Honey Beer Cake (★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆)

I love crazy coincidences.

Like that one baby who fell from a high window and was caught by a man who not only saved his life then, but also a year later when he fell out the same window and was caught by the same man.

Or 

Like that Edgar Allan Poe book about four survivors of a shipwreck who after many days out at sea decided to eat the cabin boy, Richard Parker - 45 years later there was an actual shipwreck, with four survivors and an unfortunate cabin boy, named Richard Parker. 

I'll let you put the pieces together on that one. 

...

I've even found a few of these "occurrences" in my own life.  Now, granted, no man has saved me twice from falling into the hands of cannibalistic sea men, but they make for good stories nonetheless...

There was that one time when our family bused it across the country and bumped into the same friends in Washington D.C. at the Spy Museum and in line to see the Liberty Bell in Pennsylvania before our purposely planned meeting with them for dinner in New York City.

And

There was that one time I finally sat and had a real conversation with a coworker I had been working with for almost two years and we discovered we had the same taste in shows, same addiction to coffee, we had similar childhood experiences and personalities, we had even dated the same guy.  

I've come to the conclusion that some things fit together too perfectly to be merely coincidence.  

Like this post.

I know what you're thinking.

Beer bread? 
Really? 
You're going to claim life-alterting non-coincidences involving cake?
You hittin' the bottle a little hard there?

Um...
1) Yes, to the non-coincidence part.  And I'll explain.
2) No, to the snide alcoholism reference.  There's only one cup of beer in here and a good chunk of the
     alcohol content gets cooked out during baking.  No, duh!  In your face!

And now, the proof...

Non-coincidence #1: I took a wine class my last semester of college.
Result: I no longer found alcohol disgusting.

Non-coincidence #2: I tasted a beer cupcake at work.
Result: The idea that beer and dessert do not mix was firmly implanted in my mind.

Non-coincident #3: My first baking blog request: beer cupcakes.
Result: First, the obvious: I wondered why the heck people like beer cupcakes so much.  Second, my brain started developing strategies as to how to make a tolerable beer dessert.

Non-coincidence #4: While searching for a good recipe that would travel well to my uncle who is the reason this particular post exists, I stumbled upon this recipe that expressed what I was feeling EXACTLY.
     -Girl makes cake out of devotion to relative.
     -Girl cringes at thought of destroying beautiful cake with football belch juice.
     -Girl puts devotion above personal feelings.
     -Girl tastes cake before serving as all bakers must.
     -Girl realizes cake it good.
     -Girl is a baking goddess.
Result: Feelings of excitement and frankly a strong kinship with this girl fueled my resolve.  Beer cake, it's on!  

Non-coincidence #5: Having absolutely no experience in picking out beer, I went with the one that caught my eye at the supermarket.  Gold star + "premium beer" promise = I took home a Sapporo. When my friend came over to help take pictures for this post he mentioned that not only was this his dads favorite beer, BUT his mom was once a hand model for this brand.
Result:  Are you kidding me?!  This is too good to be true.  I bought a brand that my friend's mom was a hand model for?! Love it.

If you take 1 through 5 and add them together you get a pretty legit story.

Enter:  The Honey Beer Cake

Honey Beer Cake

adapted from Tastespotting

3/4 Cup butter, room temperature

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

7 oz. Sapporo Beer (or beer of choice)

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 Cup honey

2 2/3 Cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

Approximately 10 Servings
Cooking Time: About 45 Minutes
Preheat Oven to 350F

1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together.

2) Add eggs one at a time.  Beating well after each addition.

3) Mix in milk, beer, and lemon zest.  Add honey.
    (I knew there was a reason I started taking step-by-step pictures.)  The batter will look almost
    curdled.  It's from the carbonation.  Don't worry, this is normal and will settle after adding dry
    ingredients.

4) In a sifter combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Sift over wet ingredients, beating
    occasionally between additions.

5) After ingredients are well combined, spoon batter into well greased loaf pan.  Cook for
     approximately 50 minutes.  Start with 45 min and work your way up.  I left it in for almost an hour
     and it was slightly overcooked on the edges.

6) Test for doneness by inserting toothpick two inches from edge of pan.  It's done when the pick
    comes out clean.  Let cake cook on rack for 10 minutes before removing.
    Tip: To get the cake out, I ran a knife along the edges and flipped it upside down on a cookie sheet.

The Legend of the Beer Cake shall live on for generations!

My poor children.  

----

Man/Dad Approved!  This was featured here:

          

The Search for the Best Banana Bread (★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆)

The Story:

I don't know about you, but I'm extremely picky about my fruit. I have a preferred way to eat each one. Apples have to be firm and crisp. Grapes can't be mushy. Peaches need to be in a half-ripened stage. And Bananas...well, they're the most complicated of all. I've found that there is about a "two-day" window, in which bananas are edible. When they are almost ripen...mostly yellow, but with still a tinge of green. Before that they are tasteless and leave a sticky film in your mouth. After that, well there's not much you can do, unless, you freeze them right away. If you miss that window there is only two options: Garbage or Banana Bread.

...And that leads us into how this post came about. My sister was coming over for breakfast because she had just gotten back from her honeymoon...and I was in desperate need of some sister time. I had planned to just make coffee or maybe some pancakes because we are not big breakfast eaters, but I saw two bananas on the counter on the brink of extinction and I decided to take pity on them. Thankfully, my brother had my cousin and his friend over so I would have more than enough mouths to finish off the loaf.

I looked around for the best banana bread I could find. I searched cookbooks, the Internet, etc. And I came upon this recipe that people were raving about. It even called for sour cream. Sold. Hook, line, and sinker. Flours Famous Banana Bread

The Method:

I followed the recipe just as it indicated. I debated for awhile on whether or not to include nuts, because I know that often causes issues. Personally, I like nuts if they are cooked in the bread. So I did a quick "allergy" check...no one? Good. :) The recipe only made one loaf. I'm used to the recipes I use making two loaves so I was a little sad. But then we didn't have days of leftover break getting stale and expanding our wastes so it worked out.

The Results:

The bread turned out really well. It was moist and delicious. I can't say that it's the best recipe out there, but it was a very good one just the same. My brother raved about it, and he's a professional banana bread connoisseur. So if you're looking for a new recipe or just something to save those pesky bananas then here you go!

...And there was enough to send home to my sister's husband!