Happy Sunday

We slept too late to enjoy mimosas like I had hoped, but we enjoyed the day, nonetheless. First, we went grocery shopping. I picked our dinner for tonight, braised pork roast, creamed potatoes & fresh corn cut off the cob. Joseph got to pick dinner for Monday night, Italian meat and cheese chicken roulades (basil, mozzarella, salami, pepperoni & ham rolled up in pounded out chicken breast, breaded and fried) with red sauce, buttered noodles, broccoli & sizzler bread. (I will just bake my chicken roulade, but I will fry one for him)

I baked all afternoon while Jospeh watched football. I made a sourdough pullman loaf, which turned out well, but still needs improving, and a banana cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. I tried a different recipe, one that I got from the pantry guy at 909. It had a different rising method than the traditional sourdough that I tried last weekend. The aroma of the starter is intoxicating. It smells up my whole kicthen with the sweet, slightly sour, yeasty bready scent of sourdough. (It kind of smells like baby's breath) The bread wasn't cooked quite long enough, but had excellent flavor and texture regardless. It is very chewy, but that is easily solved by a a few minutes in the toaster. The banana cake is from my Magnolia Bakery (NYC) cookbook and turned out SO WELL! It's so moist and banana-y. The icing is great too. I'll include the recipe below.

Our dinner turned out really well. The pork was a little over done, I lost track of time while reading a trashy magazine, but it was still good because the sauce was so delicious. I had marinated the pork overnight and braised it on a bed of carrots, celery & onion in the marinade of apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, apple juice and dijon mustard.

Before dinner we took a walk on the golf course. Joseph threw some discs and I walked the dogs. Now we're going to watch Entourage. Here's our walk, dinner, bread & cake.







Magnolia Bakery
Banana Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

For Cake, Sift together:
3 c cake flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1/2 t baking powder, set aside
In mixing bowl, cream together:
1 c soft butter
2 c sugar
Add one at a time, mixing between each:
3 eggs, at room temp
Stir in:
1 1/2 c mashed ripe banana
half dry ingredients
When all incorporated, add:
6 T buttermilk
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
Mix in remaining dry ingredients, until blended

Bake at 325 in a 9x13 or two 8 inch round pans for 40-50 minutes.

Frosting*, whip together:
1 pound soft cream cheese
6 T soft butter
1 t vanilla extract
8 oz cool melted white chocolate

*I made half this recipe of frosting and it covered a 9x13 cake perfectly. The full recipe seems like a ton for one cake.