Chocolate and Banana Cupcakes

Recently, my sister bought for me some recipe books.. 3 books to be exact.. One is a Cupcake book, one Bread book and one Cheesecake book.. They were quite affordable actually.. Which is good.. But she bought it so that I can bake some of it for her.. Partly.. Pffftt~ Thanks for the wonderful books anyway.. :)

Anyway, I love love love the Cupcake book.. It's called Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery.. The cupcakes look really pretty and I can't wait to make them all.. Haha... I kept looking through the book everyday.. Contemplating which one I want to make.. All I had to do was wait for payday to make my first one.. The book had so many pretty pictures and I like the fact that they do not use any tip to frost the cupcakes.. just a spatula to spread and sprinkle away with the beautiful toppings.. Hence, on Monday.. I finally made something..

The cupcakes rose nicely, nice eaten just like that.. I like the buttercream for the fact that it uses dark chocolate.. It's still sweet but I it was just nice to me.. The buttercream consistency was on the softer side which I had mixed a bit longer.. Helps a bit.. but I suggest you just fridge it for a while.. It kinda helps.. The banana taste was kinda mild.. maybe the bananas I used were quite small.. But I would put more bananas in next time...

Chocolate and Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream (taken from Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery by Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas) (my notes in red)

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
250g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
250g plain flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
4 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
175g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken or chopped into small pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C / 350 F/ gas mark 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tray with the appropriate size cupcakes cases

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 min using an electric mixer.

3. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat again briefly (add the eggs one at time making sure it is has incorporate well in between). Stir in the mashed bananas and chocolate pieces using a wooden spoon (careful not to over-stir).

4. Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about 2/3 full. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes - it chould come out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.

6. Once they are completely cool, ice the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. If you wish, pop some chopped walnuts on each one. Alternatively, you could simply serve them with no icing at all for a breakfast treat, warmed in a the oven for a few minutes beforehand.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

175g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp semi-skimmed milk, at room temperature
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
250g icing sugar

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl or plastic just in the microwave until smooth and of a thick pouring consistency. A general guide would be to heat at 30 sec intervals on medium, stirring in between, to avoid burning the chocolate. Alternatively, melt the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir in occasionally until it has completely melted and is quite smooth. Leave to cool slightly.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, milk, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth - this can take several minutes with an electric hand mixer (I beat the butter, milk and vanilla first to soften the butter a bit and then add the icing sugar gradually). Add the melted chocolate and beat again until thick and creamy. If it looks runny to use when trying to ice the cupcakes or cakes, simply keep beating - this will thicken the icing and improve its consistency.

~Running away you can't pretend..~