Since moving to the tropics, my house seems to have an endless supply of ripe bananas. Two bucks from the man hocking them in the middle of the street will get you about 15 perfectly ripe ones. There are only so many bananas tmy two roommates and I can eat in a day… and 5 a piece just ain’t happenin’. Due to this cheap , seemingly constant over-abundance I have been dreaming up new ways to use the bananas before they turn from speckled brown to black and rotten. You don’t even want to know the countless loaves of banana bread I have made in the past month. (Actually – you do want to know this, since the whole wheat coconut-banana bread I just made was off the chain! I’ll do a post on that as soon as I make it again – it was so good it was gobbled up before I had a chance to photo.)

In general – one of my favorite desserts is the upside-down cake. I mean, it combines fresh fruit, brown sugar-toffee-esque caramel-y goodness and fluffy cake. How is that ever an equation for anything less than awesome?!? It’s not. Don’t try to fight me on this one. This current cake is kind of a clean-out-the-pantry upside-down cake. Excess bananas to use before they rot – check. Half of a container of macadamia nuts that have been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months – check. Self-rising cake flour that I accidentally bought instead of regular cake flour – check. Dark rum that would likely lead me to do debaucherous activities if I drank rather than cooked with – double check! Regardless of how I dreamed up this cake, it was freaking delicious! So good that my roomies and I decided I had to get it out of the house ASAP so we wouldn’t eat more than one slice per person… So, of course, I took it to my local rum shack and gave it to the staff before sitting at the bar and consuming some more of that rum I was trying to stay away from! Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all, right?

Recipes in this post:

• Banana-Macadamia Nut Upside-Down Cake Spiked with Dark Rum

Related posts:

1. Spicy Chipotle Chocolate Cake
2. Fudgy Earl Grey Chocolate Cake

We’re eating fudgy, moist Earl Grey chocolate layer cake filled with lavender ganache and frosted with cream cheese icing.

On my other website, FoodPornDaily, I often get email requests for the food featured in the daily images. An old one that I still get requests for is the Earl Grey chocolate cake. There is something magical about the way that Earl Grey tea combines with chocolate to make a mildly floral yet roasty fudgy flavor that my tongue just can’t get enough of. And seriously, I’m not a chocolate lover. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a hater either! It’s just that I can either take or leave chocolate. I never crave it but if it appears in front of me in a delicious dessert, I’m not going to say no to at least a bite. This cake appears to be the exception… I find myself craving it every few weeks…but I’m gonna blame that on my deep-seated love of Earl Grey tea.

In the recipe below I call for lavender extract in the ganache. To be frank – when I made this and put the extract in both the cream cheese frosting and the ganache, I thought the whole thing was a little too floral. I don’t mind hints of floral in my food but if it’s like I’m eating a f*cking wedding bouquet I’d rather not have it in my mouth, ya know? Anyway, for the recipes that follow – I am suggesting that you NOT use the lavender extract in the cream cheese frosting and only use a small amount in the ganache. If you don’t have it on hand then I wouldn’t make a special trip out to find it. Just omit the extract all together and you still won’t be disappointed in the cake. Oh yeah – and don’t worry about dying the cream cheese frosting purple – turns out people will likely make fun of you for making a “Barney” cake.

*This post is dedicated to Samantha Penney and Gwen Miller for continuing to remind me to get this recipe posted! Thanks, ladies, sometimes I need a little kick in the pants.

Recipes in this post:

• Fudgy Earl Grey Chocolate Cake
• Lavender Ganache
• Basic Cream Cheese Frosting

Related posts:

1. Spicy Chipotle Chocolate Cake
2. Killer Peanut Butter Mousse Brownie Pie
3. Cinnamon Apple Pecan Crumb Bars

As some of you may know, I’m not what one would call a chocoholic. Not even close. I mean, I like chocolate and from time to time I enjoy eating a bite here and there, but generally I never crave chocolate. What I do crave is SPICY. Give me anything spicy and I am one happy hommie. It was my love of spice that inspired this particular recipe and, omg, was it ever a good idea! We’re eating super moist & spicy chipotle chocolate cake with a nutella cream cheese frosting. The frosting on this cake is the perfect soothing creamy element needed to round out such a spicy dessert.

Recipes in this post:

• Spicy Chipotle Chocolate Cake

Related posts:

1. Fudgy Earl Grey Chocolate Cake
2. Killer Peanut Butter Mousse Brownie Pie
3. Cinnamon Apple Pecan Crumb Bars

As a birthday present for our good friend Laurie we’re eating a homemade cake consisting of layers of fresh, moist, yellow cake with raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry preserves. The cake was frosted with a rich caramel cream cheese icing then topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. It was finished with a drizzle of freshly-made salted caramel sauce.

A: now you know sweets aren’t my thing, but i can sure dig on some salted caramel! I have to admit, the caramel was the best part of this whole thing for me.
T: The caramel was best when it was warm and sitting in a measuring cup and eaten with a spoon. MMMmmm that was good.
A: If I recall correctly, you were drinking it at one point.
T: that is correct. I was drinking it. MMMmmmm MMM mm Mmm….. …. Mmm.
A: MMM hmmm! Happy Birthday laurie! Did you enjoy the cake too?
T: Yeah, the cake was awesome. Moist and delicious.
A: My only real complaint was its density. It wasn’t quite light and fluffy, but it was definitely moist and the berry preserves mixed well with the caramel cream cheese frosting.
T: I loved the berry preserves. And the cream cheese frosting. And the fresh fruit on top. I give the cake a 4.6/5. The berries were delish, the caramel was absolutely amazing, and I thought you did a beautiful job of building the layers. What’s your rating?
A: Hmm. I think it gets a 4.25/5 from me. I really did love the caramel, but the density of the cake took away from the score for me. just slightly though. I thought it was an over all good sugar level. You know how some desserts are just kill-you sweet? this one i could get through fairly easily.
T: usually deserts that are kill you sweet are just about right on for me, but I know what you’re saying. Some desserts just taste like sugar. That’s never good.
A: seriously. that’s the best part about salted caramel. it’s just sugar. but for some reason it’s soooooooooooo much more! it’s salty, it’s creamy and sticky and chewy and just down right delicious. I heart caramel.
T: That was a killer description of caramel… chewy.. yes, it is chewy. Mmmm… However, the last thing you said was, how shall I say… extremely cheesy… even kill me cheesy.
A: okay, assmunch. how about, I totally dig the caramel… dude.
T: right on, bro.

Related posts:

1. Spicy Chipotle Chocolate Cake
2. Gooey Pecan Pie with a Nutella Bottom
3. Fudgy Earl Grey Chocolate Cake

For an out-of-the-ordinary, tasty treat, we’re eating a homemade coconut layer caked filled with layer upon layer of fresh whipped cream, mangos, kiwi, and

pineapple. The cake was iced with a coconut whipped cream and covered with toasted coconut flakes, then garnished with fresh fruit.

The whole shebangA: so… it looks like i held up my end of the deal, eh? post following mac & cheese…. CAKE!
T: ah yes, so it is. Well done Amanda! I was wondering why you didn’t want to blog dinner for the last 3 nights.
A: hehehe shut up! may that’s because we only ate dumplings for the last three nights!
T: I know, I was just messing with you. So, you know what I ate for lunch today?
A: carnitas tacos?
T: no. I had a chile relleno burrito.
A: hmmm… a chile relleno burrito? do they stuff the chile with cheese, deep fry it, then roll it up in a tortilla?
T: That was pretty much it. There was some lettuce in there too. It was alright. Not nearly as good as their California Burritos, though.
A: sounds just alright. but we need to focus here, t. we’re talking sweets tonight, not what the hell you had for lunch!
T: ok, fine. let’s talk about sweets. right before lunch I had a granola bar. It was great. Have you had anything sweet today?
A: uh… Hellll-looo! this is a post about that awesome tropically coconutty cake! not about the granola bar you ate for breakfast…
T: damn woman. Why we always gotta talk about food you make? What about my granola bar? Just kidding. I don’t really want to talk about the granola bar. Yes, the cake was really quite delicious. It’s really cool to hear that the property manager liked it. Food is good for kissing the butts of people with power over you.
A: true dat! it was especially nice for me, because i freaking locked myself out of the house today and had to go suck up some more to that wonderful woman to get the master key…
T: Let’s give some food away to someone who could swoop in like an angel and save us from our day jobs.
A: oprah?… are you out there? are you reading this? i’ve got a piece of cake with your name on it!
T: you’ve had that piece of cake for 7 years now. It might be time to make Oprah a new piece of cake.
A: dude… i totally schalacked it. it’ll stay good for years to come… on the mantle. she can eat a piece of the coconut cake.
T: here’s a question for you, if you could make any dish for Oprah, what would it be?
A: hmmm… that’s a great question. i dunno… i know she grew up in the deep south so maybe i’d hit her with some soul food, or maybe a stuffed bread… or a stuffed burger… probably not sweets. they aren’t my strong suit.
T: We know she likes flavored popcorn. That’s all I personally know about her food likes. We should stalk oprah. Is it illegal to say that?
A: i dunno, but i do know that we are trying to get oprah to like us… not get a restraining order taken out on us!
T: yeah. I don’t really want to stalk oprah. I like Oprah… but not that much.
A: here’s a call to the goddess herself… Oprah, would you be our friend?!?
T: You know what? this is sad. We’re calling out to Oprah. Screw Oprah. we’re going to be the next Oprah.
A: okay, oprah… only tyler means that. I totally don’t! i would like to aspire to be as giving as you are though.
T: shit, you put a 25% tip on a meal and that’s more of your income than if Oprah gave away a small country filled with able-bodied workers.
A: hehehe you are too much. well, now that we’ve pleaded for oprah to swoop in and save us. let’s refocus. The cake. I’m not a masterfully skilled cake baker. frankly, i’ve never baked a cake like this before.
T: what do you mean “a cake like this”?
A: well… i guess i mean a cake. the only cake i’ve made from scratch other than this, is those green tea cupcakes with cream cheese icing i made a few weeks ago.
T: sadly they didn’t get blogged about. But they did get eaten, rapidly. But, what about the King Cake??
A: ah… well technically that’s not really a cake. it’s more of a filled sweet yeast bread. but it is called a cake.
T: yeah, I agree, it’s not a cake. So this is your first cake that wasn’t a cupcake or made from a box?
A: yup… that would be correct. I’m really not much of a sweets baker. i like to bake breads, but not really cakes. I love to eat cakes… but i’ve never really tried my hand at them. The one thing i will say, is that baking would be so much easier if i had some electrical devices to help me to do things like whip cream or egg whites into stiff peaks. as it is, my forearems and shoulders get a serious work-out making cakes. like would be easier if we weren’t living in another century in the kitchen.
T: yeah, I mean, crap. The 20th century is so over. Can we get some modern appliances, helloo! our oven is the size of a microwave!
A: on the real-ah. thankfully for this cake, i baked it at work, so it didn’t come out burnt on the bottom and raw on top.
T: You know, I don’t know if you can get a grasp of our tone by reading this blog. I was reading some of what we wrote, and it sounded like a 16 year old was chatting on myspace. But, that’s because we were making fun of 16 year olds. But readers don’t always know that. I mean, somebody emailed me asking me what grade I was in. For christ sake people. I’m 25. I’m not in a grade.
A: ha ha funny funny.
T: Alright back to the tropical coconut cake. Were you pleased with this cake?
A: overall, i was. the actual cake part was a little dense, i don’t know if that’s because of the recipe or the fact that i had to whip everything by hand and didn’t do that good of a job. but other than that, i dug it.
T: I actually liked its density. It was still incredibly soft and moist. It was just dense, and that was a good thing for me.
A: sweet… well, i give this cake a 4.0/5. It was quite tasty and had lots of yummy ripe fruits that balanced the flavors out. although when i first tried it i thought it was too sweet, every other time i ate it i thought it was great. i would definately make this again, only the next time, i will choose a different recipe to make the actual “cake” part.
T: I give it a 4.2/5. That may seem like a low rating considering how much I liked the cake, but… I know it was your first cake. I have to leave room for the ratings to go up!
A: sweet! you know, i really liked you suggesting a theme for me to cook for this post… any suggesting for the next post?
T: hmm……………………. I don’t know, has Rachael Ray made anything good lately?
A:

Recipes in this post:

• Fruity Coconut Layer Cake

Related posts:

1. Spicy Chipotle Chocolate Cake
2. Fudgy Earl Grey Chocolate Cake
3. Killer Peanut Butter Mousse Brownie Pie