First thing I made was the Roasted Banana Cupcakes
Meet the cast:
3 Ripe bananas, plus 1 to 2 more for garnish
2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Honey cinnamon frosting (recipe follows)
Pre-heat oven to 400. Line std muffin tins with paper liners. Place 3 whole bananas unpeeled on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. (peels will darken) Meanwhile, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Remove bananas from oven and let cool before peeling, Reduce oven to 350.
After roasting the bananas in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes you get something like this:
After roasting the bananas in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes you get something like this:
With and electric mixer on med-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time beating until each is Incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add roasted bananas, and beat to combine. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Beat in vanilla.
In another mixing bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold 1/3 into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in two batches. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool.
The recipe is for 16 cupcakes - I ended up getting 18
I followed the recipe for the first 9 and make the honey cinnamon icing for them.
Honey-cinnamon frosting (makes enough for 16 cupcakes) {I halved the recipe and had just enough for the 9 cupcakes}
2 12 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat all ingredients until smooth.
This is how they turned out:
This is how they turned out:
They were pretty good but I think that I would use more banana next time, even roasted it seemed a bit tame on the flavor. I also thought that the icing was a tad too sugary but Steve liked them!
For the remaining 9 cupcakes I decided to give it my own twist. I used to love getting those chocolate frozen bananas at the amusement park back in the day so thought that I would do something like that. First I made a simple ganache glaze
I halved the original recipe - this is what I used:
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp light corn syrup
Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream and corn syrup just to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour mixture over chocolate. Let stand, without stirring, until chocolate begins to melt.
Using a flexible spatula, gently stir chocolate and cream until totally combined, begin near the center of the bowl and gradually work your way toward the edge, pulling in as much chocolate as possible. Mix until smooth and glossy.
After I finished the ganache simply dip the top of the cupcake in letting the excess drip off. Set on wire rack to cool.
To finish off I topped the cupcake with a spoonful of freshly made whipped cream then added a slice of chocolate covered banana!
My take on these
eh.... I like the idea but it isn't quite there yet. The chocolate covered banana slice is great but I think I might go for a chocolate ganache frosting instead of the glaze. Maybe give it a chocolate filling too.... I like the whipped cream on it but of course you shouldn't add it until right before you plan to serve...... I think next time we will nix the whipped cream go for the filling and frosting and see how that is.
I also think that I will use all purpose flour for the cupcakes rather than the cake flour - I did not really like how dense it made them. Definitely more more more banana!!!
