Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting 18Aug11

Quite possibly one of my favorite ways to consume bananas… in cake form and with chocolate! These cupcakes are so fragrant and scrumptious looking just sitting on my kitchen counter, I had to have one with my cuppa tea this morning. Okay I guess the tea was more meant to go with my cupcake than the other way around. I mean it’s a hearty breakfast right? There’s bananas in them!

I pretty much buy bananas with the intention of eating about 2 and then patiently waiting for the remainder of the bunch to ripe for a few days so I can make banana bread. I associate banana bread with breakfast because the cafe’s in Sydney served them as a breakfast menu item. Mmmm, toasted with a little bit of butter melted on top. Wish my local cafe here had banana bread as an option!

I adapted this banana cupcake recipe from Martha, adding a little here and there. I used my go-to simple chocolate frosting recipe because to me, banana goes with chocolate like peanut butter and jelly. Hope you like them as much as I do!

Serving Size: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups of smashed ripe banana
2 eggs at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
24 dark chocolate quarter-size disks or about 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chocolate chips

1 cup of confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of whole milk

Preheat oven to 350°F or 175°C

Step 1: The batter!
Melt 1 stick of unsalted butter in a small saucepan over low heat. You want to make sure you just melt it and not let it simmer! Once melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temp. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together  the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Create a well in the center and set a side. In another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs lightly to break them up. Smash about 3 super ripe bananas in a separate bowl with a fork before measuring out 1 1/2 cups, add that to the eggs along with the vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. Now add in a little butter at a time and whisk together until all combined. Pour the west mixture into the well you created in the flour mixture. Using a spatula, fold and mix until just combined… you don’t want to over mix!

Step 2: The baking!
Line your cupcake tray with cupcake liners. Fill the cups about 1/2 way up each cup using an ice cream scooper or spoon. Now drop in 2 quarter-sized dark chocolate disks in each cup or about 3-4 chocolate chips right in the middle. Fill the cups to about 3/4 full with the remaining batter.  Pop them in the oven for 25 minutes at 350°F. Test to see if they’re ready with a toothpick. Make sure to stick the toothpick in at an angle from the side… you’ll get melted chocolate if you go in the middle! Remove from oven, let it cool to room temperature.

Step 3: The frosting!
While your cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting! In a bowl, whisk together the  confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and pinch of salt. With an electric mixer, whisk 1 stick of unsalted butter until it’s light and fluffy. Make sure to use the whisk attachment if you’re using a stand mixer. Slowly add in a couple scoops of the sugar and cocoa mixture at a time until it is all combined. Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom occasionally. Now whisk in the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of milk, scrape the sides down.  Mix for about 30 seconds until frosting is light and fluffy. Dollop about 2 tablespoons on top of each cupcake and spread all over.

Store in an air tight container at room temperature. They’re best if consumed day of though… the melted chocolate in the middle is best if still a little oozy. Serve with coffee and tea or even a mimosa! Enjoy!

Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: baking, banana, chocolate, cooking, cupcakes, desserts, food, recipe, recipes, snacks, sweets

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 18th, 2011 at 11:25 am and is filed under baking, food, mmmm, recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.