Oh yeah! I made Nik's cake!!!! :-) Banana Butter-Rum Protein cake w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

I know ya'll seen it, didnt ya?  If you didn't check it out at...

http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/2011/01/protein-banana-rum-cake-with-peanut.html

Doesn't it look heavenly??!?!?!  I just knew I had to try it the minute I saw her post.  So, I got in the kitchen today and had some fun!

I didnt change anything from Nik's version of the actual cake...why would I?  The woman is an uber-genius!  So for the ingredients, take a peek at her post...I did use sugar free banana pudding mix in the frosting, but only b/c I didnt have any SF vanilla pudding mix on hand and I added 2 tbsps of splenda to the icing as well.  Here's an ingredient pic for ya:

My cake makin-n-bakin experience went a lil sumthin like this..

The CAKE:

I mixed all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and set it to the side.

 Then, I combined all of the wet ingredients into my mixing bowl...

I beat the wet ingredients until well combined and then I slowly added the dry ingredients into the wet and mixed it all until it was well combined.

Yes, snapping a pic while mixing was tricky, but I managed!

Split the batter in half, filling two 9" round cake pans, about 3/4 of the way full.  I totally forgot to snap that pic, but you get the idea.  Popped them in the oven and baked them for 28-30 minutes.  When they came out they looked just like Nik's!!!!  Like this...

I was so excited when the cakes came out of the oven, I was literally jumping around in circles in the kitchen! :-)

I almost had a catastrophe on my hands...when they came out of the oven. I dont have any cake cooling racks, so I had to use regular plates.  I did the cold water trick (that really does work like a charm).  Then, I took the plate and put it onto the cake pan and did the flip-a-roo thing with the cake and got each layer out of the pans just fine.  The catastrophe happened when I waited a while before I flipped the cakes back over so they would be top side up....DO THAT IMMEDIATELY!  Otherwise, the moist warm top of the cake will stick to the plate....and that my friends, can be ugly! I managed to get mine unstuck with very little damage (using a very flat spatula and taking my very sweet time), but it coulda been way worse!! Wheeeeeeeeew!

The ICING.

Ah, the icing.  This was an experience, lemme tell ya.  LOL.  I dont know if I did something wrong or not, but in the end it all worked out so I'm good.  Allow me to explain... 

I put all of the ingredients into a glass bowl.  Again, I used SF banana pudding powder instead of SF vanilla.  Turned the mixer on low and began to mix it all together.  Before I knew it, the icing formed into a big sticky ball and wrapped itself all the way up and around the beaters.  My sister was here and she just laughed and asked me what the h#*l was I doing?  Then, when she turned and looked at it, she dared me to "take that pic and put it on the blog"...it looked a little um, inappropriate, if you will....and I wasnt about to do that...eh-uh, not happening... I digress...  So, anyway, I scrapped it all off the beaters and started to mix it some more... only to have the same thing happen again!!  Ugh.  So, again I scrapped it all off and at that point I was done with the mixer and the beaters!!  The icing was THICK.  I mean T-H-I-C-K.  Like almost not spreadable thick.  So, I added a splash more of milk to loosen it up a bit.  Nope, still thick.  Another splash of milk, still thick.  Ugh.  Then, I added a squirt of whippage and another splash of milk and that did the trick.  It was still thick, but at least it became workable and spreadable! 

Can you tell how thick it was...?  and this pic is AFTER I got it "loosened" up!!!

Anyway, moving on... gently spread some of the icing onto the bottom layer, covering it good....

Then, place the un-iced top layer onto the bottom layer and spread the remaining icing all around it, covering the top and the sides...

Wha-la!...Autumn's shot at making Nik's Protein Banana Rum Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting...

I was so proud, I had my sister snap a pic of me with the masterpiece!

I couldnt wait to cut into it and try it and again I started jumping around in circles in the kitchen!  My sister was here doing her laundry and she looked at me with the biggest eyes ever and said "OMG, go to your room!!!"  LOL.  We both laughed histerically...I havent been told to go to my room in like a good 15 years!  So, finally after all the jumping, twirling, and laughing, I got me a slice...

This piece was MORE than enough....literally, I couldnt finish it all...Nik was not playin when she said this cake is DENSE and FILLING, lemme tell ya!

So....time for the verdict...

It is good ya'll~! The cake itself has a very good flavor...and honestly reminds me more of banana bread rather than cake.  The icing is sweet and sticky and kinda has a lip-smackin pop to it! They work well together and compliment each other's flavor profiles for a nice yummy bite!  The best part, this can be used for a meal (for us)....it would be a GREAT breakfast believe it or not, because of the banana bread taste and texture it has...or as a dessert.  But, like Nik said and like I've already reinforced...this cake is DENSE....and FILLING.  It is LOADED with protein and it will keep you plenty full.  I had about 3/4 of that slice above around 3:00.  I stayed full until 8:00 and truthfully, I didnt really feel hungry at 8:00, I just knew I needed to eat something so I did. 

For me, there is still a TON of cake left.  So, I might take some over to my sister's house tomorrow for everyone to try. 

Now, of course, YOU must try this one!  Let us know how ur cake makin-n-bakin experience goes..

Till next time...

Lots of Love,

Autumn