Recipe Swap

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Let them eat (two special kinds of) cake

By: Darlene Henderson

21/10/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Enlarge Image

Bienenstich (KELVIN HENDERSON)

Enlarge Image

Frosted banana bars (KELVIN HENDERSON)

Today's column features two special cake recipes that readers were seeking.

Vanessa Olson had requested a recipe for an "amazing" banana cake with a creamy white frosting that is not just made with icing sugar and is often served at bridal and baby showers. Thanks to Kari Renner of Stonewall who supplied today's recipe. Kari writes that it is originally from an old Taste of Home magazine, and that she has made it many times and it is always very popular. Thanks also to Jan Gabbs, Betty Unger and Linda Snider of Glenboro for their recipes.

Debbie Crump had tasted a dessert called bienenstich at the Altona Quilt Show, which she described as a two-layer cake with a vanilla cream filling and a carmelized almond topping with coconut. She had asked if a reader, or even the person in Altona who made it, would be able to share the recipe. Thanks to Mary Falk of Altona for kindly contributing the actual recipe, and to Erica Sommer who emailed it on her behalf. Erica writes that Mary is an excellent quilter who always makes bienenstich (which means bee sting in German) for the Altona Sunflower Festival Quilt Show and that "it goes like hot cakes." Thanks also to Sylvia Kehler, Connie Mcleod, Evelyn Woelke and Edna Mroz of Beausejour.

Another cake request comes from Jean Langtry who would like a recipe for the coffee mocha torte that she used to be able to purchase from the third floor at Eaton's in Winnipeg.

Mal Coombes is looking for a recipe for chicken pockets that he had clipped from a magazine and has lost. The recipe uses chicken breasts, and he thinks green peppers and tomato sauce, that are wrapped in foil and baked in the oven.

If you can help with a recipe request, have your own request, or a favourite recipe you'd like to share, send an email to recipeswap@freepress.mb.ca, fax it to 697-7412, or write to Recipe Swap, c/o Darlene Henderson, Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6. Please include your first and last name, address and telephone number.

Frosted banana bars

125 ml (1/2 cup butter), softened

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) sugar

2 eggs

250 ml (1 cup) sour cream

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

500 ml (2 cups) all-purpose flour

5 ml (1 tsp) baking soda

1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Frosting

250 g (8 oz ) pkg cream cheese, softened

125 ml (1/2 cup butter), softened

10 ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract

925 ml - 1 litre (3 3/4 to 4 cups) confectioners' sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in bananas.

Spread into a greased 25 x 38 x 2.5 cm (10 x 15 x 1-inch) baking pan. Bake at 175 C (350 F) for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Cool.

Frosting: In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve desired consistency. Frost bars. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 3-4 dozen.

Taste Tester Notes: Moist and delicious. I baked in a 22 x 33 cm (9 x13-inch) cake pan for about 40 minutes, and turned the oven down to 160 C (325 F) for the last 15 minutes, as I was using a darker pan and mine was browning quickly. (Banana cake does tend to brown more on top than most cakes.) Cake should spring to the touch in the centre and a toothpick come out clean when done.

Let cake cool completely before frosting. Depending on how much confectioners' sugar (icing sugar) you like to use in your frosting, and how thick you ice the cake, you may not use all of the frosting. If there is any frosting left over it can be frozen for another use.

Bienenstich

6 eggs

750 ml (3 cups) sugar

Pinch of salt

750 ml (3 cups) flour

20 ml (4 tsp) baking powder

375 ml (1 1/2 cups) milk

45 ml (3 tbsp) butter

Topping

90 ml (6 tbsp) melted butter

135 ml (9 tbsp) whipping cream

280 ml (1 1/8 cup) brown sugar

100 g pkg slivered almonds

280 ml (1 1/8 cup) coconut

Filling

750 ml (3 cups) whipping cream

45 ml (3 tbsp) white sugar

45 ml (3 tbsp) instant vanilla pudding

Beat eggs, sugar and salt. Mix flour and baking powder and add to first mixture. Bring milk and butter to a boil and add to mixture; stir gently. Line 2 cookie sheets, each about 30 x 38 x 1.6 cm (12 x 15 x 1/2-inch), with wax paper and pour mixture in.

Bake at 175 C (350 F) for 15-20 minutes. Mix topping ingredients together. When cakes are done, spread topping over one of the cakes (this will become the top layer) and return to oven under broiler until it bubbles. Watch carefully. When done, cool and remove wax paper, then freeze (it's easier for handling later).

Filling: Whip cream. Add sugar and pudding and beat together until thickened. Put filling on cake and cover with the second (top) cake layer that has the broiled topping. Chill or refreeze and cut into squares. Freezes well. Can also bake as one cake in a 22 x 33 cm (9 x13-inch) pan, then cut horizontally while partially frozen to make two layers.

Taste Tester Notes: This rich, cream-filled cake with its broiled topping is sort of a glamorized take on a lazy daisy cake. The cakes should spring to the touch in the centre when baked. The topping is placed on the hot cake and immediately returned to the oven. I spread some of the topping on each cake, with more on the top layer (the topping mixture will be thick but spread it as evenly as you can; it will bubble together under the broiler). Do watch closely so that it just turns a golden brown which, depending on your broiler, may take only a minute or two to a few minutes. The cakes just need to be partially frozen, so they are easy enough to handle while assembling. When making the filling, initially whip the cream just until it starts to thicken before adding the other ingredients, as it will continue to thicken and stiffen as you continue beating. After assembling the cake, I returned it to the freezer before cutting into squares, as I found it stayed together better this way.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 21, 2009 D5

Rate this
This article has not yet been rated.

We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high. If you thought it was well written, do the same. If it doesn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.

You can also register and/or login to the site and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Rate it yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high.