Banana Pudding

Another recipe that doesn't call for the oven; but tastes yummilicious! Banana Pudding.

Banana Pudding resembles an English Trifle and is most commonly recognized as a desert from the South. It was published in "The Kentucky Receipt Book" by Mary Harris Frazer in 1903; however, this recipe did not include wafers. Moreover, Banana Pudding was a favorite of the legend, Elvis Presley!

This particular recipe is from Magnolia's Bakery (from the book More From Magnolia). Alyssa Torey (author of the book) claims that this is the second most popular recipe in their bakery after cupcakes. This recipe is also egg-less so it's perfect for any pure vegetarians or anyone with egg allergies!

Ingredients:
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1.5 cups ice cold water
3.4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix (pref Jell-O brand)
3 cups heavy cream
1 12 oz box Nabisco Nilla Wafers (no substitutions!)
4 cups sliced ripe bananas

Equipment:
1 Electric Mixer
Measuring Cups
1 Small Bowl
1 Covered Dish for storing pudding overnight
1 Large Bowl
1 Large Wide Bowl/Trifle Dish/small individual desert dishes

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute.
2. Add pudding mix and beat well, about 2 minutes more.
3. Cover and refrigerate for about 3-4 hours, or overnight, before continuing. It's important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set in.
4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until peaks form.
5. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.
6. To assemble the dessert, select a large, wide bowl (preferably glass) with a 4-5 quart capacity. Arrange 1/3 of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then 1/3 of the bananas and 1/3 of the pudding. Repeat the layers twice more, garnishing with additional wafers on the top layer of the pudding.
7. Cover tightly with a plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours--or up to 8, but no longer!--before serving.

* While the layering in this recipe calls for a trifle like appearance, I chose to arrange this in little miniature bowls for individual deserts.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Cupcakes

Before I get started on the recipe, I feel that attention must be paid to the significance of Magnolia Bakery. Magnolia Bakery revolutionized cupcakes and has been credited for the "cupcake craze" in the early 90's that resulted in little couture cupcake boutiques to pop up throughout the country and probably played a role in cupcakes being the new replacement for the traditional wedding cake.

Magnolia Bakery, in NYC, is SO popular that no single customer can purchase more than 12 a day. They're THAT much in demand. It was even featured in Sex and the City--Carrie and Miranda ate cupcakes outside of it while discussing Carrie's latest crush! Naturally, I can't resist but putting the clip:



The founders of Magnolia Bakery published two baking books (to my knowledge), and I found this recipe for their Vanilla Cupcake from their first cookbook.

This recipe works. It's easy and there's just no way to screw up. Here you go:



Cook Time: 40 min
Yields: 24

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk ( I only had fat-free so I put 1/2 cup fat free and 1/2 cup half and half)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

EQUIPMENT:
1 Large Bowl
1 Small Bowl
1 Electronic Mixer (you can mix by hand should you wish)
Measuring Cups
1 Muffin Tin Pan
24 Cupcake Liners


DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Line muffin tins with cupcake papers
3. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer,cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy (about 3 min).
5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beat well after each addition.
6. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with milk and vanilla. With each addition, beaut until the ingredients are incorporated, but do no over beat.
7. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
8. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.
9. Bake 20-25 minutes--only took 20 min for me--or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
10. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.