Anna-Banana Cupcakes

It’s always sad saying goodbye and when one of my favourite families had to say goodbye recently, I was more than a little upset.  Especially because they are some of my most vocal followers here at Fudgingood.  It was made a little easier by the fact that I was given this recipe by the daughter as a birthday/goodbye present.  So when that lovely, young lady asked me to feature her banana cupcakes on my blog, I couldn’t refuse, especially when they taste as absolutely amazing as Anna’s cupcakes do.  Please see Anna’s delicious recipe below.

To make 12 cupcakes take:

• 2 bananas
• 150 gms caster sugar
• 175 gm self-raising flour ( The astute among you will see I’ve used plain flour, if you’re out of self-raising use 175gm of plain flour and 2 tsps of baking powder)
• 125gm butter
• 1 egg
• 90ml of milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line your baking tin with cupcake cases.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl.  Melt the butter ever so slightly.  Add the egg and beat until well combined.

Sift the flour and then add the milk and flour to the butter mix a little at a time and stir until smooth.

Mash the banana in a bowl and mix the banana into the batter.

Place the batter in the cupcake cases and then bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes.

Once they’re baked allow them to cool completely and then decorate them as you wish.  I took Anna’s words to heart and decorated them with freshly whipped cream and a toffee sauce.  For the toffee sauce recipe see my recipe for peanut butter and banana pie

Frozen Peanut Butter and Banana Pie with a Caramel Swirl

If you read my last post you’ll remember that I’ve been assigned the role of desserts and salads provider for the barbecue season.  So this is my latest offering, a frozen peanut butter and banana (because let’s face it, if Elvis thought they were a marriage made in heaven, who am I to argue) pie with a caramel swirl.  Its a recipe I’ve stolen unashamedly from those wonderful people at BBC Good Food and tweaked slightly to make it mine.  It’s sweet, slightly salty and silky smooth and the best part is that it can be prepared in advance and it’s ridiculously easy to make, so no missing out on that beautiful sunshine.  Oh and there is no baking, so no standing around in a hot kitchen.   I’ve used a 12cm spring form tin to make an individual pie for these picture, and the recipe will make four of these or one large pie in a 24 cm tin.

For the pie take:

• 3 bananas (one for decoration)
• 300gm your favourite digestive type biscuit (graham crackers, hobnobs ect)
• 100 gm butter
• 150 mls double cream
• 140g icing sugar
• 400gm soft cheese (cream cheese)
• 250gm smooth peanut butter
• 1tsp vanilla paste
• 200 gms tinned caramel or Dulce de lech
• roasted peanuts to decorate

For the toffee sauce take:

• 40 gms butter
• 50 gms sugar
• 150 mls double cream

First blitz the biscuits in a food processor (or pop them in a zip-lock bag grab, a rolling pin and get rid of some pent up aggression, you know, whatever floats your boat)

Melt the butter and add the crumbs to the pan and mix well.

Add the butter-biscuit mix to the tin(s) and press down firmly.  Then place the tin(s) in the fridge while you make the filling.  I’m going to apologise in advance, you’re about to witness a lot of brown, white, off-white and beige mixes sitting in bowls.  I wish there was a way around it, but . . . well . . . there isn’t.

In a clean bowl, whip the cream until it can hold its own shape and set aside.

In a separate bowl mix the soft cheese, the icing sugar and the vanilla bean paste and then set aside.

In a completely different bowl, mash two of the bananas until completely smooth.

In a fourth bowl (I’d like to apologise to who ever washes your dishes, if it isn’t you please apologise to them on my behalf, if it is you, I’m so very sorry) use a fork to soften the peanut butter by whisking it.

Add the cream cheese mix to the peanut butter and beat well to combine.  Then mix in the mashed bananas and finally, fold in the whipped cream.

Take the spring form tin(s) out of the fridge and top the biscuit crust with the filling then swirl in the caramel.  The two consistencies are very similar, so be careful not to over mix.  Pop the pie in the  freezer for at least 3 hours or overnight.  (This will keep in the freezer for about a month)

Before you serve take it out of the freezer and leave at room temperature for about 20-30 mins and get cracking with the toffee sauce.

Place the sugar, butter and cream in a pot and bring to a boil.

Allow to cool and then top your pie with sliced bananas, chopped roasted peanuts and toffee sauce.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Banoffee Cupcakes

I don’t usually like to post two very similar items so close together, but I have an amazing mum-in-law who is celebrating her birthday and   I think we can all agree unequivocally that ‘Birthdays = Cake.’  This is a little tricky for my mum-in-law as she can’t eat gluten.  So I’ve tweaked one of my favourite recipes for banana loaf into these (hopefully) scrummy gluten free banoffee cupcakes.  Happy birthday, mum.

To make 12 cupcakes take:

For the cupcakes:

• 2 ripe bananas (the riper the better)
• 125gm softened butter
• 120gm caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla (paste, essence or extract)
• 15ogm self-raising gluten free flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 a 379gm tin of  caramel (or use dulce de leche)

For the banana crisps: (use to decorate the cupcake, but great in homemade muesli or granola)

• one banana
• the juice of one lime or lemon
• 1 Tbs icing sugar

For the frosting:

• 125gm softened butter
• 300 gm icing sugar
• 1 Tbs milk
• 1/4 cup of caramel
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• and fudge chunks to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180°C and then place 125gm of softened butter into a large mixing bowl and add the caster sugar.  Cream together for about 2-3 minutes until the mixture is a very pale yellow.  Add one of the eggs and beat well, then add the other other and again beat well until everything is well mixed.

Mash the bananas together until smooth and then add with the vanilla to the butter mix.

Mix the flour and cinnamon together and sieve on top of the butter mix.

Fold the flour into the mix with a spatula.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake cases and fill each to about 2/3 full.

Bake for about 15-18 min until  they are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Leave to cool and get started on your banana crisps.

To make the crisps first squeeze the lemon or lime, whichever you’re using, and mix in 1 Tbs of icing sugar. Then thinly slice the bananas and brush both sides with the lemon-sugar mix.  Allow the oven to cool to 100°C and pop in the baking tray for an hour.  You’re not cooking the bananas so much as dehydrating them.

After an hour turn the banana pieces over and put back in the oven for another hour.  After two hours take them out of the oven and leave to cool and crisp up and then store in an airtight container until you’re ready to decorate the cupcakes.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, using an apple corer make a hole in the centre of each cupcake by pushing the apple corer two thirds of the way into the cup cake and twisting.

Place the caramel into a ziplock bag or piping bag and fill each hole with caramel.

To make the frosting place the softened butter and 1/4 cup of caramel in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and creamy.

Add the salt to the butter caramel mix and beat.  Then add the icing sugar and beat until all the icing sugar is combined.  (You might need to add a little more icing sugar to get the right texture.)  Then add the milk and beat until light and fluffy.

Once the icing is ready, place in a piping bag with a large star-tipped nozzle and pipe onto the cupcakes.  Then decorate with fudge chunks (these do contain wheat glucose syrup, but wheat glucose syrup does not contain gluten and is safe for celiacs) and banana crisps.  Enjoy!