Busy Week

I've been a busy lady this week. We've had a guest in town since Friday, which meant that Thursday was spent tidying the apartment. I also cooked Jesse's birthday dinner and cake on what proved to be the hottest day of the summer yet. We had pesto pasta, fresh corn, and pan seared sausages. I think it was one of the best batches of pesto that I've made to date. Also, the overheated kitchen was totally worth the effort because the cake was delicious.

Usually, Jesse requests a carrot cake or something chocolate. However, due to the heat we had quite a few overripe bananas sitting around. So, he thought a banana cake with dark chocolate frosting sounded divine (and so did I). That is until I found a recipe for Banana Layer Cake with Caramel Cream and Salted Pecans. I broke the news that his cake would not contain chocolate this year and he took it rather well after I let him taste the banana caramel sauce for the whipped cream.

Each layer of cake is dotted with lime and rum and the caramel banana cream is spread on top. The caramel cream is out of this world! I made two 9-inch cakes and sliced them horizontally. I only assembled three layers of the cake, because there are only two of us. We cut the fourth layer into dessert-sized pieces for later use with fresh berries and stored them in the freezer. Even after downsizing the cake, there is way too much leftover. We've been snacking on it since Friday and aren't even half-way finished. Good thing that it keeps getting better with age! I'm thinking next time, I'll cut the recipe by half and make them into cupcakes. MMM.

This week is going to be another busy one. I start my class today, which kicks off approximately four weeks of intensive study on Monday through Thursday. I can't wait!