First of all, I think I have over-beaten the buttercream, that’s why the air bubbles. Other than that, these cupcakes are fantastic. It’s so much fun to dress your standard banana cake and turn it into these funky little treats.
About the swirl frosting, some YouTube tutorials show you how to simply put your buttercream into one side of the piping bag, followed by another buttercream into another side. I found it very tricky. And you will have to squeeze out quite a large amount of frosting before you actually get the perfect swirl. Sometimes you may not be able to use the squeeze-out frosting because it’s a bit mixed already, and you can’t separate the two frostings at all. Instead I use the small-bags-into-a-big-bag method. It’s less messy. And the swirls are guaranteed to be perfect.
Ingredients (12 regular-sized muffins):
Banana Cake
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 large bananas, mashed
1 banana, sliced for garnish
Nutella and Vanilla Buttercream
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup Nutella
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin tin or line with muffin liners. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, cream together sugar and butter until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Then mix in mashed banana.
With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture until just combined.
Evenly distribute batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
To prepare buttercream, beat butter for a few minutes in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Add powdered sugar and turn your mixer on low, beat until the sugar incorporates with the butter. Add vanilla and heavy cream, beat on medium speed for another 3 minutes, until buttercream becomes light and fluffy.
Set aside half of the buttercream. Add Nutella to the remaining buttercream, beat until incorporated.
Fill two small piping bags with vanilla and Nutella buttercream respectively, and snip the ends. Prepare a big piping bag with a tip of your choice. Place the small bags in the big bag side by side. Frost the cupcakes and garnish with banana slices.
24 comments
I loved the cupcakes! It is a great recipe!!
Yay, Freya! So happy to hear that! :)
How do you keep the banana slice from blackening if I decide to make them ahead a few hours…
Hi Mar, you could try to lightly brush or sprinkle some lemon juice on the banana slices. It helps to keep them from discoloring. :)
Hi Fanny, can you distinguish between baking powder and baking soda for me please?
Hi Carol, they look pretty much the same. However, their functions are quite different. You can see the detailed explanation here: http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm
Hope it helps. :)
Hi,
Just found this lovely recipe and cannot wait to try them and take them along to my grand-daughters dancing group as a treat for them,
They look absolutely yummy.
Thanks again
Sue
Hi Sue, thank you! I hope your grand daughter and her dancing group will like them! :)
fanny thanks for the tip for the two bags! tricky with one,messy, and with a marbled effect. cant’t wait to try your perfectly smart advice!
You are very welcome, Angela. Hope you enjoy making and eating them! :)
Do I just double the recipe to make 24 cupcakes?
Hi Tracy, yes, you could. For other cupcakes, normally I make two batches of cake batters to make sure the cake texture is right. But banana cake is always forgiving. :)
I’ve featured this recipe on my blog, hoping that you don’t mind, but if you do, please contact me and I’ll remove it. All the best.
My pleasure, Vera! Thank you! :)
Great great recipe! How much is a stick of butter?
Thanks, Daniela. One stick of butter is 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons. :)
Just made these for a birthday at work tomorrow. It will be a miracle if they even make it to the office! These are delicious!!!!! Putting them in my #2 favorite cupcake spot (only beaten by Bacon Cupcakes).
Hahaha……Rachel, I know it’s hard! Sooooo happy that you enjoy baking and eating them! :)
I just saw this on recipenewz and could not click over fast enough! OMG! This is my dream cupcake! I will be making these babies this weekend! Your photos and your blog are gorgeous…so nice to have found you! I’ll be following! :)
Thanks, Caroline. Enjoy! :)
Banana + nutella = love <3
Can’t agree more, Teaspoon. :)
Yummy! The cream makes these cupcakes look even better.
Thanks, Medeja. They taste even better. :)