Banana Cupcakes

My husband loves banana flavored baked goods and when given the choice between chocolate or fruit flavored cupcakes, he was quick to ask for a banana cupcake. For Christmas he bought me the book 500 Cupcakes by  Fergal Connolly and it had a nice recipe for banana cupcakes.

Now, I have to admit I really only like bananas in their natural form. I was never a fan of banana bread or banana cakes, but I was happy to give these a go. I altered the mixing process after watching Alton Brown explain the science behind cake baking. I've included my method below in the instructions instead of the original recipe version.

The batter includes quite a lot of butter and in addition to your typical cake ingredients, it also incorporates a bit of nutmeg and of course bananas. I found the batter to be quite tasty. In fact, I was blissfully excited because it only had a faint flavor of banana and a wonderful nutmeg spiciness. I took the mixer beater and was in heaven. After baking these golden beauties though, I was slightly saddened at how the banana flavor intensified while in the oven. My husband though couldn't stop shoving them in his mouth, so I'm figuring they must be a winner. The recipe suggests topping these with a simple cream cheese icing. Since these have fresh fruit in them, I'm storing them in the refrigerator.

Banana Cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
4 eggs
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup (about 2 large mashed ripe bananas)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Place 18 paper baking cups in muffin pans. Cream together the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy. Sift together the flour and nutmeg. Lightly beat the eggs into a bowl. Slowly add part of the flour mixture to the sugar and butter and then alternate with the eggs until all of the flour and eggs are incorporated. Fold in the mashed bananas. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 20 minutes.

Comments

[Lewis]

Do the bananas need to be as ripe as they do for banana bread (I wait until my are completely black) or is a 'really yellow' banana ok here? I realize the consistency may be a little different.

And you know the more I look at this recipe the more it looks like a cake instead of a quick bread so I think I may have answered my own question. I would say that maybe they do need to be super ripe for the texture to happen.

(shaking head)
Wow, I should really read the HOLE post first and not skip to the recipe and THEN go back and read the post (oops {blush}) I see that, as you have noted, this is definitely cake like...so about those bananas...

[Barbara]

Those look very good. I have a Banana Cake on my blog for your honey. Maybe for your honey and a few other banana lovers.

http://blessusolord.blogspot.com/2007/12/two-cakes-no-pics.html

[Tracy]

Hi Lewis, I have to admit, I was a bit eager to get started in these and I scoured the grocery store shelves for the ripest bananas I could find. I only let them further ripen up for about another day, so they were not overly ripe by any means. I was actually a little nervous about this because I had always heard people saying a great way to use up those black bananas is for banana breads, etc. This might be why my cupcakes have little chunks of bananas in them, but I think that actually adds to the cupcake, and the banana flavor is still very present overall. And about the skipping to the recipe part... I do that too! hehe I'm constantly jumping back and forth between the post and the recipe!

Barbara, I will have to give that recipe a try! I especially like your banana butter frosting. My husband adores banana flavored things, yet he doesn't like the actual fruit. I guess in this aspect we're complete opposites!

[deana]

hi..sure i enjoy your site..check mine too..i am not as good..

[kate]

i'm not the biggest banana cakey treat fan, either, but i love a good cupcake. they're so cute and fun and hard to resist....banana or no!

-------------
kate
www.thecleanplateclub.net

[Diana]

Great cupcake! I just made some for my nephew's 1st bday for Sat. I tested out the recipe the other night and they was gobbled up very quickly. they are best fresh and warm from the oven. I love how the top edges are a little crisp and the inside is so light and not sooo sweet. A great option instead of muffins. I will top them with a cream cheese frosting.

[Sade]

Looking for a banana cupcake recipe I came across yours, and it was a great inspiration. I did modify it heavily to make it my own, and it came out great :)