Banana Walnut Cake

Last night I tried a new recipe for a Banana Walnut Cake.  I grew up in the western Chicago suburbs where Sara Lee is headquartered, and I remember when I was a little girl going to a Sara Lee outlet store with my dad.  We'd buy frozen lasagnas and pound cakes, and I would always love the little individually wrapped banana cakes there.  My Banana Walnut Cake is sort of a grown-up version of that favorite treat.

It's a very simple cake made with mashed bananas and sour cream to keep it moist, and some coarsely chopped walnuts for some texture.  It's topped with a decadent cream cheese icing and a collar of more chopped walnuts.  Very simple and very good.

Cakes start at just $10.  Please contact me at susangietl@hotmail.com for more information.

Ganache Cupcakes

Okay, okay.  It's only December and last night I got a little antsy and made some Valentines-esque cupcakes.  But I wanted something chocolatey and rich, and I get a little trigger happy when it comes to Valentines Day because it's also my birthday-- it's a lot to look forward to.

These cupcakes I made just for fun.  I decided to try something new so I tweaked a chocolate cake recipe to make it a dark chocolate raspberry cake instead.  Then I topped it with a semisweet chocolate ganache, which is very rich and not too sweet-- the perfect icing for a chocolate lover.  To finish them off I placed some red candy hearts I piped out on top.  I think these look very, very pretty with the shiny ganache and the organic looking hearts.  Perfect for someone's sweetheart.  I'm sure I'll be making a lot more of these come February...

Boston Cream Pie

Yesterday morning I had an order for a Boston cream pie as the cake of choice for a birthday boy who is visiting from out of town.  For those who don't know, a Boston cream pie isn't really a pie, but a layer cake.  It is usually a couple of layers of a butter cake or a spongecake (yum), filled with pastry cream (double yum), and topped with a chocolate frosting or ganache (triple yum).  So if you do the math, it equals very, very good tasting.


My BCP started out with a butter cake.  It's one of my favorite recipes-- very dense and rich.  And since it was traveling to its owner I did a thicker chocolate butter frosting instead of a ganache.  (Well, technically it is a ganache since it's made from cream and chocolate... but it's a firm one.)  And on top I added a little marbled swirl of white chocolate glaze.  Voilà!  Boston Cream Pie.

Christmas Gifts

A co-worker asked me to make some Christmas gifts for his family to give out this weekend and I had a blast putting a few things together for him.  


The first thing I made was a yummy orange chocolate chip loaf, a variation on an orange chocolate chip cake recipe I have.  I made a few medium-sized loaves (about 6" X 3") that I baked in paper pans and wrapped in printed cellophane bags.  I also made some itty bitty loaves that I packaged in printed paper bags with a ribbon and Suzy Sweet Tooth sticker.  I also made up some rimmed sugar cookies that I stacked in cellophane bags to show off their colorful edges.  And last but not least I gave him some of my brownie bites, a favorite of mine.  They are a rich and fudgy chocolate chip brownie topped with cream cheese icing and, in this case, either sugar elves or tiny gingerbread man sprinkles.


I think these all look very cute and very ready to be gobbled up.  I hope the recipients enjoy eating them as much as I enjoyed making them.  And I hope that they all have a very merry Christmas on Saturday!

Buddy the Elf, What's Your Favorite Cupcake?

Tonight I made some Elf cupcakes for Chad and Bethany's Elf viewing party.  Although they contained no candy canes, candy corns, or syrup, they did have little candy elves on top.  So I think I got one of Buddy's four food groups covered.


The cupcakes were a new recipe I tried.  It's my cinnamon cake batter but with just a dash of Ghiradelli cocoa powder added in.  I thought it would give the cakes some more depth of flavor.  And on top?  A cinnamon cream cheese icing.  And some festive snowflake sprinkles and little Buddy look-a-likes.  Voila, Buddy the Elf cupcakes!

If you would like information about having custom cupcakes catered, please contact me at susangietl@hotmail.com.  Pricing information will be coming soon to the blog.

Mini Bundt Cakes

My best friend Krista gave me my Christmas present early and I have already put it to good use.  She gave me the cutest bundt pan from Sur La Table, and this morning I made four little bundt cakes in it.


The cake is a vanilla spice cake with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.  I topped it with a simple chocolate ganache.  These are the cutest little cakes.  I'm sure I'll get a ton of use out of this gift, both personal and for Suzy Sweet Tooth.


Thanks, Krista!  Merry Christmas!

These Mini Bundt cakes can be custom made in the flavor of cake and icing of your choice.  Please email me at susangietl@hotmail.com for more information.

Holiday Sampler

My manager's parents came to Utah this weekend from Ohio and he ordered a sampler of my goodies for them as a welcome present.  It's an adorable Santa keepsake box filled with peppermint bark, salted peanut & caramel bark, chocolate covered pretzels, and white chocolate cranberry cookie bars.  


I think this sampler is a really great way to kick off a holiday vacation.  I hope they have a great time in Utah with their grandchildren.