How and Why You Should Clean Your Washing Machine

No, Really, Your Washing Machine Needs This.

No, Really, Your Washing Machine Needs This.

Table of Contents:

Why You Should Clean Your Washing Machine

How To Clean Your Washing Machine

It's a common myth that your washing machine cleans itself as it cleans your clothes. Unfortunately, it is just that. A myth. As your washing machine gets everything else clean, it can build up dirt, detergent, and hard water residue. So, how do you fix that, and what happens if you don't? 

Why You Should Clean Your Washing Machine (Ie what happens if you don't.) 

Sure it makes sense. If you're constantly washing things in it, the washing machine should be kept clean. Buuut that's sadly not how it works, at least not any more than your towels always being clean because you use them to dry yourself off when you're clean. With every wash cycle, your washing machine rinses away dirt, grime, and detergent.  That dirt has to go somewhere, right? If you don't clean your washing machine regularly all of that grime can build up inside the machine, as well as mildew. Yup, mildew. 

Have you ever opened your washer after several days only to have it smell wet and rank? A smell that's somewhere between long rotted leaves and a wet dog. That's caused by leaving your front-loading machine closed in between washes. The tight seal on the door means that the drum can't dry out completely, so mildew and mold can begin to grow inside the drum.  (And no, just running a new wash won't wash away the mold, sadly. A front-loading machine doesn't fill up all the way in comparison to a top-loading machine.) 

The ick on the agitator is mildew, the top of the drum is dirt, and at the chlorine tray is just floating debris.
Photo Courtesy of Practically Functional

How To Clean Your Washing Machine 

Fortunately, there are easy ways to solve the problems in both of these cases. 

If you're looking to remove the moldy smell, all you need to do is do an empty cycle of your machine, with an extra rinse, using a half cup of bleach and no detergent. This will kill any mildew inside of the drum and sterilize the entire thing. 

If you're trying to get rid of dirt, detergent residue, and hard water, on the other hand, you're going to need to go a bit more in-depth.  

- Start by grabbing anything you can that's easily removable. Take that to your sink, grab an old toothbrush, some white vinegar, and some dishsoap. Mix up a quick solution and allow the parts to soak in it while you go back to your washer. 

- Use a cloth, the toothbrush, and the vinegar to scrub all of the crevices inside the machine. Throw on a podcast or an audiobook while you're doing this, it'll make life easier. 

- If your front-loading machine has a rubber gasket, make sure you get that cleaned too, but use a clean cloth instead of the toothbrush. You don't want to accidentally damage it, or pull it away from its seal. 

-Many machines will have a trap that's meant to catch debris, hair, pet fur and other things. Consult your manual, or the manufacturer's website to find out where it is for your model.  Once you've found it, empty it, soak it in white vinegar and then gently scrub with a toothbrush to get it clean again. 

-Once you've done all of that, rinse the small parts with clean, cool water, dry them off and replace them into the machine. Next, pour four cups of white vinegar into your washer's tub while it's empty.  Run that on the longest and hottest wash cycle, without adding anything to it. No detergent, no clothing, nada. Once the cycle is finished running, take a soft sponge (so one without a rough side to it) and clean the inside of the washer. Then run another cycle with just water to remove any of the leftover vinegar. 

Once you've gotten your washing machine clean for the first time, make sure to get yourself into the habit of doing it once a month. After the first time it's much easier, and you won't have to do as much work. Like many of the other home tips we offer, these types of preventative maintenance are best done on a regular schedule so that you don't end up having to rush to fix a major problem. 

Thank you for coming to hang out with us this week! What is the strangest thing you've ever had happen with your washing machine? Tel us in the comments below, or over on our Facebook page. As always, we'd love to hear from you. 

If your washing machine has gone past the point of "it just needs a good scrubbing" it might be time to call in a professional. Fortunately, we can help. Whether you live in Allen, Copeland, or Dallas, Appliance Rescue Service has you covered. Just head over to our contact page or give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) to set up an appointment time that works for you. 

What Can't Your Favorite Kitchen Tools Do?

 Air Fryers, Multi-Cookers and Slow Cookers, They can't actually do everything? 

Table of Contents: 

Slow Cookers

Airfryer

Multi-Cooker 

So many of us get new kitchen toys for Christmas or just after Thanksgiving. They go on sale and we go "Ooh shiny!" And honestly? That's great! Anything that gets people cooking more and spending time experimenting with food is good in our books (and not just because we're an appliance repair company.) The thing is though, what /can't/ those tools do? What do you never want to put into a slow cooker? Or your airfryer? What about the shiny new Instant Pot? They all have things that you don't want to try and make with them, but no one really says what they are. They just talk about all the wonderful things they have made. That's where this post comes in. We're taking a look at some of the things you really shouldn't ask of your kitchen tools. 

Slow Cookers

Ahh, our beloved slow cookers. They're great for summer, and busy days, and any time you need to keep a lot of food warm over a long period, without destroying it. We love them! Unfortunately, there are some food types that they just don't handle well due to the way they're designed. 

-Slow Cookers Don't Do Well With Lean Meats

While you /can/ cook them in a slow cooker, it's extraordinarily difficult to get them to come out right. You want your meat to be tender and flavorful, not dry and tough. Unfortunately, the leaner a piece of meat is, and the longer it's exposed to heat, the tougher and dryer it becomes. For a cut like a tenderloin, sirloin or round roast, the longer you keep them cooking, the more likely they are to toughen up.  Rather than having to baby them, which defeats the purpose of the slow cooker, it's better to a) choose a different cut of meat with more fat to it, or b) cook the meat a different way to ensure it remains the most flavorful. 

-Slow Cookers Can't Cook Fish

Much like lean meats, fish are finicky. They don't need to be heated for long periods. They'll either break down and become indistinguishable from the rest of the food, or become horribly overcooked.  

-Slow Cookers Are No Good for Recipes That Need to Be Seared

Slow cookers do low, moist heat over a long period of time. Searing uses a high heat and very short period of time. Your slow cooker just can't do that. 

Air Fryer

Your air fryer is designed to dry cook food quickly and at high temperatures, circulating air and oil around the food. This leads to an even cooking that is going to dry foods out, which doesn't work out well for some types of food.  

-Air Fryers Are No Good For Fibrous Vegetables

An air fryer is meant to heat foods up quickly and fry them similar to a deep fryer, but without all of the fat. Unfortunately, when it comes to fibrous vegetables, they don't do good with this method of cooking. They need longer cooking times in order for them to break down and become soft enough to eat. 

Some examples of fibrous veggies are asparagus, green beans, beetroot, bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage. 

-Air Fryers Aren't Good for Feeding Large Groups of People 

No, we're serious on this one. Unless you want to be in the kitchen making round after round of food and not actually getting to enjoy spending time with anyone, we don't advise trying to feed a large group of people this way. An air fryer just doesn't have the capacity for that much food, unless you bought an industrial one, in which case, be our guest! 

-Air Fryers Don't deal well with Battered Foods

Well, to be more specific, they don't deal well with wet battered foods. Think of things like fried chicken, corn dogs or fried oreos. All of those are a wet batter that you dip the food into and then fry. That doesn't work in an air fryer because the batter falls off through the tray or just slides off the food entirely, leaving things less than ideal. 

-Air Fryers Aren't Good with Soft or Sticky Ingredients 

If it's likely to stick to other things, or the basket, your air fryer won't like this. Air fryers are meant to have air circulating around all of the pieces, and things that are sticky are going to  make that difficult. 

Multi-Cooker

It can pressure cook, it can fry, it can act like a crock pot, it can even saute or make yogurt! What can't a multi-cooker do? Well, there are a few things. 

Multi Cookers - There's No Point If You Can Make it On The Stove

So if you've had your multi-cooker since Christmas, as many received them for gifts this year, you've probably learned this. Your multi-cooker will almost always require time to come up to pressure. That, plus the amount of time it takes to actually cook whatever you're wanting is typically going to be more than 12 minutes. So, if it's faster to cook it on the stove? Do it that way. 

Multi Cookers Don't Like "Add As You Go" Cooking

Bouncing right off the last idea of 'pressure' means that your multi-cooker doesn't really like recipes that require things to be added in stages. It's great for foods that can be done all in one go or are just a portion of the final meal. Say you're making seasoned beans as part of your burrito night. That, your multi-cooker is great for! But if you want to make a soup? Where you're constantly adding things at different times? Not so much. For each step that you have to pause the cooking mode, let the seal release and then come back up to pressure once you've added it, it's just not going to end well. 

Multi-Cookers Ruin Delicate Vegetables

Delicate vegetables like leafy greens, fine curls of carrots or your multicolored green beans shouldn't go into a multi-cooker. The vegetables don't stand up to the high heat and pressure of the multi-cooker and you end up with a gross mush of what used to be perfectly delicious vegetables. 

A few more examples of delicate vegetables: 

Zucchini 

Lettuce

Snap Peas

Snow Peas

Asparagus 

Tomatoes

Fennel

Multi-Cookers and Dairy Don't Mix 

But Blogger!, we hear you cry, you said that we could make yogurt! That's a dairy! 

And you are right dear reader.  

The thing is for the pressure cooker aspect of a multi-cooker, that's when you can't use milk or milk products. They'll boil over and scorch. They can also foam or froth depending on how you treat them, which will clog up your steam release valve, which is a guaranteed route to danger. (Check out our post on dangers in the kitchen to see more on that one. ) Last but not least, whenn putting milk into a pressure cooker you run the risk of the milk separating and giving you a seriously gross outcome. 

We know that many people have done in-depth experiments with their different kitchen tools finding ways to work around these issues. Some of them work, some of them don't.  We will say that we're talking in general about what these tools can do, and not hunting down the arcane secrets that people have discovered. If we can't test them ourselves, we don't want to recommend them to you. And trying to test all of the possibilities out there would end up being a VERY large grocery bill haha. 

Have you found a way around any of these issues?  Or do you have lists of foods that we missed?  Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page, as always we'd love to hear from you! 

What happens though if you ended up here because your larger appliances are giving you fits (sadly we don't work on any of these smaller appliances just yet.) Not to worry, you're in the right place. We work on all of your major appliances, including dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, stoves, and ice machines. Whatever it is that's making you want to tear your hair out, we've got you covered. At Appliance Rescue Service, we're not satisfied until you are. You can get hold of us by giving us a call at ((214) 599-0055 ) or by going to our contact page and setting up an appointment that fits your schedule.  

Cajun Rice to Feed a Horde.

Or At Least Everyone You Know And Love

I Don’t Care! Take Me To The Recipe!

We're making Cajun Rice this week! For anyone that knows Cajun food, you know it's a highly subjective food with recipes being very subjective. We've tried to make our recipe a bit more standardized, but you can still add or take away as you see fit. This week's recipe is for feeding a crowd. So grab your largest pot and get ready to make some food that will have everyone asking "hey, when are you going to make that again?" 

Ingredients:

2 Large Green Bell Peppers

2 Large Red Bell Peppers

1 Large Yellow or Orange Bell Pepper

1 Medium Yellow Onion

2 Stalks of Celery 

4 Roma Tomatoes

2 Tbsp Salted Butter 

2 cups Long Grain Rice *

4 Cups of Chicken Broth *

2 cups of black beans ( cooked, or canned and drained) 

2 Links of Smoked Sausage 

3 Large Chicken Breasts

1 lb of De-veined shrimp 

Spices: +

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

• 1 teaspoon ground paprika

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 

• 1 bay leaf

• *1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Tools: LARGE pot, cutting board, chef's knife, measuring bowls, large bowl for holding foods during prep, long handled spoon. 

*Since this recipe is (in theory) sized for feeding 4-5 people, if you want to buff it up, it's going to be the rice and the stock that are the easiest to add to. For every 1/2 cup of dry rice that you add, add a full cup of stock for the recipe. 

+ Spices, much like the recipe as a whole, are very subjective. So, if you want to add things in, go for it. Just remember to always go with a little bit at first before adding more. 

Recipe

Start by grabbing your cutting board, and laying your veggies out. You'll want to be careful about cleaning out the peppers as the seeds are horrible when cooked. Cut the tops of your peppers off, cut them into either quarters or thirds, depending on the number of bumps on the bottom of the pepper. Remove the pith and the seeds, and set them aside for your favorite gardener. Now cut them into strips, about a 1/4 wide, and cut each strip into chunks. Do this with all of your peppers and toss them into a bowl for the time being.  

Grab your yellow onion and dice that up into a consistent dice. Next up grab your celery and slice it up into consistent slices.  Add both of those into the bowl and give everything a quick toss. 

Chop up your tomatoes and set them aside in a separate bowl for the time being, we'll come back for those later. 

Now, grab your bowl of peppers and onions and head over to your stove. Turn on the heat to high and toss 2 tablespoons of butter in, letting that melt down. Once it's melted, add in your vegetables and grab your spoon to start turning. You want to sauté the veggies until the onion is transparent. 

Now, scoop out your veggies and set them to the side. Give your cutting board and knife a quick wash and grab your various meats.  If you haven't cooked your sausage and chicken already, grab a separate pan and do that now. Make sure to wash the pan after every round to ensure food safety. Check the bottom of the page for temperatures for both meats. 

 If you've already got your meats all cooked to the appropriate temperatures, it's time to chop them up. 

For your sausage, slice it into 1/4 slices, and then chop those in half. 

For your chicken, go ahead and slice the chicken breasts in half width wise, and then cut them into chunks about an inch in size.  (So, essentially, you'll butterfly your chicken at first.) 

Once that's taken care of, add your broth and spices to the pot and give everything a quick stir.  Turn the heat to high and wait until your pot begins to boil. At that point,  grab a spoon and give it a quick taste. Does it taste good? Do you need to adjust the spices? Do that now. 

Now, add in your rice give it another stir, and let the pot come back up to a boil. Once it's boiling again, turn the heat down to low, add in your sausage, chicken, beans, tomatoes and shrimp and put the lid on. Keep it on low for 25 minutes, giving it a stir every 5 minutes or so, or until all of the liquid has been absorbed into the rice. 

Once the time is up, push everything to the outer edges and see if you can find any additional broth on the bottom. If you can, then you need to keep cooking for 5 more minutes, making sure to keep the lid on. If not, tell everyone to come to the table, because the meal is ready. 

Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook if you decide to give this a try! We’d love to hear how it goes and anything you add to it. 

If you ended up here because you need help with your refrigerator, washer, dryer, stove, oven or any of your other major appliances, we can still help. In fact that’s kind of a real business. We just provide recipes for fun. So, if any of those major appliances have broken down recently, or are just acting funny, we can help get your them back into tip-top shape. Give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or visit our appointment page.

True or False : 18 Things You Thought Could Go in The Dishwasher

How Good Are You At Knowing The Difference For What Can Go Into Your Dishwasher?

We've all had to check the internet for whether something could go into the dishwasher or not. It's late (or really early) and you just want to get the dishes done with so that you can go on with your day. Dishwashers are supposed to make things easy right? Just load it up and let it run. Unfortunately there are many things that just don't belong for a variety of reasons.  Test your prowess with our quiz below to see just how many you know. 

Let’s Get Started

+One - Insulated glasses, tumblers, and thermoses

False!

+Two - Bathroom accessories

True! Scrubbing your toothbrush clean can be gross. You've got toothpaste which feels so gross when it's wet, and just icky when you try to scratch it off. You've got soap residue which is slimy when wet and gross and sticky when dry. Then you have mold that can build up due to how warm and wet it gets in your bathroom. (Unless you're taking cold showers every day? Some people do.) Fortunately, your dishwasher is here to save the day. You can toss in all sorts of things from your bathroom, and they'll come out clean all without having to get things built up under your nails.

+Three - Acrylic dishes

False!

+Four - Plastic Hairbrushes

True! Have you ever looked at one of your hairbrushes after taking off the hair and noticed that it still had buildup on it? That's a mix of styling proucts and the natural oils from your scalp. Thankfully, you can get rid of that by putting it through the dishwasher. Ideally, you'd do this once a month. Just make sure not to do this with wooden hair brushes or ones with natural boar bristles. Both can be damaged by the soap and the hot water from the dishwasher.

+Five - Ashtrays

False! Ash trays are covered in, well, ash. Because of how fine that is, it can become clogged in your dishwasher's filter and lead to a dishwasher that just won't drain. We suggest using soap and an old toothbrush if you want to get your ashtrays looking good as new.

+ Six - Baseball caps

True! Oh no! Some jerk at your kid's football game got mustard on your baseball cap. It's cool, your dishwasher can clean it right up. Don't put soap on it, just rinse with cold water and put it on the top rack. We will say that you need to double check what the brim is made of first though. If it's a newer cap, you should be fine. But many older caps had cardboard brims and that can't go into the dishwasher.

+Seven - Wineglasses

False! While there are many glass makers that claim their wares can go through the dishwasher, this is only true on a technicality. While the glass can stand up to hundreds of cycles with harsh detergents without being damaged, they can't stand up to the dishwasher itself, or human error. Yup. Whether it's the glass being taller than the dishwasher itself or glasses being rattled around and shoved against the tiens and each other, it's very likley that your wine glasses will end up broken by putting them through the dishwasher.

+Eight - Ceramic knives

False! Not only will your ceramic knives likely catch on the coating of your rack, but they can also chip from being jostled around druing the wash cycle.

+Nine - Vacuum Cleaner Attachments

True! Since they're made of a heavy duty plastic, most are dishwasher safe. Make sure to double check your owners manual first, but if they give the all clear, you can run a load of just the different attachments and brushes and get them nice and clean.

+Ten - Lead Crystal

False! Crystal is heat sensitive, so it's very prone to cracking, and detergent can cause them to chip. Most importantly, lead can be leached out of your crystal, leaving them cloudy, and if it's not all washed away, potentially hazardous to your health.

+Eleven - Kitchen Tools - Metal and plastic only

True! Many of the things you use around your kitchen can be put through the dishwasher to be cleaned and sterilized themselves. Sponges, scrub brushes, drain plugs, sturdy plastic cutting boards or drainage trays, even plastic or metal shelving you have around the kitchen can go through the dishwasher provided you make room for it.

+Twelve - Flip-flops

True! Just getting back from the beach and you want to get your flops clean again? No worries. Your dishwasher has you covered. Rinse off any remaining dirt, mud, or sand either in your kitchen sink or and then loop the tongs around one of the tines on the top rack. Turn the dishwasher on like you normally would and you're good to go! Your flops will be looking lovely in a short run cycle.

+Thirteen - Wood -

Includes wooden spoons, bowls, chopping boards and wooden-handled knives. False! Wooden tools will absorb water and crack over time. It won't show at first, but the water will seep in and force the fibers of the wood apart slowly, until eventually the pieces split apart. So unless you're keen on splinters, we advse washing these lovely tools by hand.

+Fourteen - Refrigerator Components

True! Do you have any removeable bits in your refrigerator? The fruit and veggie drawers, that removeable butter tray, the shelves that you can move around for maximum storage capability? all of those can go into the dishwasher. Every three months or so is a great way to keep your dishwasher clean and sparkly. Now, if there are any metal shelves, you'll want to make sure that they're coated in rubber so that they don't chip the inside of your dishwasher. Make sure to dry them completely before with a microfiber cloth to keep them from growing mold.

+Fifteen - Gardening Tools

True! While you might usually give them a quick rinse outside in between uses, a more thorough cleaning is good before you put them away for winter. To that end, rinse off any leftover dirt, and make sure they're not aluminum before popping them in. Make sure to dry them by hand with a clean towel once they're out, and thoroughly to prevent rust.

+Sixteen - Pewter

False! Pewter is a very soft metal, with a melting point of just 400* Farenheit. It's all too easy for it to be warped by the heat of the dishwasher. On top of that the soaps you use or the foods you eat can cause pewter to become discolored.

+Seventeen - Graters and Sieves

False! The blades on the bottom of your grates have sharp edges that can either corrode or break off in the dishwasher. Seives on the other hand are more likely to rust.

+Eighteen - Metal Vent Covers

True! If your top rack is removeable you can send these through the dishwasher every six months, not only will they look nicer, but they'll also do better at keeping your house free from dust. Be sure to dry them completely before reinstalling them.

Points Total

1-6 - Dishwasher Beginner

7-12 - Kitchen Adept

13-18 - Ruler of the Dishes

So? How did you do? Let us know in the comments below or over on our Facebook page!
If on the other hand you ended up here because you ran one of these things through your dishwasher and now your dishwasher is spitting suds at you, we can help. Just give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or go to our contact page to set up an appointment. At Appliance Rescue Service, we’re here to help. 

Additional Reading: 

Help I melted Plastic in my Dishwasher 

Banana Cake Bonanza

So You Need To Use Up The Bananas You Have

I Don’t Care! Take Me To The Recipe!

Ingredients

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•

Banana pudding:

3 cups milk

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 egg yolks

2 teaspoons banana or vanilla extract

Banana frosting:

1 banana, smashed

1/2 cup whole milk

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Alternate Topping Option: 

Three bars of your favorite (plain) milk chocolate

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

Instructions:

•

Banana cake: 

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 300*F and gather up all of your ingredients. (Trust us, this makes it SO much easier, and you feel very TV-Star-Chef like. It's a good feeling.) 

Grab three separate bowls all of the same size.  In the first one, you're going to sift your flour with a fine sieve. This gets air into the flour as well as breaking up clumps, which is important for a cake like this. Once that's done, mix in your baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

Grab a second bowl and toss in approximately two large bananas. If you'd like to measure them precisely, we advise using another bowl to mash them and then measuring one scoop at a time. Give them a thorough smashing with a fork, and then add in the buttermilk. 

Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream together your butter and sugar until it's pale, fluffy, and fully incorporated. You will want to start off on low so you aren't inhaling sugar and slowly work your way up. Once you've got it nice and fluffy, add in your eggs and vanilla and continue to mix. 

Next up is adding the dry ingredients and the banana a bit at a time. Alternate back and forth between them. until your dough is nice and thick, but it should also have a smooth consistency. 

This is what the consistency and smoothness of your batter should look like by the end of things, although, we will point out, your bowl should be much more full than this. We forgot to grab a photo prior to filling up the muffin tins.

Now, a quick discussion of forms for the cake. You can use muffin tins, or an eclair pan, or you could do something crazy and use that Star Wars tin that you got for Christmas from the company White Elephant. BUT whatever you do, there's two things you need to make sure of. 1) Your form needs to be only 1/2 full when you make these. The batter will rise and you will end up with what looks like cookies on top of your cake otherwise.  That turned out fine for us in our initial tests, but if you're wanting exactly what we offered, then you're going to need to make sure the tins are only 1/2 filled.  (ask us how we know that one!

Once you've filled your cake forms of choice, pop them in the oven for 25 minutes, rotating your pan (or pans) halfway through the cooking time. 

That /should/ be enough time BUT we advise checking with a fork or toothpick stuck in the center. If your testing implement comes out of the cake clean, great! You're done. If not, turn the pan, and leave it in there for another 2 minutes. Continue the process of testing and turning every 2 minutes until it /does/ out clean. 

Once they're done, allow them to cool completely, and we'll move on to making pudding! 

A preface for this section. Please, read all of the instructions carefully. Puddings are tricky beasts and they are just as easily destroyed as souffles. Our first attempt at making this ended up with cooked egg and grainy bits. Even after sieving the pudding could not be saved. You have been warned.

To start with, grab your six eggs and crack them into a pyrex bowl or measuring cup, preferably one that has room for more than just those six eggs. In a small saucepan, combine milk, sugar, cornstarch, and salt, mixing thoroughly. Cook over medium-high heat if you've got an electric stove, or medium low if you've got a gas stove.  Do this until it thickens and bubbles begin to form on the surface. Reduce the heat to low and cook it for two more minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and grab your ladle. Carefully pour one scoop at a time of the milk mixture into the eggs, using a whisk or fork to mix thoroughly. Go slowly, and add about 1/3 of the milk mixture to the eggs.  MAKE SURE TO MIX THOROUGHLY and that you've brought the temperature of the eggs up to (roughly) the same temperature of the milk mixture. Once that's been reached, add the egg mixture into the pan and put that back on the heat, allowing it to come up to a gentle boil. Cook that for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. (and yes, we mean /constantly/. You don't have to whisk it so hard it flies out of the pot at you, but you do have to keep the mix turning constantly or else you'll end up with the bottom scorched. 

NO, this is NOT what your pudding should look like. We’re including this image for the horror factor. Don’t let your pudding end up like, and carefully follow the steps we’ve outlined, please.

Remove the pan from the heat and add in your extract of choice. (We chose vanilla when we made it, to give some balance to the banana cake.) Pour your pudding into a clean heat proof dish and allow the pudding to come down to room temperature. Then pop it into the refrigerator to continue cooling completely. 

For your frosting:  If you're going with the banana option: 

Grab a full banana, smash it up and then add it to a blender. Add in 1/2 cup of whole milk and blitz it until the mixture is fully liquid. Pour that mixture into your third bowl from earlier and whisk in the sugar one cup at a time. 

If you're going with the chocolate topping: Grab a clean, completely dry saucepan, and pour in 1 cup of cream, reserving the other half. Put the heat on low and allow the cream to come up to heat slowly while you chop up your chocolate. You're looking for small pieces, so if you get slivers while you're chopping, that's perfectly fine. 

Once you've got it all chopped up, add it to the cream, and bring your heat up to medium-low, stirring constantly. Just like before we don't want the cream to scorch. Once your chocolate has fully melted and you don't see anything solid any longer, that's when you need to make some choices. How thin you want your icing is going to decide how much of that second cup you need to add. If you want a ganache, keep it as is, don't bother adding any more. If you want to thin it out, add a little bit of the cream at a time, fully incorporating it until you are satisfied with how thick it is. Once the proper thickness has been reached, pull it from the heat and keep stirring until it's cooled down to room temperature. 

So, has everything rested/cooled/set? Yes? Then it's time to put it all together!! :D Grab a large piping tip, and set up a bag with your pudding inside it. Now, grab one of your muffins and inject the pudding in the center if you have a muffin, or in 3 places if you have an eclair shape. Put it onto a plate or cooling rack on a cookie sheet, and do the same to all of the other cakes. Once that's done, it's time for your frosting of choice.  Spoon that over the top of each cake and enjoy! 

We know there were a lot of warnings and choices that you had to make for this week's recipe. We just wanted to make sure that you were able to learn from our (many) mistakes and ended up with a delicious food. If you /did/ end up with a delicious treat, consider showing us over on Facebook? If you ended up with a horrific mess, well you can show us that too! 

If you're here because your stove threw a horrendous hissy fit during your attempt to make this (how /did/ you manage to get icing there?) that's ok!* You can give us a call at ((214) 599-0055) or set up an appointment with us on our contact page and we can help you fix it and get your home running smoothly again.

Additional Reading 

A SWEET-TART CAKE TO BEAT ALL THE PIES

MONKEY BREAD, MONKEY BRAINS, PULL-APART BREAD, IT ALL TASTES GOOD!

SPOOKY & HAUNTED HALLOWEEN DESSERTS

SLOW AND EASY SUNDAY STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

*Appliance Rescue Service does not accept any blame for things that may have gone wrong during the process of making this recipe. We are not liable if you opt to not follow the warnings we give, or forget to follow safety measures.