Journal 21

Hello there. This week was a little tough. It was cloudy, rainy, and humid all week. We made some delicious comfort meals though: a roasted chicken, potatoes, and multiple days of simple tomato sauce with spaghetti. There has been a lull in the fruit department, but we had fresh kiwis and frozen blueberries. 

Recently there has also been a streak of good desserts: brownies, creamy apple cake, and banana cake. But to cut down on butter and sugar, we made substitutions. We used to follow new recipes strictly, but now we automatically half or quarter the sugar and use olive oil over butter in the base. Here are the recipes we used (sadly, I lost the brownie one): 

Creamy Apple Cake

https://www.giallozafferano.com/recipes/Creamy-Apple-Pie.html

(Website is in Italian but offers English translation)

Apple cake is really popular in Italy and I think the creamy version is considered the “hip” version. Previously we have only made the traditional drier version. Both are really good! 

No substitutions. 

Banana Cake 

http://www.the350degreeoven.com/2012/08/cake/banana-cake-entenmanns-old-banana-cake-copycat-recipe/

First time ever eating banana cake. Wow! It’s amazing on its own, but the frosting adds even more! 

Substitutions: Olive oil instead of butter. Almond extract over vanilla. Vinegar for lemon juice. Halved sugar. For the frosting, I only used cream cheese with a few tablespoons of powdered sugar. Also tried goat’s milk cream cheese, which gave it an interesting continental twang. 

Hope you have a wonderful week ahead! Next week I am due for some pain, the people kind– Please wish me luck getting through it! 

Asya