Banana Cupcakes with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramel Drizzle

I’ve been making my own birthday cakes since high school and this year was no exception. I wanted to spotlight one of my favorite flavors, (real) banana, and after a few days of deliberations, decided on cupcakes.

A banana cupcake recipe from the book Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson (2008) resulted in a dense, banana bread-like cake. I am a huge banana bread fan and the flavor was satisfying. As with any banana recipe, use very ripe, even black, bananas.

I paired the cakes with my go-to cream cheese frosting with a new twist. My friend/chef/ultimate foodie/supermom Lindsay suggested browning the butter in the frosting. Brown butter makes everything better. That’s a fact. The melted butter made my frosting a bit runnier than usual but the flavor was worth it. Just be sure to transfer the cakes to the fridge shortly after icing.

I finished the cakes off with Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce and banana chips. Perfection.

New Year's Vegan Raw Gluten-Free Frozen Cashew Pomegranate Cake

When New Year’s comes around I get excited about the changes, friendships, love, and memories that are sure to come the following year. Today was the most wonderful start to 2012. Unseasonably warm weather, sunshine, fresh air, lovely people, a dog named Javier, tea, and a (healthy) post-hike dessert.

Photo Credit: Kat Muscianesi, Fresh Eyes – Daily Unlimited Snapshots on Flickr

One of my best pals is vegan and I’m always happy to try a new treat for her. I found the recipe for the cashew pom cake on www.bonappétit.com in an article about a vegan Christmas meal. It was the perfect cake for a fresh start to 2012.

This frozen, vegan “cheesecake” is lightly sweet and a bit tart. Soaked cashews whip up to a creamy filling, which is quite satisfying when paired with the nutty crust. What did I change from the original recipe? I left out of the hemp seeds for sake of needing to run to one less market, and replaced them with 2 tablespoons extra of sunflower seeds. I used both almonds and walnuts in the crust to avoid hurt feelings. I also skipped the cardamom and swapped vanilla extract for the vanilla bean. Still delicious! The recipe calls for 2 pomegranates and I reserved some seeds for garnish. If you enjoy snacking on poms, it’s worth getting 3 total and using 2 full poms for the topping.

If you have a food processor (or blender) and a freezer, this recipe is simple to make. That’s the beauty of a raw recipe! And you can skip feeling guilty about eating it. Sure the nuts are high in fat, but it’s good fat, and 1/3 cup of sweetener is nothing compared to most dessert recipes.