Banana Pudding Poke Cake

This post is acting really strange in blogger right now, so I'm not sure how it's going to turn out. I blame my computer for freaking out any time I try to do anything when iTunes is open. Seriously, it goes so epically slow I want to hurl it at the wall.

I guess the best way to get over it is to eat some cake, right? Yes, any life annoyances can be made better with some cake. This cake is very easy, and will be a particular delight for anyone who likes banana stuff. Keep in mind, there aren't any actual bananas in it unless you want to add some at the end. Totally up to you.

Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (10 ounce) box yellow cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant banana pudding
• 4 cups milk
• 1 (8 ounce) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 20 crushed vanilla wafers

Cooking Directions

1. Bake cake according to package directions in a 9x13 pan. Once it's done, let it cool for a couple minutes. With a wooden spoon handle, or something else appropriately sized, poke holes throughout the cake. Poke all the way to the bottom and make the holes somewhat large.
2. In a bowl, prepare the pudding according to directions, whisking until lumps are gone. Let sit for a couple minutes to firm up a little bit, then pour straight over the cake, making sure to get into the holes. With the back of a spoon, spread out the pudding and press down into any holes it didn't go down.
3. Let the cake set in the fridge until completely cooled, which will take a couple hours. Once cooled, spread the thawed whipped topping across the top.
4. Crush your vanilla wafers either using a plastic bag and a rolling pin, or give them some pulses in a food processor. You want to leave a few larger chunks. Spread these over the top. It's best to do this right before you're going to serve it so they stay crunchy. You can garnish with banana slices and extra vanilla wafers. Keep refrigerated and enjoy!

Recipe via The Country Cook

In photos:

Why hello, yellow cake! If you have a good homemade recipe for one, feel free to use that instead of the box.

You might feel weird poking holes in your cake, but get over it and do it!

That's four cups of banana pudding, that is.

Pour that pudding over your cake and make sure it gets down the holes. You can kind of see how it's depressed into some of the holes here.

Once you've let it cool for a while, pull it back out and spread on your whipped topping. I didn't use the whole tub because my pan was super full and couldn't take any more!

Sprinkle your crushed up wafers and cut yourself a piece!

SYTYCD S9: Finale

Praise the voters, they got it right! I was resigned to the fact that one of the winners tonight was going to be someone I didn't think deserved it, but guess what Ameriker! I was wrong! I almost looked at the results before watching the show, but decided that ruins the fun, so it was a surprise to me to the very end. So who are the winners?

Eliana & Chehon!

Yes! I was so worried Cyrus was going to win in the end, and it seemed primed for a Cyrus win too, and then wham bam, it's Chehon. Yay, Chehon! Yay Eliana as well, but that was not really a surprise. Honestly I would've been way more surprised at a Tiffany win, seeing as I could really only remember one of her routines from the whole season.

As per usual, all of the judges got to pick their favorites of the season, along with Cat and the top four dancers themselves, which may have been a new twist. They all chose the below, and I have to mostly agree:

Nigel's pick: Audrey & Matthew's Travis Wall Titanic routine

Lil C's pick: Witney & Twitch's Luther Brown hip hop

Debbie Allen's pick: Tiffany & George's Sonya Tayeh contemporary

Adam Shankman's pick: Lindsay & Cole's Jason Gilkison paso doble

Tyce Diorio's pick: Amelia & Will's NapTab lovecats routine

Mary's pick: Chehon & Kathryn's Tyce contemporary suitcase routine

Cat's pick: Tiffany & Brandon's Doriana Sanchez disco

Eliana's pick: Stacey Tookey contemporary with Alex

Chehon's pick: Argentine tango with Anya

Tiffany's pick: Mandy Moore contemporary with Ade

Cyrus' pick: Christopher Scott animation with Twitch

I would maybe also add in the pole routine from last week with Eliana and Tiffany, and the contemporary with Chehon and Allison, oh and probably that Will hip hop one, oh and probably another Cole one for good measure. HA, I guess I liked a lot of them?

Rounding out the dancing was another Top 20 group piece choreographed by Sonya and Chris Scott, which was pretty damn beautiful. There was also a new hip hop piece from Chris featuring Cyrus, Twitch, Comfort and the choreographer himself, and a guest performance by the Dragon House Crew, which was pretty awesome, and one last group piece with all of the all-stars that was all Lion King remix. Oh, and a musical performance was that double caps pretty LAME, as they usually tend to be on this show, so I'll just say la la la and pretend it didn't happen.

But, again: YAY! Congratulations to Eliana and Chehon. Ballet dancers FTW!

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

SYTYCD S9 Top Four Performance Finale

Was that a jam-packed show or what? It must be pretty brutal on the dancers to get all of that choreography down in time and keep up their stamina throughout the night, because whoa. Five dances apiece! I guess it's to be expected of the performance finale, but it's still impressive. It's super weird that we have to wait a whole week before the results finale, but that's been the nature of the season in general with the results - all weird, all the time.

I'm just going to recap the partner dances in order and not bother with the solos, except to say that I liked Eliana and Chehon's the best, but that's probably also because I just like them the best in general at this point. Onward, ho!

Cyrus & Eliana - These two started off the show with a Jason Gilkison paso doble that was apparently supposed to be switched where the guy was the cape instead of the girl, but honestly I didn't see much difference. I'm still not convinced Cyrus did much actual dancing in this routine, it's something about the lack of movement in his legs. One of the least memorable dances of the night.

Tiffany & Will - You'd think a Sonya Tayeh contemporary would have me jumping for joy, but I miss Sonya's quirky weird jazz routines, to be honest. I mean, I get that this was good. Maybe I'm just getting burnt out on this show in general. Good thing it's over next week, then I suppose! But I do agree with the judges in their comments that though Tiffany may be tiny, when she extends her legs, you wouldn't know it.

Chehon & Eliana - These two had a traditional ballet piece choreographed by Marat something? I'm sorry, they never actually showed his name on screen, unless I missed it. It was... super traditional. Like, from the Nutcracker traditional. And therefore, for me, kind of boring, particularly that bit at the end where Eliana just keeps doing spin-pause-spin-pause-spin-pause-spin for seeming eternities. Also Chehon didn't really get to do much besides hold her up, which I get is hard, but makes it seem all about her.

Tiffany & Cyrus - In this lyrical hip hop choreographed by Tessandra Chavez, I think we saw maybe the best performance out of Cyrus in the entire season. Tiffany also brought it; she's actually pretty good at hip hop though you might not expect it to just look at her. This is the dance where things started to pick up steam.

Chehon & Allison - Easily my favorite performance of the night. These two had a Stacey Tookey contemporary piece that gave me chills. I actually muttered "wow" to myself out loud. Wait, does that make it seem like I never talk to myself? Because that's just a lie. And now I've made myself look weird! But you do it too! I know you do! OKAY, back to the dancing. Honestly I loved this one. That one-handed lift! It made me really happy that Chehon made it this far, because his emotional journey became really apparent. Good for him.

Eliana & Tiffany - That's right, since it's the final performance show, all the dancers dance with each other. The two ladies had my second favorite routine of the night thanks to Ray Leepers burlesque broadway piece involving a pole. Because Eliana just owns that pole when she's on it. She really stood out to me in this piece compared to Tiffany. She's just more of a woman where Tiffany is more of a girl. Of course, this brought dirty Uncle Nigel out to play after it was over. I liked how Mary thought he was going to make some joke with the word hard in it, but he wasn't. Dirty mind Mary, ha! Anyway, yes, that thing Eliana did at the end with like a twirl back bend leg twist crazypants? YES.

Cyrus & Chehon - These two had a Sonya Tayeh jazz piece that again I felt was good but not amazing. The judges basically forwent making any comments on the dance itself and just said oh you're wonderful oh we love you oh me oh my contain our emotions we just can't with the feels! You guys, I'm regressing into this whole gif/tumblr speak lately, and it's really alarming. But you know what that means, that I also don't really know what to say as a comment about the dance other than Cyrus still can't really do lifts.

Eliana & Alex - You'd think I would be in some kind of SYTYCD heaven with these two in a Travis Wall contemporary routine, but man I am just bereft of emotion or something, because I really wanted more. Part of it was that the music played more cheesy than anything else to me, and I have a hard time getting over stinky cheese. The judges, however, went gaga over it. Okay? Hmph. I don't know. I liked Eliana and Alex's other routine from earlier in the season about 100 times more.

Chehon & Tiffany - In their final dance of the night, these two had a rumba choreographed by Dmitry Chaplin. It was sweet enough, but my mind kind of started to drift. I think it may have been due to the mentioned fact that these two really don't have much romantic chemistry. And with a dance that's all about, like, love and schmoopy stuff, that's kind of maybe a problem, yeah? It wasn't bad or anything like that, but just good. I apparently only ever want great anymore. Give me great or give me nothing! I am demanding and fickle!

Cyrus & Twitch - Okay, seriously? The pimp spot for Cyrus again? And in his own freakin' style? With Twitch?! Deck, welcome to your stacked position. ughblughblerg ANYWAY, that's not to say that the animation piece choreographed by Christopher Scott wasn't good or anything, but of course it would be good, it's Cyrus' own specialized style that is really the only thing he's truly great at. And Twitch can do no wrong. And then, and THEN Nigel had to go and say that he wouldn't be voting for Cyrus because of blah blah and yada yada, and do you know what Nigel? I think that's just going to make people vote for him more! It's reverse psychology! Or will it be double reverse psychology, instead, in my wishful thinking place? Arg! ANYWAY, do you know what my favorite bit of this routine was? It was actually the very end when they both were stopped but their bodies were still kind of swaying as if balancing with the little back and forth movement. I don't know why, it's just the way I feel, okay?

Anyway, I don't know how the vote is going to go. I want it to be Eliana and Chehon, and I feel they should win, but whether that happens or not will remain a mystery for another week. Sigh.

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

SYTYCD S9: Top 6 Perform

So, this is totally weird, right? It's the top 6 performance show, but there's no voting because of this whole new voting system. Instead, there will be a performance finale next week, I assume followed up by a results finale the following day? I guess. It just made this week's show feel sort of superfluous, really. And also angering, because I don't agree with one of the top four guys at allllll. Like, no. Ugh.

The guest judge this week was repeater Christina Applegate. Each dancer performed a solo, a partner dance with an all star, and a partner dance with a fellow contestant. Thus, I'm not sure how exactly to go about this recap. All individually is just too long, so I guess... okay we're going seat of the pants! Seat of the pantsss!

Tiffany - Tiffany's night started with her all-star partner performance with season two winner Benji in a Jean-Marc Genereaux choreographed jive. It was a lot of fun, full of energy, and she really kept up with him. I was actually quite impressed at how well she did. The flick kicks, especially. I'm not just saying that because the judges all mentioned them, but because I also noticed! Okay! I can be smart about dance moves too! I'm thinking Tiffany could pull a Jeanine and win, but it'll probably depend on what happens next week. Her solo was another bit of just okay for me, but that's becoming par for the course for solos.

Witney - Witney's night started with a very bullfighter-esque solo that felt a bit haphazard to me, but at least she planned something out? Sure. Her all-star dance was with Marko, who was sporting a sadly shaved head (can I just do a quick sidenote and say: guys, if you have hair, why would you shave it? Do you know how many balding men would kill for naturally growing thick hair? I DON'T GET YOU.). They had a Ray Leeper lyrical jazz piece that honestly didn't really wow me that much. I wrote "cute," which basically equals to meh? It's not like it was bad or anything, though Christina did point out that Wit has a tendency to flip her hair around, hairography style, too much.

Eliana - Eliana's started her night with all-star Twitch in a Chris Scott hip hop piece. But wait, are we sure this was hip hop? Because it felt more like jazzy broadway schmooze to me with not enough actual dancing. Which is sad, because normally I really like Chris Scott's routines. But this one really didn't feel like it was enough, and if this was what you were going to base your predictions on, I would've been very worried about Eliana's chances to get into the final four. Her solo later on was rather understated, and I'm not sure in a good way? I dunno, I'm all over the place.

Cole - Cole started his night with all-star Melanie in a Sonya Tayeh jazz piece that featured one of the my two favorite songs of the evening (Too Close by Alex Clare, if you care, see what I did there?). I wanted to love this piece, because it has two of my favorite dancers coupled with one of my favorite choreographers, so it should automatically be brill, right? But I kind of wanted to feel more than I did from it. I'm not sure what exactly was missing, maybe it was something about how Cole is just so controlled in his movement sometimes, it doesn't come across as natural? Does that make any sense at all? Not saying it was bad, because it was good, but something was missing. Cole's solo was all about strength and power, almost to an angry place? That lift toe thing he did was pretty cool, and honestly I just loved all of the comments from his mom. D'awwwww

Chehon - Chehon's night began with his solo, which was all about strength, in a more controlled, fluid sense than Cole's angry strength. That's how I'm describing it anyhow. Sure! His all-star dance was with Katherine in a Tyce Diorio contemporary that was quite frankly one of his best performances on the show, period. He was so emotionally invested, and actually let go, which is something that seems to be rather hard for him to do. I would say he has probably grown the most out of all the dancers left. You may say it's someone else, but I will disagree with you until the cows come home about that, peeps, I will.

Cyrus - Cyrus' night started the latest, with all-star Comfort in a Chris Scott choreographed dubstep routine that was pretty much just tailor-made to show off Cyrus' particular style. Honestly it just felt like a gift to him. I was hoping it would be a parting gift, but I guess there is always going to be heartbreak for me on this show in one form or another, because ugh. His solo wasn't as good as we've seen him do in the past. I really just wanted him to move across the stage more than just stand there, but whatever, my rose-colored glasses have been firmly stomped on in regards to Cyrus at this point. That sounds mean, but I just can't anymore.

And now, on to the contestant partner dances....

Witney & Chehon - I mean, a train wreck, right? These two had a Jean-Marc cha cha that was just all kinds of wrong. The first lift in the beginning was botched, Chehon was completely out of his comfort zone and it showed big big time. The whole thing was missing a spark and felt really slow. Chehon totally knew he messed it up, but the thing was, Witney didn't really shine much either, and this is her style, right?

Eliana & Cole - So, can I just say, when I saw it was Eliana and Cole in a Mia Michaels contemporary, I made this really stupid squeally noise that could not be contained. Dream! Come! True! And it was. The routine was just the perfect mix of awesome music choice (my other favorite of the night - Adagio for Strings by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra), the movement, and their performances. I had some major chills by the end of it, and kept muttering "wow" to myself like a loon. I was feeling it. Honestly a lot of it was because the music was just so perfect, but man. Yes.

Cyrus & Tiffany - How many times have they given Cyrus the pimp spot? Come ON. These two had a Spencer Liff Broadway routine that for me relied more on chemistry and acting than actual dancing, which is basically the Cyrus MO at this point. He just doesn't move his legs enough. I mean, good on him for getting through the coat issue without much fanfare, but I still wasn't very wowed by the routine. It was fine.

The point is, I'm upset that Cyrus has made it into the finale and Cole hasn't. If you couldn't already tell, and if that's the case then wow, you really don't pick up on things.

Final Four:
Tiffany
Eliana
Chehon
Cyrus

The girls? Yes. Perfect. But the guys? I mean, I just... sigh. I know this has no bearing on real life, but really? If he beats Chehon, I will have lost all respect for the voters. Although I pretty much already have now that both Cole and Will are out. This is like Mark all over again! He should've been in the top four of his season too! Ugh! Why!

Previous Episode -- Next Episode

Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now, I know I have a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes on this here blog. That's only because they are my favorite type of cookie, and I'm always looking for that definitive recipe. I have some that I like quite a lot - the molasses ones, the ones that use cornstarch - but I've always wanted to try this one from Jacques Torres that uses the two types of flour.

I'm always a bit dubious about recipes that get a little fancy schmancy, only because usually I like to just bake stuff that's easy. I mean, who doesn't? But I have to say, these are pretty great. It could also be the high quality chocolate chunks that I used that also made a difference, because yes, I splurged and bought some Ghiradelli baking bars and cut them up, along with some regular Nestle chocolate chips. I'd recommend the larger chunks too, if you can afford it. So. Good.

Jacque Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 2-3 Dozen Cookies
Prep time: 02:10

Cook time: 00:15

Total time: 02:25

From the New York Times, the famed Jacque Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies – are they worth the hype?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 heaping cup granulated sugar
• 1 heaping cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups + 1 Tablespoon cake flour
• 1 ½ cups bread flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pound (approx. 2 cups) semi or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Instructions:

1. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper (optional). Chop up your chocolate into sizable chunks, depending on how you like it.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder, and soda. Set aside.
3. Cream the softened butter (room temperature optimal) with the sugars thoroughly, approximately two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between. Mix in the vanilla.
4. Mix in the flour mixture on low speed. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
5. Cover and put in the fridge for a least a couple hours, or even longer.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. For tablespoon-sized cookies, bake for 13-15 minutes until tops are golden brown.
7. Let rest on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

In photos:

Chop up your chocolate. This is two bars of Ghiradelli chocolate, 1 in semi-sweet, one in bittersweet. I also used 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in addition to this since that chocolate is muy expensive.

Butter and sugars are creamed together.

After adding in the two eggs one at a time.

With the vanilla and flour mixture added in. Delicious dough!

After folding in the chocolate chunks and chips.

As you can see, I did not use parchment paper, but it does make things easier on you to do so. I'm just a lazy bones. I baked mine for 14 minutes, which was perfection.

After you let them cool on the pan for a couple minutes (it lets them solidify a bit), remove them to the wire rack to cool. Try not to drool, yeah?