Read Miss Kay's Duck Commander Kitchen Online

Authors: Kay Robertson,Chrys Howard

Tags: #Cooking, #General, #Regional & Ethnic, #American, #Southern States, #Cajun & Creole, #Entertaining

Miss Kay's Duck Commander Kitchen (18 page)

2. Make the cake layers: In a large bowl, stir together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla by hand. Add the baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and flour. Mix well by hand. Stir in the bananas, pineapple with juice, and pecans.

3. Pour the batter into the pans. Bake until the layers start to pull away at the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of a layer comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

4. Let the layers cool in the pans for a few minutes, then run a spatula around the sides and invert the layers onto a wire rack to cool completely.

5. While the layers are cooling, make the frosting: Beat together the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until fluffy. (The frosting will appear stiff at first, but will soften as you mix.)

6. When the cake layers are cool, frost the top of one layer. Put another layer on top and frost that layer. Put the last layer on top and frost the top and sides. Sprinkle with the pecans.

A Note from Miss Kay

To make this cake more delicious, I double the frosting recipe and put more pecans and frosting between each layer and on top. Hummingbird cake is very popular in the South because southern folks love their pecans. If you need to keep this cake fresh, store it in the refrigerator. At the Robertson house there’s no need to do this, because it’s all eaten the first time it’s put out.

Banana Nut Cake with Caramel Icing

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake • 2 (9-inch) round cake pans • Electric mixer • Butter and flour, for the cake pans

Cake Layers

2
¹/
₂cups sifted cake flour (I use Soft as Silk), or 2 cups all-purpose flour

1
²/
₃cups sugar

1
¹/
₄teaspoons baking powder

1
¹/
₄teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

²/
₃cup vegetable shortening (I use Crisco)

¹/
₃cup buttermilk

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium bananas)

2 large eggs

²/
₃cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Caramel Icing

1 stick (
¹/
₄pound) butter

1 cup packed brown sugar (either light or dark is okay)

¹/
₃cup milk

3
¹/
₂cups sifted powdered sugar

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour the cake pans.

2. Make the cake layers: In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the shortening, buttermilk, and bananas. Mix with the electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat 2 minutes more. Fold in the nuts.

3. Pour the batter into the pans. Bake until the layers start to pull away at the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center of a layer comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

4. Let the layers cool in the pans for a few minutes, then run a spatula around the sides and invert the layers onto a wire rack to cool completely.

5. While the layers are cooling, make the frosting: In a medium saucepan on medium heat, bring the butter and brown sugar to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Add the milk and bring back to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the powdered sugar.

6. When the cake layers are cool, frost the top of one layer. Put the other layer on top and frost the top and sides.

A Note from Miss Kay

This is about the “moistest” cake I make. It takes a little effort, but it’s definitely worth it. Try it, you’ll like it!

Guacamole

Makes 6 servings

3 or 4 Hass avocados

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Chopped jalapeño pepper (1 is probably plenty)

Juice from 1 lime

Salt and black pepper

Cut avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pits. Use a spoon to scoop out the meat of the avocados and place in a medium bowl. Mash up the avocados with a fork. Add the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.

Tip
Picking avocados for guacamole can be tricky. Just look for the ones with a darker shell that are soft to the touch. If the avocados are hard, place them in a brown paper bag and keep them on the kitchen counter for a day or two and they’ll soften.

A Note from Miss Kay

We love to try other recipes and this is from Karyna, one of the young ladies on the film crew. Phil loved teasing her about coming from Mexico, but she was actually born in the United States. However, her family is from Mexico so you know this has to be a good guacamole recipe. We certainly like it.