Super Easy Banana Cream Ice Box Cake

 

Since I always post recipes I bake from scratch, I thought it was about time I'd include one that is super easy, does not involve baking, and is extremely tasty at the same time. In comes Banana Cream Ice Box Cake. The idea for it evolved as a combination of a Banana Cream Pie Anna makes at home quite often and a recipe for an Éclair Ice Box Cake I kept seeing on Pinterest over and over again. We had a few very ripe bananas at home that needed using up but I wasn't in the mood for baking another banana bread (as great as my recipe is), so I thought I'd go the super easy route this time. But instead of layering the vanilla pudding and the whipped cream- as Anna does in the Banana Cream Pie, I combined the two to create one fluffy light cream that made this dessert irresistible. So, here it is:

Super Easy Banana Cream Ice Box Cake

Ingredients:

18 Graham Crackers

3 bananas, peeled and sliced thinly

1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip, thawed

about 1 cup chocolate ganache to cover top (optional but recommended; * see recipe below)

1/2 chopped walnuts or other nuts (totally optional)

 

Directions:

Combine vanilla pudding with milk and whisk until combined and thickened, about 3 minutes. Add Cool Whip and stir in until you get a homogenous cream.

 

In an 8x8 inch pan, arrange graham crackers on bottom- you will need to break some of them into halves or quarters in order to cover the whole pan. Spoon about 1/3 of the pudding mixture on top of the graham crackers. Arrange banana slices on top, pushing them down a little, to sink them slightly into the cream. Repeat layering crackers, cream, bananas, and again crackers, cream, bananas. Finish with one last layer of crackers.

I had some chocolate ganache left over from another recipe, so I just warmed it up for about 15 seconds in the microwave and drizzled it on top. Then, I sprinkled some chopped walnuts, just because I love them. :) I left the cake in the refrigerator overnight to set. We just enjoyed it for dessert today and everyone raved about it. Not bad for about 15 minutes of work! :)



* For Chocolate Ganache, mix 1/2 chocolate chips with 1 cup of almost boiling heavy whipping cream- stir to melt the chocolate and use as required. It is delicious! If you have any leftover, simply store in the fridge for another week or so. When ready to use, if you need it spreadable again, just warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds and you are good to go!

 

Recipe adapted from: hugsandcookiesxoxo

Banana Cream Pie

I actually made this dessert for a party we recently went to but it took me a while to pull my act together and post the recipe here. Now, I have a  confession make: I have made banana cream pie many, many times before but mostly using ready vanilla pudding mix. Let me tell you- there is no comparison whatsoever between the made-from-scratch vanilla pastry cream and the store-bought vanilla pudding! None. True, it takes longer to make the from-scratch pastry cream with all the whisking by the fire, tempering of the eggs, etc but the taste is definitely superior. My husband proclaimed it "The best banana cream pie" I've ever made without knowing what was different. Well, in this case, there was also the addition of a couple other "secret" ingredients (compliments of Paula Deen) that made this heavenly dessert really and truly over the top.

Ingredients:

5-6 bananas, sliced

1 box Nilla Wafers

Vanilla Pastry Cream (recipe below)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1 (14oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 oz.) container Cool Whip

chocolate syrup for decorating (optional)

chopped nuts for decorating (optional) 

Directions

Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with Nilla Wafers.

Slice your bananas and layer evenly on top of the wafers.

Spread cooled Vanilla pastry cream on top of bananas. 

Arrange another layer of Nilla Wafers on top of vanilla pastry cream. 

In a separate bowl, mix together cream cheese & condensed milk until smooth.  Gradually fold in whipped cream. Pour the mix evenly over the second layer of Nilla Wafers. 

Decorate with chocolate syrup and chopped nuts if desired.

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen's Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

Vanilla Pastry Cream

Original recipe here

2/3 cup sugar (can be reduced to 1/2 cup if you prefer desserts less sweet)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups whole milk

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a fork to combine. Set aside.

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually pour in milk, while whisking, to make a smooth mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Continue to cook and stir one minute.

Pour several tablespoons of the hot mixture into the bowl with the eggs and immediately stir well.  Pour warmed egg mixture into the pan with the rest of the hot milk mixture. Return to a slow boil, and cook one minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Set aside to cool. When the pan has cooled, place in the refrigerator to fully cool. If desired, lay a piece of plastic wrap on the top surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming.

My youngest daughter, Lizzie, admiring Mommy's banana cream pie :))

Butterfly cupcakes for Miss Lizzie's 3rd Birthday :)

Normally, I don't do too much baking in the hot summer months because I just can't bring myself to turn the oven on when it is 100F outside and no AC can cope with that effectively. However, my sweet daughter Elizabeth's 3rd birthday was an exception. When I asked her what she wanted for her special day, she didn't hesitate too long. "Butterfly cupcakes" was the almost immediate request and I just had to oblige. :) I baked our now favorite vanilla cake recipe (see here) by changing it up just a tad: instead of 1 whole cup of sour cream, I did 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup strawberry flavored Greek yogurt. The second alteration I made was instead of 2 tsps of vanilla extract, I put 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp strawberry extract. This way, I gave the recipe just a slight hint of strawberry, since the birthday girl loves this fruit. Of course, the icing had to be pink- with pearls on it (!). I just whipped up a batch of the fluffy pudding frosting that everybody in my family likes for its light texture and not too sweet taste. It is super simple when you are not in the mood for major whipping from scratch. It is not too stiff, but holds up somewhat okay for piping, as you can see from the pictures below. 

Fluffy Pudding Frosting

1 (3.5 oz) pkg of instant vanilla pudding mix

1 cup of milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 (8oz) container of Cool Whip (thawed)

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix with milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping until no streaks remain. Add food coring if desired. Frost and enjoy your masterpieces! :) 

Lizzie's favorite colors: pink and purple combined in one cupcake: :) For the decoration, I took the easy way out and used ready made butterflies which are not edible but so adorable, Elizabeth was ecstatic!

The Birthday girl, thrilled with her cupcakes and ready to blow those three candles: :))) 

birthday cake with fluffy pudding frosting

welcome baby cake

birthday cake for mother

birthday cake i made for my mother- written in bulgarian. it was yellow cake, since this is what she likes, with fluffy vanilla pudding frosting and flowers made from butercream.

Birthday Cake

I made this for a friend of mine at work. I used fluffy chocolate pudding frosting which is very light. The consistency is not stiff enough to decorate with, but it worked well for frosting. The cake was chocolate on the inside. Everybody at work liked it. :)

Birthday Cupcakes

I whipped these cupcakes up for my oldest daughter's birthday- to take to her preschool. I used fluffy vanilla pudding frosting which is not very stiff but still works for piping. They were gone! :)

Fluffy Pudding Frosting 

1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed
1 (3.5 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix (or the flavor of your choice- I have made it with chocolate)
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine pudding mix with milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Gently fold in whipped topping until no streaks remain. Spread evenly over cake. (If you need the frosting to be thicker for piping, you could add some powdered sugar, or use less milk.)

Recipe courtesy: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cool-whipped-frosting/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=pudding%20frosting&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe