well after each addition.
6. Pour into greased 9×5-inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.

For glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Mix ingredients and drizzle over warm cake. Mmmmmm…

Birthday Banana-Cream Cheese Layer Cake

I love my boyfriend, but he doesn’t love chocolate as much as me. So, when it was time to make his birthday cake, I knew he’d love a banana-cream cheese one (and I’d save the double chocolate one for my birthday). I finally got to use my two silicone round pans to try making a layer cake. For the cake, I adapted this recipe (including not adding nuts) and used my favorite cream cheese frosting. The cake was a hit! Guess you don’t need chocolate to celebrate…