Banana cupcakes – Choco-frosting

Last Thursday I left work with a bagful of frozen bananas. They were a gift from the chefs in canteen. The week before just before the weekend, I had noticed some very ripe bananas on the stand. I made a deal: freeze the bananas for me and I’ll bake you some goodies.

So on the first day of my extended weekend I started by baking some cupcakes. I had a look at Alisa’s recipe for a banana cake (Happy Gâteau, editions Marabout) and decided it could easily be used for cupcakes.

Ingredients cupcakes

2 ripe bananas

40 gr crème fraîche

3 eggs

2 tsp lemon juice

1 ½ ts vanilla extract

240 gr flour

170 gr sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate

¾ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

130 gr soft butter

Preparation cupcakes 

Preheat oven to 180°C.  Line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.

Mix the bananas and the crème fraîche, and then add the eggs, lemon juice and vanilla. Set 

aside.

In another bowl combine all dry ingredients. On medium speed add the butter one piece at the time and half of the banana mixture. Mix well at medium speed for about 2 minutes until the batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining banana mixture.

With the help of an ice cream scoop, divide the batter in the cupcakes liners.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

These cupcakes are very smooth and tasty and the combination with the left over Chocolate cream cheese in the freezer worked to perfection.

2 bananas down, 11 to go… more to come !

Cupcake workshop with Ingrid and Sarah

Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes with Mandarine Marmelade filling

Vanilla Cupcakes with Ingrid's home made chocolate mousse filling

Mango-Strawberry Cupcakes

When rains pour down all day, you have no other choice but to put some sunshine in your cupcake: mango and strawberries!

The cake is a basic vanilla one, which is then filled with a puree of delicious mango and frozen strawberries. In season you can off course pick fresh ones.

Cake

125 g butter
150 g sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
175 g cake flour
½ tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 180°C and prepare your muffin pan.

Place the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of a mixer and cream for about 7 minutes or until mixture is light and airy. Add the eggs, one at a time mixing well after each addition. Mix for 2 minutes.

Combine flour and baking powder in another bowl and then add it in to the sugar-butter mixture. Add milk and mix for another minute.

Fill the cupcake liners for 2/3 and bake for about 25 minutes.
Let cool on the rack.

For the filling

To make the mango-strawberry puree you will need 1 mango and 5 strawberries. Blend them until they have the consistency you like.

After the cupcakes are completely cool, cut a cone formed whole in them for the filling. Replace the top.

You can use a Mascarpone frosting with these cupcakes, as suggests The Love Bakery in the recipe. I used the classic Cream Cheese Frosting. 

Up next: Almond, cherries and chocolate: a delightfull combination

Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe must be the one I use most. Chocolate cupcakes always encounter a great success. It’s a simple recipe and gives perfect results.

This time I tweeked it up by adding crushed oreo’s in the batter and the frosting. No quantities to give you there, just add as you feel like.

Cakes

135 g flour
2 tsp baking powder
25 g cocoa powder
175 g brown sugar 

1 packet of vanilla sugar
50 g butter, softened
125 g of cream

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 170 ° C.
Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder and add a pinch of salt, the brown sugar, the vanilla sugar and the softened butter. Blend on low speed to obtain a sandy texture. 

Mix the cream with the first of the eggs and then add the other one. Pour half of this into the mixture and mix until smooth before adding the other half.

Fill the baking cups to 2/3 and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in pan before removing from pan and continue cooling on the rack.

Frosting

100 g butter
300 g of icing sugar
40 g of cocoa powder
40 ml of milk

Mix the softened butter with the icing sugar and cocoa powder. Add the milk and beat until light and fluffy. The longer the better!