Pineapple Lemon Cake

A recent issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine featured a recipe for pineapple buckle. What really got me interested was the classic yellow cake batter, called "can-do cake batter". The basic batter can be modified and transformed into elegant layer cakes, muffins, cupcakes, loaf cakes, or the pineapple buckle you see here. I wouldn't really call it a buckle, since I always think of an old-fashioned dessert with berries and a much more rustic, crumpled, or "buckled" appearance. This recipe uses cake flour and pineapple, which definitely makes for a much more delicate and sophisticated presentation.

The recipe below makes just about enough cake batter to fill a 2-quart baking dish. I used a ceramic tart pan, but any casserole or deep pie dish will work. Double the recipe and you'll have enough batter for two 9-inch cake pans, twenty-four muffins, or four 2 x 6 inch miniature loaf pans. The original recipe calls for lime zest and lime juice, which I replaced with lemon zest and lemon juice.

Ingredients for Basic Yellow Cake Batter

1/2cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, a room temperature

1/2 cup and 6 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 large eggs, a room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups cake flour, spooned and leveled

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

3/4 cups buttermilk

Ingredients for Pineapple Lemon Cake

1 recipe basic yellow cake batter

unsalted butter for baking dish

1 cup diced pineapple

4-6 thin pineapple rings for top

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 2-quart baking dish.
In a large bowl with a electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high for about 6 minutes or until light and fluffy. 
Beat in eggs and yolk, one at a time, until combined. Beat in vanilla.
In a separate bowl , whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
With mixer on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to creamed butter and beat to combine. Beat in buttermilk alternating with remaining flour in two more additions,ending with flour.
Stir lemon zest, lemon juice, and diced pineapple into batter.
Spread batter into prepared dish and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and quickly arrange pineapple rings on top. Bake for about 25 minutes more or until golden brown.

Let cool in dish for 20 minutes before serving.
Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

One of my favorite Martha Stewart cookie recipes! It was first published in Martha Stewart Living in September of 2006 and has become a staple in our house ever since. Baking a batch of Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies is a great way to use up overripe bananas, without having to resort to your old banana bread recipe. Don't get me wrong, I love banana bread, and must have baked several hundred loaves over the years. My kids always enjoyed it best right out of the oven, and usually before it had a chance to cool off, half of the bread was gone. I'm sure that many of my friends enjoy it too. A nicely wrapped loaf of homemade banana bread always makes a welcome gift. Anyway, quick bread recipes will be the topic of another post . . . 
The cookies taste delicious and keep very well for couple of days if stored in an airtight container. Best of all, there's no need to feel guilty when you can't stop eating them, because they are made with "good for you" ingredients.What could be better for you than bananas, oats, whole wheat flour, dark chocolate, and walnuts? So, whip up a batch of wholesome goodness and enjoy!


Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2  cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4  cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2  cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2  teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2  cup ripe mashed banana
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
8 oz. chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2  cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Stir together, flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Cream butter and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add egg and vanilla.Mix until combined and add banana. Gently mix in flour mixture until just combined. Add oats, chocolate, and walnuts, being careful not to overmix.
Use a large spoon or an ice cream scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Cookies should be golden brown and just set. Let cool completely on wire racks before storing in an aright container.