Moist Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Thank God it's Friday! For a mom like me, I am thankful for Fridays because it's the last day of the school week which means, I don't have to wake up early the next day to attend to 3 kids for school. I am really not a morning person, I struggle to get up from the bed every day. So, yay for Fridays!!!!

Anyhow, last Friday, June 29, I planned a last minute little surprise for the husband for our 6th Wedding Anniversary (June 30). Just a short kwento, several months before our anniversary, we planned on having an out of town celebration, and Cebu was on top of our list. Good thing though that we weren't able to book airfare tickets right away, a lot of things had happened, Tristan has some troubles at school (which I would like to write about some other time), we are now a household without a helper (for more than a month now) so I have to quit my job and  become a stay at home mom again. 

So technically, we didn't have anything planned out for our anniversary because of how busy our household is and also few weeks prior, I have already committed to attending an event with Sanicare on the day of our anniversary. We just had dinner after the event. But, I was feeling extra and surprised Jaear with a banana with cream cheese frosting cake that I personally baked. 

No, I am not a kitchen diva, I cook because I don't have a choice (hahaha) kidding aside, I love cooking but I only know a few recipes so, thanks Google! Aside from cooking, Google also though me how to bake. 

This is not really my first time baking banana cake, I began baking 2 years ago but it sure is my first time making one with the frosting. So on the 29th, I searched Google for the easiest recipe for the frosting then whipped it that night so it could be ready when Jaear gets home around 1AM of June 30, 2018.

And as promised, whenever I learned something new, I'd gladly share it with you mommas. So here's an easy recipe for a banana cake with cream cheese frosting.

Banana Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter or 1 cup cooking oil
• 2 eggs
• 4 medium-sized bananas, 3 if large
• 2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 crushed almonds

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 190 ℃

2. Mash the bananas

3. Beat eggs in a mixing bowl

3. Add the bananas and oil on the beaten egg. Continue to mix until the ingredients are well blended. Set aside.

4. On a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and almonds. Mix well.

5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Continue to fold until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

6. Add the vanilla extract.

7. Grease a 9x13 pan (Two 9-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch square cake pans) then pour the mixture on it.

8. Bake for 40 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test

9. Remove from the oven and let it cool down. 

Take note that if you are using a disposable aluminum pan like this, you have to adjust your baking time 10 minutes shorter, perform the toothpick before 30 minutes because it may already be baked.

While waiting for the banana cake to cool, prepare the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer, since I don't have one I made use of Tupperware Brands Speedy Chef- it's like a manual mixer.

2. Add vanilla, then occasionally stir in powdered sugar until frosting is a thick spreadable consistency.

3. Spread or pipe frosting on cooled cake.

4. Top with crushed almonds.

That's it! It's super easy and it tastes good. Though the banana cake was a bit dense however it was moist. Actually, this is not the original recipe that I used to bake. My original banana cake recipe was more fluffy than this. The thing is, I wasn't able to back up the recipe when we reset my old iPhone 5s. Since I am not a baker, I can't figure out which ingredients should I lessen or add more.  Could it be because I used a different pan size? The recipe calls for 9x13 pan but since I don't have one I used a smaller square pan which I guess was around 8 inch. And, instead of using 2 pans I poured all the cake batter in one pan. Lol! I'm going to try this again with some changes and will update this post. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a decent cake which the whole family enjoyed! 

I'm so glad that I was able to pull off this little surprise for the husband for our 6th Wedding Anniversary instead of buying a ready-made cake. Something with a personal touch and baked with love, that makes it special. I am really happy whenever I do something for my family. I guess that's our nature as a mom, noh?

Do you have a different banana cake recipe to share? Would love to hear about it!

Enjoy the weekend!

Quick and Easy Ulam Idea: Tuna Nuggets

Hi, there momma! Surely, your search for the easiest and quickest ulam ideas possible got you here. I feel you, momma, I guess meal planning is every moms' trouble, right? I can cook but I am no expert and the number of ulam recipes I know is very limited. With that, we end up having a certain meal for each day of the week and then just repeat the same menu every week. Boo! Hey, that's better than nothing right mommas? A mom's got to do what a moms' gotta do to keep the family alive. Lol!

I was searching the world wide web one day for new ulam ideas that I can add on my list and got overwhelmed with the number of searches that I got. It surely took up a lot of my time and energy. Hah! And, among all the recipes I was able to search this one is the easiest one to whip plus we have all the ingredients readily available in the pantry so Tuna Nuggets it is. 

And of course, sharing is caring so I'd like to share the super easy peasy recipe with all of you mommas.

TUNA NUGGETS

Ingredients:

2 packs of any brand of saltine crackers

2 canned tuna - any brands

minced garlic and onions

2 tbsp of flour

1-2 eggs

cooking oil for frying

salt and pepper (optional)

Instructions:

1. Crush the saltine crackers

2. Mix all ingredients together

3. Add salt and pepper according to your taste

3 Heat the pan and fry 1 tbsp of the mixture until golden brown

4. Placed cooked tuna nuggets on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil

5. Serve with your choice of dip and rice!

That was easy! Then I just paired it up with Knorr's Crab and Corn soup and we already have a decent meal. Most importantly, the husband and the kids liked it. 

Not only is this recipe easy to prepare but it also tastes good and affordable. So the next time that you are time-crunched or just want to try something new, try this Tuna Nuggets recipe. 

I'll try other recipes and will share it with yo again soon mommas. Do you mind sharing you ulam ideas too? I'm desperate! Haha!

The RealReal Combines Luxury With Consignment

Authenticity is one of the prime elements missing from the second-hand clothing industry. Sure there are good authentic products to be found but most people would rather not spend the time to sort through the mess that most stores have on display. The RealReal attempts to redefine this under-appreciated industry by transforming second-hand consignment into a boutique experience.

The authenticity of leather bags can be determined in multiple ways and it mostly comes down to the quality of leather. Even the smell of the leather, in which fakes have a strong chemical smell, can determine a fake item. An article in the New Yorker had detailed their workshops on how to spot fake luxury goods. The RealReal has been conducting free workshops for customers and fashion enthusiasts to get educated about knock-off products.

The idea of fakes being present in everyone's closet is not entirely absurd. It is easier than ever to import fake products from China to resell online and unsuspecting people end up buying them. Many RealReal locations will be swarmed by fake items coming in and many of them are from regular people. If you received a gift from a friend, it still may be questionable.

Julie Wainwright has been behind the RealReal since 2011 and had mostly been an online business. This high-value entrepreneur had luck with other e-commerce ventures in the past and her knowledge took this brand sky high in no-time.

Second-hand shops will typically have to sell mass products to make a profit since most people come in with the expectation of spending very little. This is why you see piles of unkempt clothes and racks without labels for low-budget shoppers to sort through. Boutiques that deal with high-value luxury items certainly is not common.

What Julie's company does is take luxury brands, authenticates them and puts them on display in the best light possible. You can see their passion for quality by browsing through their website. Each item is professionally photographed and a lot of love is put into the description. The quality is so great that most buyers are normal retail shoppers looking for a good deal.

According to Julie, trying to offload luxury goods on eBay, Amazon or local consignment shops is a pure nightmare. There are so many risks and you will be left with underwhelming bids on your product. The RealReal chases high-value customers to get higher profit margins for their clients.

Since the founding of their website, over 8 million users have registered and at least have been active.

It is harder to get online users to cosign their items on the internet, which explains them expanding to brick & mortar locations in New York and California.

The RealReal may not be for everyone but there is certainly a factor of convenience by not having to dig through clothes at regular second-hand stores. Their stores offer a unique experience of boutique displays that match many high-end fashion stores in New York.

It will be likely that more stores will be popping up under this brand since hundreds of millions from venture capital companies have been invested. A recent example is a large venture capital company had pumped an additional $50 million into the company in 2017. The previous year was rather successful with over $500 million in revenue for just a second-hand dealer.