Buttermilk Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 T lemon juice
3 cups white lily flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole buttermilk

Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened at room temp.
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened to room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon rum flavoring
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 275°.
Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
Stir in banana mixture.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla and rum.
Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined,

then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
Spread on cooled cake.
Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired

store in the fridge

I think it tastes the very best right out of the fridge, nice and cold..

Canning Apple Pie Filling

Canning to some is something only "supermoms" do.. Well let me set the record straight, I ain't no supermom! Just a mom who loves to be in the kitchen. I love to feed my family of seven (5 kids) good food. With larger than average children and hubby, I have to fix insane amounts of food. So even though canning can be time consuming on the front end, it actually saves a lot of time on the back end.

Some of the canned apples right out of their hot water bath..

Here is Mr. Ben cranking out more apples on my apple peeler corer slicer, that I have had since we got married.

16 years..

Miss Katherine is busy stuffing the jars with the Granny Smith apples..

Our favorite apple to can with.

This is what 16 quarts looks like in one big pot of cold water and lots of lemon juice to keep them from turning brown..

Here is your recipe for apple pie filling.

I double, triple, quadruple according to how much I had.

I had a half bushel of Granny Smith apples straight from an organic farm in Elijay, Georgia..

4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 Cup cornstarch
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt10 cups water
3 T. lemon juice
6 pounds applesIn a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add salt and water and mix well.
Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly.
Remove from heat and add lemon juice.
Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water (you can follow the jar directions for sterilization if you want further details)
Peel, core, and slice apples (this is where my handy dandy pampered chef 16 year old peeler, corer, slicer came in).
Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2-3/4 inch headspace. (9 year old daughters are quite good at this task)
Fill jars with hot syrup and gently remove air bubbles with a spatula.

this is mommy's job
Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

14 year old big brother managed this on his own, with a lot of teeth pulling to get him to do it..

Fresh Apple Cake with Butter Rum Sauce

4 c fresh chopped apples

(or one pint of canned apple pie filling)

1 c canola oil
2 c sugar
2 c flour
1/2 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp apple pie spice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
4 oz Heaths toffee bits


preheat oven to 300 degrees


grease a 9x13 inch glass baking dish



Beat eggs, add sugar. Beat; add oil and beat. Sift dry ingredients into the mixture. It will be a very thick mixture after adding apples. I like to use gala or granny smith apples for this recipe. I also leave the skins on. you can add walnuts if you wish.

Bake in 300 degree oven for 1hour and 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean.


Hot Butter Rum Sauce

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. light cream or half and half
Rum flavoring to taste. a little goes a long way!


In saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and cream. Stir occasionally until hot. Stir in rum and serve over hot cake.