Banana Bran Muffins

These are perfect for a Sunday morning, especially when you have bananas that are ripening.

2 tbsp All-Vegetable Shortening

1/4 cup Sugar

1 Large Egg

1 cup Quaker Natural Wheat Bran

1/3 cup Milk

2 cups Bananas, sliced

1 cup All-purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1. Cream the shortening in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar and mix.
3. Once combined, beat in large egg.
4. Add in Wheat bran and milk and let sit for a few minutes.
5. Once moist, slice bananas thinly and add to bran mixture and mix well.
6. Add the remaining ingredients and put into 12 greased muffin tins.
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 365 C, or until a toothpick is removed from the middle of the muffin without anything sticking to it.

Nutritional Facts when baking 12 muffins

Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing for my work potluck. Yummy!

2 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour
4 tsp Baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.
3. Cream butter and gradually add sugar.
4. Mix in one egg at a time to the butter and sugar, then add vanilla extract.
5. Stir in melted chocolate and blend well.
6. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
7. Pour into greased and floured cake/cupcake pans, or lines cupcake pans.
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes for cake pans, 15 to 20 minutes for regular cupcake pans, and 8 to 12 minutes for miniature cupcake pans.
9. Test with toothpick in the middle of the cake to make sure it doesn't stick to the toothpick.
10. Cool completely before icing.

Baked Apple with a Twist

I made these for dessert for Thanksgiving dinner, as it was something light after the huge meal we were going to eat.

The twist is orange zest and whiskey. Yummy!

You will need:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 large apples
½ tsp cloves
3 tbsp brown sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 ½ tsp whiskey
¼ cup raisins


1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
2. Use an apple corer to remove the cores from your apples.
3. With a knife, score around the middle of each apple. This prevents the apple from bursting during the cooking process.
4. Lightly butter the bottom of a baking dish and place the apples in it.
5. Cream the butter in a small bowl with brown sugar.
6. Add in spices and orange zest and mix well.
7. Add in the whiskey and raisins, then stuff it into the apple core.
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Mom's Birthday Cake - White Cake with Cream Filling and Butter CreamIcing

This was my first time ever making a filling for a cake.

It turned out great!

I made a batch of my basic white cake recipe and baked it in two 9" round baking pans for 35 to 40 minutes.

I let them cool then placed one on a plate and smothered it in the cream filling. I then put the other cake on top and thinly iced the cake with my famous butter cream icing.

Once I sealed the cake with the thin layer of icing, I followed up with a thicker layer of icing. I dyed half of the remaining icing with red food coloring and put it in a piping bag with and str tip. I iced " Happy 59th Birthday Linda" and piped pink along the edge. I topped it off with sprinkles and it looks awesome and tasted even better!

Here is the recipe for the cream filling.
Makes enough for the middle of one 8" or 9" round cake

You will need:

2 tbsp Corn starch
Dash of salt
6 tbsp sugar
1 Cup Milk
1 Egg
1 tbsp butter
½ tsp vanilla

1. Mix together corn starch, salt and sugar in a saucepan
2. Gradually add cold milk stirring constantly over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbles for 1 minute.
3. Beat egg slightly and add part of hot mixture to egg.
4. Blend and return all to saucepan.
5. Cook, stirring constantly for two minutes.
6. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Making the Cream Filling