Layered Banana Pudding Trifle

One Christmas while I was in college my family went to New York City.  On that trip I won second row tickets to Wicked which was just getting popular. Idina Menzel completely blew me away.  I think I actually stopped breathing for a few minutes because I was so amazed by her.  I will never forget that show. 

It was a fantastic trip, but I have one regret.  I missed out on Magnolia Bakery, and their banana pudding.

Fortunately, the recipe is all over the place. When I first looked at it I thought no way was it legit.  It uses sweetened condensed milk and vanilla pudding mix for heaven's sake.  How is this world renowned??

I decided to give it a try anyways and I'm completely repentant.  It's so delicious.  Super sweet, but also the very definition of comfort food. I'm fairly certain that a trip to New York City is in order, just to determine the authenticity of this recipe, but this will have to do until then!

 

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This pudding takes some patience.  The initial pudding needs to be chilled for 4 hours, and once it is layered with bananas it needs to be chilled for 8 hours.  Plan ahead and just know that it will be worth it. 

You can knit cat socks in the meantime.

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Fluffy Vanilla Frosting

I just posted my basic buttercream recipe and though these recipes are very similar, I use both of them for different things, so I think they each deserve their own spot in the limelight. 

This one is fluffier and lighter due to the long whipping time.  It takes a little longer to make but makes a smoother, lighter, buttercream.  I like it better for frosting cupcakes.

For my cakes, or when I need a stiff frosting for piping, I use the basic buttercream I posted yesterday.  These recipes are basics but they are too good not to share.  I use them over and over again!

Tip- If you want to get your vanilla frosting super-white, just add a little white food coloring.  I have a big bottle of AmeriColor white and I love it!  It takes away yellow-tinges from butter, and brown tinges from vanilla extract.  For just a few dollars I feel like it makes a big difference in how my frosting looks. 

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Best Basic Buttercream Frosting

I like to make birthdays a big deal at our house.  I used to do elaborate cakes that literally took days to make.  We're talking a life-sized guitar cake, a firetruck with a burning building that actually smoked, cakes that hung from the ceiling...  INSANITY, my friends.

While I still love to make crazy cakes, they were taking so.much.time.  And one day it occurred to me that I could spend just one day making a cake and throw a bunch of toys on top and my kids would be equally as awed and excited.

So now I'm a "one-day cake" kind of girl, and now I get to actually see my kids the week of their birthdays which is kind of cool.

Anyways, this is the cake I made my 4 year old several months ago for his birthday.  The frosting is a basic buttercream that I use almost anytime I need buttercream.  It has some heavy cream in it so it whips up a little lighter than traditional buttercream and it pipes well. This is definitely one to bookmark and use any time you need a quick, delicious, buttercream.

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Mint Oreo Brownies

I went to BYU, home of the mint brownie, so really this recipe was inevitable.  They don't completely replicate the brownies that sustained me through 4 years of college but they have Oreos and hot fudge so what more can I ask?  These are a must-make!

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Butter Pecan Ice Cream

This summer we took our kids to a dairy farm in Idaho called Reed's Dairy.  It really is a farm..  tons of cows, pigs, sheep, goats, kittens running around..  And right in the middle of all that is a little shop with some of the creamiest ice cream I've ever had, and the best chocolate milk in all the land. It's a weird experience- going to a place that smells like cows and ordering up a triple scoop, but you kind of get used to the smell...

Ice cream is a big deal in our family.  We eat it as much as possible and then some.  The kids usually order cotton candy or bubblegum, and I can usually be found with about 5 scoops of rocky road, but my husband always gets butter pecan.  Always.

This one's for him.


Note- This recipe takes several days to make, so make sure you read through the recipe in advance so you're prepared!

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Mint Oreo Cookie Ice Cream

Mint Oreo anything is a good idea, right? 

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Caramel Brownie Ice Cream

This is the best thing I ate this summer.  No competition.

Caramel flavored ice cream with brownie chunks. (Droool.) You can just use leftover brownies or you can try something like Flipz instead if you don't want to bother making brownies.

Seriously, if you make one more ice cream recipe this year, please make it this one!

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S'mores Ice Cream

This summer we introduced our kids to 'The Sandlot'.

(It was all fun and games until my 6 year old played catcher on his T-ball team and started taunting the batters. Thank you Ham..)

On the 4th of July we went to the city park and they played 'America the Beautiful' by Ray Charles as the fireworks went off.

Magical Sandlot moment.

Seriously.  I almost cried.

And all summer my kids quoted, "S'more?  S'more what?" and "First you take the graham..."


It's like every dream I've ever had has come true.  It is a beautiful, beautiful, life.

And so, I give you- rich chocolate ice cream swirled with marshmallows and graham cracker crust.  The perfect S'more ice cream.  So you can eat it with someone you love and quote 'The Sandlot' all.night.long.

You're welcome! 

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Double Cookie Chocolate Ice Cream

I can't believe how long I have been absent from blogging.  Every day I think I need to edit some pictures or write a post but the pictures and recipes just keep piling up.

It was a crazy but wonderful summer.  My kids were in school until JULY (year-round school), and we did a lot of traveling. We found a live sand dollar on the beach at Coronado Island, our youngest rode Radiator Springs Racers for the first time, we hiked out on a skinny precipice at the Grand Canyon and watched the sun set, and I discovered that heaven on earth is actually located in Montana. 

Our family has one vacation rule and that is that ice cream must be consumed every single day. Sometimes twice a day when the occasion warrants it.  Usually this means Ghiradelli, Ben & Jerry's, Baskin Robbins, etc.  But when we're really lucky it's a specialty ice cream shop like Bi-Rite in San Francisco, or a Huckleberry ice cream sandwich from Yellowstone. 

Since ice cream was the ongoing theme of our summer I'd love to share a few last ice cream recipes with you.   It's not that I don't love pumpkin.. it's just that ice cream is delicious allthedays.

Don't you think?

Happy licks!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream {Tips for making Homemade Ice Cream}

I am slightly obsessed with my ice cream maker.  In the summer I buy the huge half-gallon of heavy cream at Costco, and it all gets turned into cold, creamy, goodness. Homemade ice cream just tastes so much better than store-bought and even better- you can control what goes into it.  When I make Cookies & Cream ice cream for example, I like to put in an entire package of Oreos.

(It's okay that you're judging me right now.)

To make homemade ice cream you really need an ice cream maker.  I like electrics because they are simple to use.  You just freeze the ice cream bowl in advance and then flip a switch when it's time to churn your mixture.  The bowl does need to be frozen solid so it needs to freeze for at least 24 hours, (preferably 48).  I store my bowl in the freezer at all times so it's always ready to go.  After it churns you can eat the ice cream straightaway but it will be a soft-serve consistency.  I prefer to scoop it into a container and let it freeze solid overnight so it will scoop like store-bought ice cream.

My last tip is to make sure the mixture you're freezing is extremely cold before churning.  This usually means refrigerating it overnight or for about 8 hours before churning.  I know that this seems like a  lot of hassle when you just want ice cream, but I promise you it is worth the effort!  Following these little steps will get you an ice cream consistency just like you get at the store, and the ice cream will taste even better.


Finally- If you like Baskin Robbins' Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream, you're going to love this!

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