Welcome to a newsletter thatās meant to bring your family together in the kitchen during this pandemic. If youāve stumbled across this newsletter and wanna subscribe, let me make that as easy as a one-bowl chocolate cake.āļø
āIām stressed,ā I told my 5-year-old last week.
My kids have been home sickā¦
ā¦and theyāve consequently enjoyed a bit of my ugly side.
She didnāt ignore me though or yell back ā which is what I was apologizing for.
Instead, she dropped her Q-tip collection, hugged my leg, and said:
āDrink water.ā
What advice do you give that your kids parrot back?
Because Iām legitimately shocked to see mine finally landing.
And who was I to be stressed anyway?
The only thing on my two-page to-do list that ACTUALLY warranted losing sleep over was the number of bananas turning black in our fruit bowl.
But Iāve since taken care of that ā with banana sheet cake!
My neighbour tipped me off to this Silver Palate recipe. They make it as a two-layer cake with frosting, but I bake it in a quarter sheet pan (the small jelly roll size), use white spelt flour, double the vanilla, leave out the nuts and reduce the sugar, then freeze it in squares for school snacks (so I have one less thing to worry about).
šBanana Sheet Cake
NOTE: this recipe was updated on May 24 to include wellā¦ THE BANANAS š¤¦š»āāļø
Makes one 15 x 10-inch quarter-sheet baking tray (or jelly roll pan as itās also called)
Adapted fromThe Silver Palate by Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins, Michael McLaughlin
Skill level: easy
Mess level: low
š 2 ways to make these extra educationalā adapt for your kidsā ages
1ļøā£ Make your own buttermilk and let the kids curdle the milk with vinegar. You donāt even have to get into the science of it ā by just discussing the meaning of the word curdle youāll be well on your way to winning Parent of the Year.
2ļøā£ If your kids are into touching eggs (with mine it depends on the day) get them to do the separating and encourage a convo around the difference between the white and the yolk. (Tip: itās easier to separate eggs if theyāre cold.)
Ingredients
3 really ripe bananas
2 cups (280 g) all-purpose or white spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp table salt
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk * see recipe note below if you wanna make your own
2 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease the bottom and sides of a quarter baking sheet (double check your tray measurements, this is smaller than a half sheet).
Mash the bananas with a potato masher or fork and set aside.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl until well combined, around 30 seconds.
Whip the egg whites in a small bowl with electric beaters until stiff peaks form.
Without cleaning the beaters, use them to cream the butter and the sugar together in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy, about 2 min.
Beat the bananas, egg yolks, buttermilk, and vanilla into the butter mixture until just combined.
Add the flour mixture and beat that in, stopping as soon as no dry spots remain.
Fold in the egg whites with a spatula.
Pour batter into the greased baking tray and use your spatula to level it out.
Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 22 - 27 minutes. Let cool and serve it right from the tray.
you can freeze this too on a plate first and then pop it into an air-tight container once itās frozen
ā¼ļøRECIPE NOTE š You can easily make your own sub for buttermilk. Hereās how: Mix 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar topped up in a measuring glass with enough milk to make 1/2 cup and let this sit for 5 minutes to curdle a bit ā DIY buttermilk!
šJess
āļø P.S. Looking for something to get YOU through the week? I HEAR YOU!
I hope the fam let you sleep in yesterday if youāre a mom.
Maybe too, someone in your life took advantage of the Motherās Day 15% off sale on smiley face jewelry. š¤
This pic is now my āØlifeāØ goal.
Talk to you next week! š