My sophomore year of high school I took Geometry like most 10th graders in the state of Texas. However, I went to a very small school with a class of only 13 people. During this particular year my school had a hard time keeping a geometry teacher. I think we went through 3 of them. The first one quit either before school or as soon as it started, the second one found out she was pregnant on her first day, and the third one finished the year but did get married. Needless to say, I’m not the person to call when you a question about “proofs”. I thought of my crazy year of geometry as I was making this dessert. Why you might ask? Well, I will tell you.
The third teacher I had that year was the most memorable to me because she incorporated desserts into her geometry lessons. It was brilliant. I will never forget the shape of a parallelogram because of her. Every time we had a new shape to learn she would bake something and cut us each a piece in the new shape. For our final exam that year, we each got our own shape cut out of a pan of Marbled Cream Cheese Brownies. Mine, a parallelogram. Very exciting. So when I was cutting my 36 bars that were 3x1 out of a 9x13 pan. I thought of her.
So second question. Why was I making 36 bars? Well, my parents had a “Block Party” in their neighborhood and ask if I would make a few things. I thought I would give these treats a try. It was enough motivation for me to get in the kitchen since I have not had much lately. I picked this recipe out of Paula Deen’s magazine because I always have too many bananas and loved their luncheon style shape.
To me, this was a standard banana bread with a cream cheese filling full of textures from the coconut and tang of the pineapple. Very tasty and excellent for a shower or party. I have never heard of pineapple preserves before and was curious if it would be in my variety lacking grocery store. Well, no need to fear, Smucker’s makes it! I just knew my husband was going to have to scout out some for me in the Big City.
Using Baker’s Joy to spray the pan was very helpful. The cake came out with no problem. Also, 2 ½ cups of bananas was equal to 6 standard size ones. Finally, if you are good at filling celery sticks with cheese spread or making “Ants On a Log,” you will not find this treat hard to assemble.
BabyBoy will be arriving tomorrow! So, this is not good-bye, but see you later....much later.
The third teacher I had that year was the most memorable to me because she incorporated desserts into her geometry lessons. It was brilliant. I will never forget the shape of a parallelogram because of her. Every time we had a new shape to learn she would bake something and cut us each a piece in the new shape. For our final exam that year, we each got our own shape cut out of a pan of Marbled Cream Cheese Brownies. Mine, a parallelogram. Very exciting. So when I was cutting my 36 bars that were 3x1 out of a 9x13 pan. I thought of her.
So second question. Why was I making 36 bars? Well, my parents had a “Block Party” in their neighborhood and ask if I would make a few things. I thought I would give these treats a try. It was enough motivation for me to get in the kitchen since I have not had much lately. I picked this recipe out of Paula Deen’s magazine because I always have too many bananas and loved their luncheon style shape.
To me, this was a standard banana bread with a cream cheese filling full of textures from the coconut and tang of the pineapple. Very tasty and excellent for a shower or party. I have never heard of pineapple preserves before and was curious if it would be in my variety lacking grocery store. Well, no need to fear, Smucker’s makes it! I just knew my husband was going to have to scout out some for me in the Big City.
Using Baker’s Joy to spray the pan was very helpful. The cake came out with no problem. Also, 2 ½ cups of bananas was equal to 6 standard size ones. Finally, if you are good at filling celery sticks with cheese spread or making “Ants On a Log,” you will not find this treat hard to assemble.
BabyBoy will be arriving tomorrow! So, this is not good-bye, but see you later....much later.
Banana Bread Sandwiches with Pineapple-Coconut Filling
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 6)
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray with flour (Baker’s Joy).
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, combine oil, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, beating at a low speed until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 23-27 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely. Cut cake into 3x1-inch slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise. Spread filling evenly over bottom halves of bread. Cover with top halves of bread and refrigerate.
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 6)
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray with flour (Baker’s Joy).
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.
In a medium bowl, combine oil, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, beating at a low speed until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 23-27 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely. Cut cake into 3x1-inch slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise. Spread filling evenly over bottom halves of bread. Cover with top halves of bread and refrigerate.
Pineapple-Coconut Filling
1 -8oz. pkg of cream cheese softened
½ cup pineapple preserves
¼ cup coconut
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
1 -8oz. pkg of cream cheese softened
½ cup pineapple preserves
¼ cup coconut
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and preserves at medium speed until combined. Stir in coconut and pecans. Cover and chill until ready to spread.
