Ina Garten's Lemon Cake Tweaked and Banana Bread Recipe

It's lemon season (yay!) and my little tree is being very generous.  I usually make lemon curd but this year I decided to branch out and try a cake.  I found an easy recipe by Ina Garten and tweaked it a bit with Splenda Blend and whole wheat flour to make a little healthier.  Since it was a test I only made half of the recipe which yielded two small round cakes.

Yummo!  This cake was very dense and lemony.  The only trouble I had with the recipe was ingredients were listed in amounts to be separated which meant more calculations. I advise reading through the recipe BEFORE beginning so you don't have to make adjustments later.

I love using the clear printed bags from Ben Franklin Crafts and Celebrations to package my baked goods for gift giving.  They make everything look yummier.  Next recipe to try: lemon shortbread cookies. All right everyone go bake up some smiles today.



This is for those of you who requested that I re-post my Splenda Blend Banana Bread recipe.  Some of you asked if you could use canned pineapple to make the version that I posted a few weeks ago.  I don't know but I was told that canned fruit cocktail (drained) could be used in banana bread so maybe you should experiment and you might create something tasty.

                                                 Splenda Blend Banana Bread

½ cup (1 stick) butter

½ cup Splenda Blend

2 eggs (beaten)

3 ripe mashed bananas

2 cups whole wheat (King Arthur) flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ cup chopped dried fruit (soak in warm water and drain if fruit is very dry), chocolate chips/ nuts

Mix soft butter with Splenda Blend until fluffy.  Add in beaten eggs and mashed bananas. Stir in flour that has been sifted with baking soda and salt.  Add in dried fruit, chocolate and/or nuts. Pour the batter into a large loaf pan (or two small ones) and place in cold oven.  Turn the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 1-1/2 hrs or until knife inserted in loaf comes out clean.