Bananas Foster Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of those things that's always good. Whether its piping hot and fresh out of the oven, smeared with butter or cream cheese, or just plain at room temperature- its always delicious. And when there are a lovely bunch of super-ripe bananas sitting in a fruit bowl on my kitchen table, you know I'm going to bake banana bread with them! Extra ripe bananas are key for an amazing banana bread. The ones that are really soft, brown, and aesthetically unappealing make for the best concentrated banana flavor.

Well, then I got to thinking about how I could make one that's not just any ol' banana bread. Somehow it hit me to make one that resembles the classic dessert, bananas foster. That bubbling brown sugar caramel and spiced rum essence would be great on this banana cake bread, since its so yummy on just plain bananas.

"Sugarred Donut" Muffins

I have wanted to make these ever since I saw this recipe, they just looked SO cute and good. I mean, who doesn't love sugary donut holes, especially ones that are not fried and healthier not as bad for you :)

These baked mini muffins are pretty darn good just by themselves, but so amazing with a variety of sugary coatings. I also really like this recipe because it can be used as a basic vanilla cupcake batter.

S'mores Cheesecake + Katsuya Review

My best friend Roxy's birthday was on Friday and she is beyond obsessed with cheesecake. I'd say a cheesecake-aholic, she just LOVES it. So why not make her a cheesecake for her birthday? Not just any cheesecake however, this is a s'mores cheesecake. I am proud to say I came up with this creation on my own. I have seen other recipes for "s'mores" cheesecakes, but putting some marshmallows on top of a chocolate cheesecake just doesn't cut it and really doesn't capture the essence of what s'mores are! The best s'mores are the ones with the charred gooey marshmallows on top. I thought the best way to recreate that was to top my chocolate nutella cheesecake with a piped italian meringue and then brulée it.
 This felt like a good representation of a s'mores to me; graham cracker on the bottom, chocolate in the middle, and slightly burnt marshmallows on top.

As I said, it was her birthday and a group of us went to Katsuya in Hollywood for dinner. It was my first time there so I thought I would review it and give my opinion of the meal.