Banana Cream Poke Cake

Have you seen this pin on Pinterest? So did I and I got pinspired and bought all the ingredients and then I got lazy... til today. Woke up, the sun was shining and bright (it's was 50F!) and quickly made the cake batter to pop into the oven while I let the dogs out.

I haven't ate too many pies in my lifetime, but aside from apple pie, banana cream always stuck out in my mind. I use to loooove the taste of banana or banana flavored things, which once in awhile I still do, but I rarely eat bananas now. Winter started pretty early here and I am definitely craving for a taste of spring! I'm thankful that today gave me a dose of what spring will be like and top it off with this dessert? OHHH YEEEA.

Isn't Easter at the end of this month too? This would surely make a great dessert to serve! I would even make these into cupcakes and definitely let the pudding set just a little before pouring over the cake. I... Well, I got too impatient and added the cool whip too soon. Not only was it not fully thawed, it created a huge mess just trying to spread it. Also, I could only find one package of banana pudding at my local Safeway. Who knew banana pudding was so in demand right now?! Neither did I.



Banana Cream Poke Cake
Original recipe from the country cook

1 10 oz. box yellow cake mix, follow instructions on the back of package
1 package instant banana pudding
3 cups milk
1 tub frozen whipped topping, thawed
15-20 vanilla wafers, crushed

Prepare the cake according to package directions.
Let it to cool and poke holes all the way through the cake (I used a chopstick since that's all I had).
Whisk banana pudding into milk and let sit for a minute.
Spread over cake and make sure to push pudding into the holes.
Place cake into fridge so pudding can set.
Spread thawed cool whip and top with crushed nilla wafers.

Keep refrigerated.

First Birthday Cake - Success!

I made this cake for my brother's 25th birthday and he asked for a vanilla cake which at first, i thought was so plain and so boring! Then i realized that since my mom doesn't eat chocolate, vanilla was safest, plus vanilla cake is like a blank canvas. I remember seeing TPW post about a cake with strawberries and for the life of me, i could not find it, so i had to improvise. For the cake itself, I made Martha Stewart's Versatile Vanilla Cake filled with fresh strawberries and frosted with Creme Fraiche frosting. I also used Duff's Edible Tattoo art which i found at Michael's. The cake itself was delicious!! The frosting was very light which i loooved. I think this will be the cake I'm going to start making for birthdays. It was simple and if you can't find creme fraiche, i'll probably use buttercream.



Martha's Vanilla
Original recipe from Martha Stewart

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I used Vanilla Bean Paste)
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-by-2-inch cake pans, tapping out excess flour. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, beat in eggs and yolks, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Alternately beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined.

3. Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until cakes pull away from sides of pans, 32 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pans 10 minutes. Run a knife around edges of pans and invert cakes onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Fresh Strawberry Filling & Creme Fraiche Frosting

Strawberries:
1 1/2-2 lbs fresh strawberries
1 cup sugar

Dice up strawberries. Pour sugar over, coating the strawberries evenly. Let it sit for about 20-30 minutes.

Frosting:
3 containers of creme fraiche
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

I just whipped everything together. You don't have to use up to 2 cups of powdered sugar, just til its sweet enough for your own tastebuds. After the cakes are cooled, i leveled out the top and poured the strawberry syrup on each half because I was afraid the cake might be dry. Topped the bottom half with some creme fraiche forsting then topped with the strawberries. Add top layer of cake. Frost all over.

This cake tastes better after a day or two.