I’m officially in the “smaller servings” phase of my life.  Even though I’ve thrown in the towel on fitting into a bikini this summer, the holidays are right around the corner, and I still want to fit into my pants with a little wiggle room.  All along I refuse to give up cake, can’t do it, won’t happen…. here’s my solution….Mini Bundt Banana Almond Poppy Seed Cakes…. smaller but loaded with so much flavor. These little cakes are the best alternative to satisfying my sweet cravings , and being able to keep my girlish figure. 🙂

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for Mini Bundt Almond Poppy Seed Cakes:

3 – cups ultragrain flour

2 – cups powdered sugar

3/4 – cup almond meal (ground almonds)

2 – teaspoons of baking powder

1/3 – cup poppy seeds

2 1/2 – Dole Ripe bananas (smashed)

1 – cup vegetable oil

3 – eggs

1/2 – cup buttermilk

1 – teaspoon almond extract

Ingredients for glaze:

3/4  – cup powered sugar (sifted)

2 – tablespoons of coconut milk

garnish with chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit

In a large bowl add flour, powdered sugar, almond meal, baking powder, and poppy seeds.

In a small bowl add bananas (smashed), vegetable oil, eggs, buttermilk and almond extract. Mix well.

Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixer until well combined.

Spray a mini bundt pan with a non-stick baking spray. Then pour a heaping 1/3 cup of batter into each 2 1/2 -inch bundt mold. Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes in pan then invert onto a cooling rack, and cool completely.

Now for the glaze…. whisk powered sugar and coconut milk together until creamy smooth. Drizzle over top of cakes then garnish with chopped almonds.

ENJOY!

My little boy started a new school this week and I have been packing these AppleCake sandwiches in his lunch as a sweet snack…. something healthy, easy and fun for him to eat during his day away from home!  I only shared my Mott’s AppleCake recipe on Spanglish Baby…. you’ll have to click here to read the recipe.  Make sure to pack your kid an AppleCake Sandwich, or heck, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy these delights!

Eating fruit at it’s peak in the season is the best gift Mother Nature provides.  This luxury of sweetness can only be found in a piece of fruit at the height of it’s ripe/maturity.  Right now the spotlight is shining brightly on Cherries! Whole Foods Markets are celebrating their 3rd Annual Cherry Fest by bringing the best cherries to their stores for us customers to sink our teeth into. When this type of opportunity is conveniently placed at your fingertips you take it and run.  I bought several bags, around 6 pounds worth.  I thought “I can eat them all by myself or I could be a friend and invite some pals over for a Cherry Social.”  I decided to do the latter.  We enjoyed some in their natural glory and with the other I created a few dishes to serve at my gathering of friends.  The Cherry Menu:  Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding, Chicken Cherry Salad Sandwiches and Cherry Watermelon Sangria!

Run over to Whole Foods Market, grab a few bags of cherries in their peak season sweetness and make these recipes.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

For the Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding, I bought all the ingredients at Whole Foods Market.  WFM makes my all-time favorite store bought cookie sold in their amazing bulk section, Amaretti Cookie.  I love the flavor sooooo much I incorporated it into the bread pudding thinking Cherry and Amaretto work wonderfully together and boy was I right. Hee-hee!  I also used their chocolate pound cake and Greenlee’s Best Cinnamon Bread (also sold in store).  This Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding was made in a pyrex dish then spooned into cupcake holders to serve individually.  Topped with a fresh cherry.  Enjoy.

Ingredients for Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding:

1o – Amaretti cookies (crushed)

5 – cups chocolate pound cake (cut into 1 inch cubes)

5 – cups Greenlee’s Best Cinnamon Bread (cut into 1 inch cubes)

2 – cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 – cup sliced almonds

2 – cups fresh cherries (pitted and cut into 4 pieces)

1 1/4 – cups sugar

4 – eggs

1 – teaspoon cinnamon

1 – teaspoon almond extract

1 – teaspoon vanilla

3 – cups half and half

1 – cup whole milk

5 – tablespoons unsalted butter (melted and brought back to room temperature) plus a little extra to butter your dish.

 All photos taken by Nicole Presley

Preheat oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit.

Crush Amaretti cookies and cut pound cake and cinnamon bread into cubes.  Combine all in a big mixing bowl.

Next add in chocolate chips and sliced almonds.  Mix well.  Set to the side.

Wash cherries and pitt them all.  Then slice each cherry into 4 pieces.  Set to the side.

Generously grease a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish, now take 6 cups of  bread cubes and place in baking dish, arrange neatly to make your first layer.  Then add all cherry slices.

Place remaining bread cubes mixture on top of cherries and press down to compact dish. Set to the side.

With a electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs together on high for 4 minutes.  Next add cinnamon, almond extract, vanilla, half and half, milk and butter.  Beat for 2 minutes.  Carefully ladle egg/half and half mixture over prepared bread cubes.

Once egg/half and half mixture is poured in, gently  press down on bread cubes with both hands to make sure they are soaked in egg/half and half mixture.

Now in a large baking dish or roasting pan (15 x 10 inches) fill 1 inch deep with hot water to create a water bath, then place the 9 x 13 inch prepared bread pudding dish in the middle of the 15 x 10 water bath (you want the bath to go halfway up the side of the 9 x 13 inch dish) and place in oven for 1 hour.

As soon as the bread pudding is ready, remove from water bath and and let it cool for 1 hour.

Spoon bread pudding into cupcake holders for individual servings.  Top with a cherry and sprinkle with Amaretti cookie crumbs if you have any left. 🙂  Place in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours or overnight.

Scroll down for the Chicken Cherry Salad Sandwiches!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by Whole Foods Market. However all opinions and recipes are my own. I genuinely love Whole Foods Market. 🙂

Ingredients for Honey Brie Cups:

1 – uncooked pie crust (I use pillsbury)

6 – oz. brie cheese

1/8 – cup honey

2 – tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit

Spray a mini muffin pan with a non-stick baking spray. Set to the side.

Unroll pie crust and cut with a star cookie cutter.

Then place little stars in mini muffin pan to form your cup.

Cut your brie cheese into cubes large enough to fit in center.

Then place in the oven for 9 to 12 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

While cups are baking take honey and orange juice and mix well.

Once you remove brie cups from oven,  drizzle orange honey generously over each cup.

Enjoy them on their own or with a bowl of fresh cherries!

 All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

If I could float away into the world of soda and ice cream I would.  I love the foamy substance a float produces up top, it makes scooping out the ice cream with a spoon and gulping down the soda with a straw a heavenly experience.  I’ve been feeling rather peachy lately and it isn’t a coincidence that Melissa’s Produce and I are on the same wave of sentiments.  They were kind enough to send me over a batch of stone fruits. Pictured below.

After sinking my teeth into their skin and marveling over the sweetness of their flesh I wanted to enjoy them as many ways as possible.  I recently had a delicious float and was inspired to make a peach version.  Something to cool down my summer and quench my sweet tooth at the same time.  Peach and cream float with ginger cookie crumbs would definitely do the trick.

Ingredients for Peach & Cream Float:

peach ice cream

1 – peach (cored and sliced)

cream soda

ginger cookies

In a big cup add 3 to 5 scoops of ice cream.

Then take your sliced peaches and add them in!

Then pour cream soda over the top till filled, then crumble ginger cookie on top!

Stick a straw and a spoon in it, and SLURP till your heart’s content!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

 Me, screaming out my window:

“Forget about National Jelly Filled Donut Day, which happens to be June 8th, I have glazed donut strawberry burgers.  Sappily Sugary Sweet donuts STUFFED with my favorite berry…. Strawberries!  Serve them on a plate for a party or make a few for your favorite TV show and sit there and eat it with both hands, overindulging and loving every minute of it!”

Ingredients for Glazed Donut Strawberry Burger:

2 – cups chopped strawberries

2 – teaspoons of sugar

3 – glazed donuts

Add chopped strawberries to a bowl and add sugar.  Mix well. Set to the side.

Cut a donut in half lengthwise.

Then fill donut with sliced strawberries.

Cover strawberries with half of the donut and enjoy with two hands….. or if you want to be PROPER eat with a knife and fork.

ENJOY YOUR FAR-OUT DONUT!

Photos taken by: Nicole Presley and Mando Lopez

That’s a picture of my Mom.  I have always been insanely attached to her.  She is the center of my world and if you know me, there is a good chance you know my mom too.  We are inseparable.  She is my best friend.  She is my confidant.  She is the strongest woman I know.  I respect her more then anyone or anything.  I just LOVE her.  I always want to make her happy or let her know how special she is to me.  This momma’s day we will celebrate with a sweet mango up-side down cake.  She loves mango, and up-side down cake. So why not combine the two?  This is for my Momma and maybe yours too…. Sweet Mango Up-Side Down Cake!

Enjoy!

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley

Ingredients for sweet mango up-side down cake:

1 – box yellow cake mix ( prepare according to package, replace water content with the same amount of a mango orange juice instead)

3 – mango’s (peeled and sliced)

1/4 – cup melted butter

1 – cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit:

Prepare cake mix according to box. Set to the side.

Peel mangos with a potato peeler, then slice into 1/2 inch spears.  Cut around the bone.  Set to the side.

Pour melted butter into a 9 x 13 metal cake pan. Then sprinkle brown sugar over butter. Next arrange mango slices.

Then pour the cake batter right over the top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the  middle comes out clean. Then remove from oven let sit in pan for about a 5 minutes, then place a heat proof plate on top of the pan and flip it over and remove pan. Now you got sweet mango up-side down cake.

 Happy Mother’s Day!