Caramelized Banana Pudding Cheesecake with Salted Cashew Praline – Vanilla Wafer Crust, for My Guest Post at The Gingered Whisk
May 24, 2012 at 10:56 am | Posted in Cakes, Dessert, Fruit | 40 CommentsTags: baking, Banana Cheesecake, Banana Pudding, Bananas, caramel, Cashew Nuts, Cheesecake, Guest Post, The Gingered Whisk, Vanilla Wafers
Last March, Jenni, of the beautiful blog, The Gingered Whisk, asked me to do a guest post. Naturally, I jumped in, and wanted to get to work on it immediately. Jenni and I have been friends since 2009, and we hosted the Daring Cooks Cassoulet Challenge together at the end of 2010. Then, some not so great stuff happened on my end, and Jenni found out she was moving. Several times, between us, the date changed. Now that things have calmed down here, and Jenni is all settled into her new home..it’s finally happening.

I made a lot of commitments prior to life semi-combusting, and now, those commitments are all coming at me at once! I like it, though – it feels great to get back into the kitchen a little more. I still don’t have much time due to work, but I squeeze it in as best I can.
SO, do you love banana pudding, the kind with the vanilla wafers (is there any other kind?)? Do you love caramel? If so, you’ll love this twist on banana pudding and vanilla wafers in a cheesecake. It’s gooey, it’s rich, it’s sinful, it’s worth the calories. Portion control are my key words for this cheesecake. In this case, TWO big slices equals one portion, k? Bananas are good for you! Potassium!
To get the recipe and see more photos, although I really couldn’t gussy it up due to rain and muggy weather melting ev-er-y-thing, click HERE to see my post and check out Jenni’s blog. This chick can cook and bake like nobody’s business. She could make the tar on a beaten path in NYC, on a 98 degree day, taste good!

On another note, I was nominated for a Food Stories Award by Maureen of The Orgasmic Chef. To say I’m surprised is an understatement. I’ve just been journaling a memory from a happy, innocent time to soothe my aching grown-up soul during a difficult period the past few months – I guess you could call it my own personal therapy. Glad some have enjoyed it. However, before my Bad Boy First Love memoir, there are loads of mile long food stories, so I hope those are taken into consideration. Who could forget the squirrels that ate my joconde paste?
As part of this nomination, they’d like a random fact about me. Here goes …..
As much as I wax poetic about baking and cooking from scratch, I’m a slave to the occasional fluffernutter sandwich, and it must be marshmallow cream from a jar. Also, sometimes I scrape the cream from the oreos with my teeth, and ditch the cookies. Lovely, huh? I’m a vanilla gal to the bone.

They’d also like me to nominate 5 other food bloggers for this award. This was so tough to narrow down because there are SO many great food story writers out there, but I finally managed to choose 5. Here they are…
Lifes a Feast – Her memories intertwine with the food effortlessly. Not only can Jamie tell a story , but she does it with such flair, amazing imagery and love..happy or sad. A fabulous, gifted writer in every way.
Bibberche – Lana’s stories have made me laugh, cry, literally feel her every emotion. A beautiful writer and story teller.
Creative Culinary – I love reading Barb’s posts because she flows….her writing is breezy, not to mention, she never holds back when it comes to controversial issues. She tells it like it is – no sugar-coating.
A Few Rotten Vegetables and Moldy Cheese – A friend linked me to her site, and I read the whole damn blog in one sitting. I can identify with most everything she talks about – been there/done that. She doesn’t know me, so I guess I’m her stalker – huge crush. I wish she would post more. Oh, she is NOT a food blogger, just a chef who writes – she makes that very clear.
La Mia Cucina – Lis, the founder of Daring Bakers, doesn’t blog anymore, but I wish she would. Go read her blog now. You will be spewing all kinds of matter all over your computer screen. Not only great writing/story telling, but ‘effin HILARIOUS! THIS post still brings on wheezing, tearing laughter.
To accept your nominations, click HERE to read about it.

Oh, one more thing. My 4-year Blogiversary is coming up on the 28th. I’ll be celebrating it with a HUGE giveaway. Be sure to check back – since you won’t want to miss this one – seriously.
40 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
Get a free blog at WordPress.com | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.











So would this be considered low-cal?…..:)
Comment by Crumbs of Love— May 24, 2012 #
Well..bananas are low-cal ;D
Comment by Lisa— May 25, 2012 #
OMG, I am speechless!!! That cheesecake is out of this world. So sinful.
Cheers,
Rosa
Comment by Rosa May (@RosasYummyYums)— May 24, 2012 #
Wow….as a non cheesecake eater, (I know, it kills my family because I don’t make what I don’t eat) I think I could totally sit down to a piece of this with a great cup of coffee. It’s the bananas, there is little you can do with them that I still won’t love them!
Comment by susie— May 24, 2012 #
BEAUTIFUL cheesecake, and it sounds absolutely delicious! Pinning this and will DEFINITELY be making it!
Comment by Shelley C— May 24, 2012 #
Wowwww I loooooooove cheesecake and this one looks HEAVENLY !!
Must check the recipe
Comment by Winnie— May 24, 2012 #
Tar? Hmm… I am going to have to think on that one, haha… Maybe some Thyme? LOL. Thanks for doing a guest post, Lisa!! I love it! Except I really want a slice…. Also, did you know that our blogs’ birthdays are two weeks apart? That is so funny! Here is to four years!!!!
Comment by Jenni— May 24, 2012 #
This is deadly delicious..hopping over there now…
Comment by Diary Mad Hausfrau (@ofamadhausfrau)— May 24, 2012 #
Wow! I need to make sure there’s room in my freezer soon to make this! Lol. Glad to hear life’s treating you better.
Comment by Jan— May 24, 2012 #
Thanks so much, Jan! Make room – it’s so worth it and it won’t last long enough to take up space – it’s good frozen too!
Comment by Lisa— May 24, 2012 #
I love cheescake and that is ooey & gooey too …looks incr-EDIBLE. I bet I would have to run 5 miles, swim and lift to work it off but I know it is worth it. Happy upcoming Anniversary
.
Comment by Dan— May 24, 2012 #
Oh my WORD, that cheesecake. Two big slices sounds about right.
You make THE most decadent desserts. Salted cashew praline sounds amazing.
p.s. Glad life is getting a bit easier. Hope your dad is doing okay. x
Comment by Suz— May 24, 2012 #
Holy wow. That thing is…scrumptious!!!
Comment by Carolyn— May 24, 2012 #
If you left this at my house, it would be over in less than 10 minutes! No. Wait. Maybe earlier. It looks heavenly, Lisa!
Comment by Baker Street (@bakerstreet29)— May 24, 2012 #
Wow sounds incredible! I adore bread pudding and this is such a fun flavor =D
Comment by XL @ 6 Bittersweets— May 24, 2012 #
Is it too weird to say I love you? Because I do, now can I have a piece of the that AMAZING cheesecake? OMG, was my first reaction! Every flavor I adore wrapped into one cake…..OH MY HEAVENS….that is all! I am looking forward to your blogiversary post:-) Hugs, Terra
Comment by Terra Baltosiewich (@CafeTerraBlog)— May 24, 2012 #
OMG Lisa this looks absolutely incredible. You managed to combine cheesecake, praline, caramel, salty sweetness and banana all in one recipe. You are the dessert queen!
Comment by thelittleloaf— May 25, 2012 #
I’ve died and gone to heaven!!
Comment by Meeta— May 25, 2012 #
In Webster’s Dictionary, under the word ‘decadent’ this is sure what is shown as an example. It’s an Oh. My. moment for sure!
Thank you SO very much for the nomination Lisa; means a lot to me to be included in your list; much appreciated.
Comment by Barbara | Creative Culinary— May 25, 2012 #
This looks absolutely decadent! I’m not that big of a fan of bananas, then again I’ve never had caramelized bananas. Plus, anything with cheesecake and looks like that is definitely right up my alley.
Comment by EveryCraving— May 25, 2012 #
Lisa, everything about this dessert is fabulous! How can I not run over to Jenni’s blog and get the recipe right now? I am going to pin it so that I can find it easier:)
Thanks so much for the nomination – I did not even know about that blog! I am looking forward to reading some new-to-me blogs (although I have read all of your picks:)
Comment by bibberche— May 25, 2012 #
If you cut this into smaller piece does it put less weight on? Like you, I had such trouble limiting my nominations to 5. I could have nominated 25 easily that I think are wonderful storytellers.
I know all but A Few Rotten Vegetables. That’s totally new to me and I’m off to enjoy.
Have a great weekend!
Comment by Maureen (@OrgasmicChef)— May 25, 2012 #
Oh where to start?!? First, I LOVE this cheesecake. Wickedly good! Second, the image of you scraping the vanilla cream out of an Oreo with your teeth made me literally laugh out loud. Third, you nominated such wonderful wonderful women. I adore 3 of the 5 already and I’ll be sure to check out the other two. I wish I wrote half as good as any of those fine ladies. Lastly, happy anniversary!! I’ll be checking back for that giveaway
Can’t wait.
Comment by FoodBabbles— May 26, 2012 #
Lisa, you are a cheesecake guru! This is a masterpiece! How gorgeous, complex and delicious! I think I am going to try the different parts separately first, before doing the whole thing. I’ll start with caramelized bananas
.
Thanks so much for sharing! Have a wonderful weekend!
Cu soon at your giveaway
Comment by cookingrookie— May 27, 2012 #
What a wonderful cheesecake Lis!! I am in love with your unique twists! You never fail to come up with the most wonderful combinations!! yummy yummy yums…
Comment by Sammie— May 27, 2012 #
Reblogged this on Push Dump Fat Button and commented:
Looks amazing!
Comment by PushDumpFatButton— May 27, 2012 #
This does look sinful. Can’t wait to check out the recipe.
Comment by Barbara @ Barbara Bakes— May 27, 2012 #
That dessert is absolutely amazingly delicious looking. Wow. It must have been quite the culinary quest.
Comment by thyme (Sarah)— May 28, 2012 #
Congrats on your nomination. You know how much I have enjoyed your Bad Boy tale, so I second that. On another note, this cheesecake ceratinly does seem to be worth the calories. All 1,000 of them. Per bite. Hope you are having a fabulous Memorial Day holiday!
Comment by Bunkycooks— May 28, 2012 #
Oh the cake looks amazing…off to see the guest post. And congrats on the nomination!
Comment by Cheap Ethnic Eatz (@cethniceatz)— May 28, 2012 #
I love the recipes you come up with, and this one is over the top, in such a good way. Banana pudding is my weakness. I can’t wait to try it!
Comment by Tina— May 30, 2012 #
Incredible cheesecake. That salted cashew praline and that gorgeous and decadent sauce on top. I need a slice right now!Love it:)Great nominations. I know few that you chose and will go read the blogs of the others. Lovely that Maureen chose you and well-deserved, my friend. xx
Comment by Lora @cakeduchess— May 30, 2012 #
What a fabulous, wonderful & tryly appetizing cheesecake! So special too!
You are one creative woman!
Comment by Sophie33— June 3, 2012 #
This looks so good. I can’t wait to try it! I love banana pudding!
Comment by Tanya— June 4, 2012 #
I made this Sunday for a family get together and OMG, it was gone in like 15 minutes…THE WHOLE CHEEESECAKE! Everyone wanted the recipe, my husband said it was the best cheesecake he ever had and it really was banana pudding in a cheesecake. Thank you so much for your brilliance!!!
Comment by Renee— June 5, 2012 #
OMG this looks SINFUL but so so so good
Comment by Daisy@Nevertoosweet— June 7, 2012 #
Wow…this is sinful but so worth it!
Comment by Veronica— June 8, 2012 #
OK…this is seriously one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had. I don’t usually flip for banana pudding, but the caramel aspect took it over that hump. Thanks for the recipe!
Comment by Louis— June 9, 2012 #
Congrats on your nomination
Comment by Food Stories— June 20, 2012 #
[...] Read the recipe here [...]
Pingback by Top 5 Valentines Day recipes from Helen's Cooking: cakes, cookies and mini-cakes.— February 9, 2013 #