Hummingbird Upside-Down Cupcakes

My hummingbird cupcakes with pineapple almond butter cream cheese frosting are among my  favorite cupcakes.  But, not everyone has almond flour, walnut oil, and golden syrup lying around (some of the key ingredients in that cupcake recipe).  This hummingbird upside-down cupcake recipe presents a simpler alternative with the same show-stopper flavor combination of pineapple, pecan, and banana. 

Nutella Banana Pull-Apart Bread

The nooks and crannies filled with Nutella and banana in these single-serving pull-apart breads invite exploration.  Like a child who can't resist the temptation to pull open and thumb through barely open drawers, your eyes begin spelunking at the first sight of the pull-apart bread.  Your fingers quickly follow suit, prying the plush bread open and releasing steam studded with smells of chocolate, hazelnut, banana, and brown-sugar sweetened bread.  Pull-apart bread is fluffy dinner rolls combined with croissants with a tactile satisfaction akin to cleanly splitting take-out Chinese food chopsticks.  Add in the no-fail combination of Nutella and banana and these may be my favorite recipe of 2013.

Father's Day Banana Nut Popovers for Pop

If I had to give cupcakes a gender, they would definitely be female.  They dress up in cute liners, add frosting to give themselves some color, and accessorize with sprinkles.  While popovers are also baked in pans with cups, popovers are more like guys - they are who they are, take 'em or leave 'em.

To celebrate some of the most important men in your life, why not make popovers for Pop this Father's Day?  Of course, I wouldn't tell you to make just any popovers.  I created a banana nut popover recipe for Paula Deen that the dad in your life is “pops”itively going to love.  The popovers taste like banana bread crossed with croissants!

Head over to Paula Deen's site to get the popover recipe!

Hummingbird Cupcakes with Pineapple Almond Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

It seems that outside of the South (some people think of St. Louis as the South - but we're definitely Midwest), no one has heard of hummingbird cupcakes.  You are missing out!

My hummingbird cupcakes are everything that banana muffins wish they could be.  The hummingbird cupcakes have a strong banana flavor, but so much more complexity.  The addition of pineapple adds moisture and the sweetness of nature's candy.  The cupcakes have a nutty flavor (thanks to the pecans mixed throughout), but even if you happen to get a nut-free bite (unlikely), the nut flavor will still be there; I baked my hummingbird cupcakes using almond flour rather than the more typical all-purpose flour (bonus - the almond flour means these hummingbird cupcakes are gluten-free!).

Because banana is the most intense flavor in the cupcakes, I wanted to play up the pineapple in my cream cheese frosting.  When you add real pineapple (as opposed to pineapple flavor) to frosting, it tends to make the frosting too wet to pipe.  The natural tendency is to add more powdered sugar to compensate - making the frosting well above sugar levels I can tolerate.  For this frosting, I used almond butter as the thickener, which gave the frosting a pipeable texture (with enjoyable nutty undertones) without adding too much sweetness.  I'm in love.


What are Hummingbird Cupcakes?

The 19 Cent Cupcake - No Box Mix or Canned Frosting Required

This cupcake recipe is the first recipe that I have ever created solely based on price.  As part of the Hunger Challenge, I had $87 to spend on food for the week for my family of three - and as a cupcake blogger, I wanted to include cupcakes.  For this recipe (and everything else we ate during the Challenge), I assumed that I had nothing in my pantry except salt and pepper.  If I wanted to use vanilla extract, the cost of buying that vanilla extract would count against the total.

I ended up baking eight banana cupcakes with dulce de leche frosting.  Each cupcake cost nineteen cents (thirty-three cents if you serve it with a scoop of homemade banana ice cream).  The cupcakes themselves are simple and not overly sweet, but when you top them with the dulce de leche and eat them with the ice cream, they rival any of my pricier creations. 

Chocolate Banana Baklava Cupcakes

Take baklava (the middle Eastern dessert featuring buttery phyllo dough, nuts, and sticky sweet honey), add a layer of brownie, mix in some banana chunks, bake in jumbo silicone cupcake liners, and you get chocolate banana baklava cupcakes.  As a baklava fan through and through, I never thought baklava could get any better than the traditional Greek baklava that I order every chance I get.  I was wrong.  Silly me, everything is better with chocolate!  Plus, the banana adds one more surprising and delightful flavor to the mix.

Chocolate banana baklava cupcakes are more labor-intensive than most cupcake recipes that I make.  However, none of the steps are difficult.  If you've got time, you CAN make these and they will be worth every second!

Take a look at a couple more photos and then I'll tell you how to make them. 

Baked French Toast with Bananas, Walnuts, and Cacao Nibs

Baked French toast is the lasagna of breakfast - prepare it in advance so you can lounge in your PJs with the rest of the family instead of being a stove slave stuck frying toast while listening to the muffled laughter of your family in the other room.

This baked French toast has three layers of goodness.  Its base is a warm, gooey mixture of maple and bananas (when serving, make sure to scoop all the way to the bottom of the pan so you don't miss this part!).  The bananas are covered in a moist, eggy challah with a touch of ginger. The whole thing is then topped with crunchy walnuts and cacao nibs (or chocolate chips) and more maple.  Hungry yet?

Because this recipe is for French toast and not French cake, you can eat as much as you like guilt-free, right? 

Back to School Cupcakes - (A)pple, (B)anana, (C)arrot

Back to school cupcakes are one reason to get excited about the school year beginning.  The other reason is new school supplies; was it just me who got more excited about buying crisp new colorful notebooks and folders than back to school clothing?  My back to school cupcakes celebrate the ABC's - apples, bananas, and carrots.  In doing so, they are almost healthy (if you ignore the butter content and leave off the frosting).

I always talk flavor first because no matter how cute my back to school cupcakes look (and aren't they adorable?), it's the taste that matters.  The super moist back to school cupcakes taste like a combination of banana bread and carrot cake with bits of apple mixed in to remind you that Fall is coming.  I didn't want the back to school cupcakes to taste like spice cakes (I wanted the fruit to shine), so I left out the cinnamon and nutmeg that are often found in banana and carrot cakes.  Instead, I introduced a little cinnamon spice by topping the back to school cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

Now that we've covered the flavor of the back to school cupcakes, let's get back to the shallow focus on looks. Then, we'll move on to the recipe that will have your kids begging to work on their ABC's.

Banana Split Cupcakes for Paula Deen

This month, I created banana split cupcakes for Paula Deen.  I was glad to see that one of her readers already made them and left the following comment on her site:

I made these this past weekend and they were a hit. I have been trying out different recipes for an upcoming birthday party and I think that these will be the perfect addition/ centerpiece for that occasion. The taste was magnificent! And the whipped topping was the perfect icing on the cake I have ever made. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Melissa of Laredo, TX on July 12, 2010 11:36 AM

Head on over to Paula Deen's site for the cupcake details!

Banana Whipped Cream with Cacao Nibs

Banana whipped cream is the ultimate in decadence for the banana lover. Use it to top even the most boring desserts (if you're short on time, you could even use a store-bought cake) and you'll be sure to impress. Mixing in some crunchy cacao nibs takes the whipped cream to the next level of dessert heaven.

Banana Whipped Cream Recipe

Tip: Most recipes that call for bananas recommend that you use overripe bananas because they are extra sweet. This requires advance planning. If you have a spur of the moment desire to bake with bananas, you can microwave a not-so-ripe banana to bring out its sweetness.

• 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 banana
• 1/4 cup cacao nibs

1. Whip heavy whipping cream until it looks like whipped cream.
2. Mix in sugar until incorporated.
3. Peel and slice banana.
   
4. Microwave the slices for 45 seconds. (This may vary by microwave. You are looking for something very soft, but not liquid.)
5. Mash the microwaved banana and let it come to room temperature.
   
6. Stir the banana and cacao nibs into the whipped cream.
   

Where Did You Get That GORGEOUS Cupcake Wrapper?

The gorgeous cupcake wrapper came from Alison of Sugar Cat Studio. I am excited to announce that Sugar Cat Studio is going to be a sponsor of Wedding 3.0!!! I'll be showcasing a variety of wrappers from Sugar Cat Studio in the months leading up to the wedding, and Alison will be creating custom wrappers for Bride and Groom 3.o's big day!

Don't wait to see her designs here, though - go check them out on her etsy site now. They would make a great gift for a cupcake lover. I adored the box they came in with the cute cupcake sticker!

Coming Soon

The cupcake under the frosting is up next.

Monkey Bread Cupcakes with Banana and Chocolate

Monkey bread is balls of yeasty bread dipped in butter, cinnamon, and sugar. There isn't much that could make a monkey bread recipe better except the one thing that monkeys are known to love - bananas! And - if I were going to put bananas into a monkey bread recipe, why not throw in some chocolate, too?!

Since I haven't posted in a month, I wanted to come back with a recipe that was worth the wait. This monkey bread recipe is definitely it! Serve these monkey bread cupcakes with brunch (or on their own as brunch), as dessert, as a snack, or any time that you want to see someone's face light up.

Now, about that not posting for a month. I've haven't just been monkeying around. On August 17th, I gave birth to our little monkey.

Meet Myles:

Jonathan and I tried to pose Myles with a cupcake, but he wasn't quite up for it yet. The best we could do was pose him in his monkey onesie. Myles likes to hang out in my Moby wrap while I'm working in the kitchen. He mostly sleeps, but some day he'll be my cupcake helper (even if it's just eating them).

Special Thanks to Scharffen Berger

For the chocolate portion of this monkey bread recipe, I used Scharffen Berger baking chunks. Scharffen Berger offered to send me some chocolate to try. I expected to get some of their chocolate bars (which I have tried before and have found to be fantastic to bake with or simply to eat). To my surprise, in addition to the bars, they sent along some baking chunks. I had never seen this product before, but I was really excited about it. They are a great alternative to chocolate chips. Not only are they of higher quality than most chocolate chips that you will encounter, but sometimes a chunk is just more fun than a chip. Thanks, Scharffen Berger, for the sample!

Monkey Bread Cupcake Recipe

I came up with my monkey bread cupcake recipe by modifying the King Arthur Flour monkey bread recipe. I changed it from a cake to cupcakes, dipped the batter in butter instead of water (more calories, but more yum), and added the banana and chocolate. Also, I gave my cupcakes a cinnamon glaze. Here is the modified recipe:

Makes 12 cupcakes

• 1/2 C lukewarm water
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 t salt
• 1 T sugar
• 2 T instant yeast or rapid rise yeast
  
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1 ripe banana, cut into small slices
• chocolate chips or baking chunks to taste (about 2 oz)
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted
  

1. Place water, vegetable oil, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl and mix well.
2. Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring to blend.
3. Add the second cup of flour, stirring to make a cohesive dough.
4. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes; this gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
5. Knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until it's soft and smooth.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and let the dough rise for 30 to 60 minutes or until it's doubled in size.
7. Gently deflate the dough.
8. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
9. Place cupcake liners into a cupcake tin and lightly grease them with butter or cooking spray.
   
10. Pull off a small piece of dough. How small? You should get 24 pieces out of the batter so that you can have two pieces in each cupcake. However, unless you are having a dinner party for exactly 12 people, it doesn't really matter and you can make the pieces whatever size you would like.
11. Stretch the piece out, put a banana slice and several chocolate chips or baking chunks inside, and then roll it into a ball.
    

12. Dip the ball in the melted butter.

13. Dip the ball in the cinnamon and sugar.

14. Put the ball into the cupcake liner. You should be able to fit two balls into each cupcake liner.
15. Cover the cupcake tin and let the bread rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until it's visibly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 F.
16. Uncover the cupcake tin and bake the monkey bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's golden brown and feels set.
17. While the monkey bread is baking, prepare the glaze.
    

Cinnamon Glaze Recipe

• 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1 T milk
• 1/4 t cinnamon

1. Mix all of the ingredients together.
2. Drizzle over the hot cupcakes.
3. The cupcakes are best served warm. If you can't eat them immediately, reheat them in microwave for about 15 seconds before serving.
   

Cupcake Hero Banana

Cupcake Hero was one of the first blog events that I ever entered. After a long hiatus, it is back, and it's now hosted my one of my fav cupcake bloggers, I Heart Cuppycakes. This month's theme is banana, and these monkey bread cupcakes with banana and chocolate are my entry! I'm looking forward to seeing all of the other entries, but I hope that I'm top banana.

Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

These strawberry banana cupcakes came to life for two reasons:

1. Strawberry banana is my favorite yogurt flavor and I wanted a cupcake that went with Greek yogurt frosting.


2. The farmers' market was flooded with amazing looking fresh strawberries!

The strawberry banana cupcakes were my kind of cupcake - moist, dense, and not overly sweet. My only disappointment with them was that they tasted too much like banana cake. While you could taste the strawberry, the flavor wasn't as prominent as I would have liked. Next time, I might cut the banana in half and add even more berries.

Strawberry Banana Cupcake Recipe


This recipe is an adaptation of my grandma's easy banana cupcakes.

Makes 18

• 1/2 C butter (1 stick)
• 1 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C Greek yogurt (you could also use sour cream)
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 C mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
• 1 C macerated strawberries

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Mix in eggs, yogurt, flour, baking soda, and vanilla.
3. Stir in bananas and strawberries until combined.
4. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 F.
   

The Frosting

I topped the cupcakes with Greek yogurt frosting.

The Cupcake Liners



When I first began cupcake blogging, I used only plain white cupcake liners, but I quickly developed a sizable liner collection. I get super excited whenever I see a style I haven't seen before. My friend Christina bought me the liners shown above as a surprise gift. Despite my lot of liners, I had never seen this pattern! They are so cute and appropriately came in strawberry and banana colors! Thanks, Christina! Sorry you didn't get to eat any of the cupcakes baked in them. Luckily, I have some liners left, so you can try one next time.

Microwave Cupcakes: About What You Would Expect

Microwave cupcakes were the obvious choice when browsing the site of my June Taste & Create partner, Tangerine's Kitchen. Why not try microwave cupcakes? I have already made crockpot cupcakes and steamed cupcakes.

Why Not Try Microwave Cupcakes?

After making microwave cupcakes, I now have a good answer to the question, "Why not try microwave cupcakes?"

1. Did you ever microwave a bagel? Did you notice how it got all oddly rubbery? The same thing happened to my microwave cupcakes. The texture was not right!
2. Strange things can happen in the microwave. I put my test cupcake in the microwave for two minutes and it came out as you see on the right. That's not chocolate - it's burnt. It was also hard as a rock! I couldn't cut it with a sharp knife. Obviously, I adjusted the microwaving times for the other cupcakes and that didn't happen again.

Big Disclaimer: My issues with microwave cupcakes could be due to the specific recipe I was using. The recipe didn't have any butter or vegetable oil (which I thought was a bit unusual) and that could have contributed to its dryness. Maybe some of you have had success with cupcakes in the microwave - do tell!

Bigger Disclaimer: In trash-talking these microwave cupcakes, I mean no harm to my wonderful Taste & Create partner. She's got a slew of recipes on her blog that look great and maybe even this one would have been great if I had made it as a cake as she did rather than as cupcakes. From her picture, her cake did have a very different consistency than mine. It actually looks fluffy and has brown on the edges.

Huge Disclaimer: As I was writing this post, I realized that I didn't completely follow the microwaving directions. I was supposed to use medium power for part of the time and full power for the rest of the time. Grrrrr. How did I miss this? I am now beginning to question whether these were awesome cupcakes that I just screwed up. I'm not questioning this enough, however, to make them again. Also, I stopped and started the microwave (to check on and rotate the cupcakes) every minute which some say is the same thing as half power.

I should also point out that not everyone disliked them. One of Jonathan's cohorts went out of his way to tell Jonathan that they were "quite yummy." To each his own.

The Microwave Cupcake Recipe

I present this recipe so that maybe you can learn from my mistakes or give me a hint about how you make microwave cupcakes work for you. See also my failed doughnut cupcakes.

As noted above, the recipe is from Tangerine's Kitchen. I have reprinted it below with my adaptations.

Makes about 12 cupcakes.

• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 C whole wheat flour (I used graham flour)
• 3/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
• 1 C ripe mashed banana
• 1/4 C milk

1. Line a silicone cupcake tray with paper liners. Obviously, you can't use your regular metal cupcake tins in the microwave.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
3. Stir whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt and set this aside as well.
4. Beat eggs, vanilla and banana.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture alternately with milk, beating lightly.
6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
7. The amount you need to microwave will depend on the strength of your microwave. After my burnt tester (shown above), I was overly cautious. I microwaved at 1 minute intervals and rotated after each minute. It took a total of 7 minutes to cook completely.

The Honey Meringue Frosting

I topped these cupcakes with my honey meringue frosting. I then added a banana slice and torched both the frosting and banana. Not all was lost - the cupcakes looked really pretty!

My Favorite Banana Cupcakes

If you are looking for a yummy banana cupcake recipe (not in the microwave), check out:

• Banana chocolate cupcakes with macadamia nut frosting
• Banana cupcakes with vanilla cinnamon granola cream cheese frosting

Baby Shower Cupcakes: Banana Chocolate Cupcakes with Macadamia Nut Butter Frosting

What Makes My Cupcakes Baby Shower Cupcakes?

• The baby shower cupcakes used an ingredient that is often found in baby food - bananas.
• The baby shower cupcakes are mini cupcakes - baby-sized.
• The baby shower cupcakes are topped with baby talk candy by Wilton (conversation hearts with baby shower themed words on them).

The Baby Shower Themed Non-Broadcast Talk Show

Last Sunday, I was a guest on St. Louis' only live non-broadcast talk show, "Free Candy" (I'm the one on the right). Free Candy is held in a coffee shop, complete with hosts, a theme song, a rotating band, and local guests. Why the name? They give out free candy at the shows!

I was brought on the show because one of the hosts, Amanda (on the left), is a fan of this blog and wanted to interview me about it. She is also pregnant, hence the baby shower themed cupcakes.

Note: You can't get information about future shows on their website. It's totally out of date. You can, however, contact Amanda via the Free Candy site to get on their mailing list.

Interview Number Two

This was my second time being interviewed about Cupcake Project. The first was by a student who was writing a paper about the popularity of cupcakes.

It was also the second time I'd been interviewed on Free Candy. The first time, I was talking about my now defunct group, Zipit Events - St. Louis' only silent happy hour. I've still got the website, but the event listed on May 25th was May 25th of many years ago. You never know when I might want to have a Zipit reunion.

Jonathan's been on Free Candy too. He was crowned as the banana king due to his passion for bananas.

More About the Show, Plus Photos

Like I said, the show was not broadcast or recorded so you can't watch it. However, J. Pollack Photography was on the scene. Type in code "FreeCandyMay42008" on his site to see all the pics. The other guest on the show was Sylvester Brown, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist.

After the break, cupcake reviews and the recipe!

You Were Interviewed, La Dee Da, Tell Me More About the Cupcakes

The cupcakes were banana chocolate cupcakes with macadamia nut butter frosting. They were inspired by a Vere chocolate bar.

I don't like to make more cupcakes until my old ones are all gone. Usually after cupcakes have been sitting around for a few days, I'm happy to be rid of them. These cupcakes, however, I'll miss. They were the perfect mid-morning snack. They were not very sweet, extremely moist, and I even made some that were very lightly frosted especially for me. I don't like eating lots of frosting even if I love the frosting.

What Did The Pregnant Lady Think of the Cupcakes?

I made Amanda a special mama cupcake. It was full-sized among all the minis and in a Wilton silly feet cupcake holder. Her look in the picture is not of disgust at the cupcake flavor, it's in confusion as to how to eat the cupcake in the silly feet. When she tried to get at the cupcake, the whole top came off. Does anyone know of a good way to eat a cupcake in the silly feet without using a fork?

I got an email from Amanda after the event saying: "They truly were magically delicious. Mmmm, macadamia nut: totally the right call." Another friend told me the frosting was heavenly. I like those words! Overall, they were a hit!

What Did Bride and Groom 2.0 Think?

Groom 2.0 has been asking me to make a banana, chocolate, and peanut butter cupcake. Since I don't like peanut butter, this is the closest he's going to get. Both he and Bride 2.0 said that they couldn't taste the banana flavor in these cupcakes. It should be noted that they were the ONLY ones who couldn't taste the banana. These cupcakes had a STRONG banana flavor. Finally, Groom 1.0 pointed out the banana flavor was akin to that of banana bread. Suddenly, Couple 2.0 could taste it.

Fresh bananas do taste different than cooked bananas. I had just assumed a baked banana flavor was what they were going for. I may try another variation that involves chocolate chips (a stronger chocolate flavor), banana pudding (more of a fresh banana flavor) and cashew butter (Groom 2.0 said he'd prefer that over macadamia nut butter). Cashew butter is cheaper and I can buy it already made at Whole Foods so that's fine by me.

The Chocolate Banana Cupcake Recipe

For the chocolate banana cupcake recipe I used the easy banana cupcake recipe from my Grandma and added chocolate.

Makes 18 regular cupcakes or 36 mini cupcakes

• 1 stick butter
• 1 C sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 C flour
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 8 oz dark chocolate, melted

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs, sour cream, flour, and baking soda.
3. Add vanilla and mashed bananas.
4. Stir in melted chocolate.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 20 min at 350 degrees or 10 minutes for minis.

The Macadamia Nut Butter Frosting Recipe

I used the same Allrecipes nut butter recipe that I used on my apricot cupcakes with almond butter frosting. I just subbed macadamia nut butter for almond butter. This recipe would be great with any nut butter.

• 1/2 C butter, softened
• 1 C macadamia nut butter (check out my instructions on how to make nut butters)
• 3 T milk, or as needed
• 2 C confectioners' sugar

1. Place the butter and macadamia nut butter into a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer.
2. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when the frosting starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable.
3. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.

Another Cupcake Project Baby Shower Cupcake

Looking for another baby shower cupcake idea? Try my Guava Chiffon Baby Shower Cupcakes.

Easy Banana Cupcakes with Vanilla Cinnamon Granola Cream Cheese Frosting: Another Recipe From Grandma

These banana cupcakes are quick, easy and delicious. Better yet, the banana cupcakes came from Grandma's recipe book. I love making new twists on family favorites.

The Banana Cupcake Background
My Grandma did not at first understand my husband's love for bananas. On our premier trip to Florida (home of all Jewish grandparents, at least those originally from New York), my grandparents took my husband (boyfriend at the time) and me out for a typically early Floridian dinner. We returned to the condo and my husband headed to the kitchen for a banana. Had he reached for a piece of golden glow cake or a scoop of ice cream, the world order might have been maintained. However, "Who eats a banana after dinner?" Surely my husband must be a strange bird with some kind of eating problem.

Grandma sent Grandpa out to the store the next day to buy more bananas. My husband was sure to eat them out of house and home at least in terms of bananas.

During future visits, my grandparents learned to prepare in advance, keeping plenty of bananas on hand to avoid any big scares (like an empty banana bowl).

I even heard Grandma mention to my husband that eating bananas must be what keeps him so slim. "Everyone should eat more bananas." I guess she's come to terms with his second love, 94011 (the PLU code for organic bananas). Phew.

As even further evidence of Grandma's lack of concern about over-consumption of bananas, she sent me her favorite banana cake recipe and encouraged me to give it a go. I think she also liked the idea of the fame of being mentioned in my blog. Who wouldn't, really?

The nice thing about all of Grandma's recipes is that they are easy. I needed an easy recipe this week. Last week, I logged 62 hours at work. I also had a brunch to go to on Sunday and banana sounded like a good breakfast cupcake flavor.

Grandma's banana cupcakes didn't have an icing, so that part was left up to me. I opted for a cream cheese icing with vanilla extract, cinnamon, and granola. Vanilla, cinnamon, and granola is a flavor combination that I have a adored ever since high school when I discovered it at Angora's, a frozen yogurt shop in Boston.

These were some of the easiest and best cupcakes I have made. I loved them! Unfortunately, I only got to eat two because I didn't have room to take any on the plane with me for this week's work trip. I guess I'll have to see if I can find some good cupcakes here in Idaho Falls. Any tips?

The Banana Cupcake Recipe (Makes 18)

• 1 STICK BUTTER
• 1 CUP SUGAR
• 2 EGGS
• 1/2 CUP SOUR CREAM
• 1 TSPN BAKING SODA
• 2 CUPS SIFTED ALL PURPOSE FLOUR (I didn't even both sifting and it was still light and fluffy)
• 1 TSPN VANILLA
• 2 BANANAS

CREAM BUTTER AND SUGAR
ADD EGGS
ADD SOUR CREAM,FLOUR, AND BAKING SODA
ADD VANILLA, ADD MASHED BANANAS
BAKE FOR 20 MINUTES AT 350

The Vanilla Cinnamon Granola Frosting Recipe

1 8oz package of cream cheese (Room temperature)
1/4 cup butter (Room temperature)
4 C powdered sugar (You can add slightly more or less to get the consistency and flavor you like.)
2 t vanilla
2 T cinnamon
2 C ground granola (I didn't want huge pieces, but I still wanted a detectable texture. I used an organic maple granola I found at Whole Foods. If you wanted to take more time, you could try to make your own, as shown here.)

Mix the cream cheese and the butter until they are fully integrated. Mix in the vanilla and cinnamon. Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time. Make sure it is fully mixed in, but do not over-mix. Fold in the granola.

Shameless Product Plug For Which I'm Not Getting Any Kickback

I can't talk about bananas without mentioning the banana guard. The banana guard is a product that protects your banana from transit damage. It looks suspiciously like a sex toy, but that is not its job. Pick one up as a stocking stuffer. Your bananas will thank you.

Apple Banana Cupcakes Topped with Sweet Ricotta: Some Things are Better Naked

One of my favorite comfort foods is pasta (shells work well or wagon wheels) with cottage cheese, cinnamon, brown sugar, and golden raisins. It's basically an easy version of my mom's noodle pudding which is still pretty easy but takes longer to make.

I could be making a stretch here since this recipe doesn't even involve cottage cheese, but I think if my sweet cottage cheese with raisins sounds nasty to you then you most likely won't enjoy the sweet ricotta topping on these cupcakes. This is definitely a cupcake for a small select subset of the population. Not a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Not a wedding contender.

To be even more frank, no one liked the topping except for me and even I thought the topping would have been better on a cracker than on these cupcakes.

The cake portion of these cupcakes however, is a winner. I'd recommend you just make them naked. No frosting necassary for these flavorful treats. I think it might be a bit of a stretch to call them cupcakes. They tasted like a moist delicious banana bread. I might actually consider making them in bread form for a brunch.

I could barely taste the apples. Then again, the groom said he could barley taste the bananas. That was a mystery to me. It's actually always a mystery to me what he will think. I finally thought I had him pegged. I put my guess at his comments on a piece of paper and folded it up prior to his tasting to see if I could guess it correctly. Nope. I guess if I could predict what everyone would think there would be no point in having tastings.

The Details

The Cake

The cake recipe was again from all recipes.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Banana-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx

I used butter and oil instead of shortening as one of the commenters had suggested. I also used crazy ripe (liquidy) bananas and golden delicious apples. Whole Foods didn't carry organic goldens. I was bummed about that, but I really wanted to use that apple type so I went for it anyway. They are perfect for baking.

To make up for the lack of organic apples, this was the first time I used organic sugar. I'd been putting off making that switch because I use so much sugar and the organic sugar comes in much smaller bags and is much more expensive. What I learned though is that organic sugar is actually a different product from conventional sugar. It is actually evaporated cane juice. I had no idea.

According to World's Healthiest Foods, "While both sweeteners are made from sugar cane, evaporated cane juice does not undergo the same degree of processing that refined sugar does. Therefore, unlike refined sugar, it retains more of the nutrients found in sugar cane. "

The same applies to the organic powdered sugar which I've been using for a while now. I also read about how it's a darker color which explains why my icings are never quite as white as I've seen in some pictures.

The Topping

For the topping, I made my own ricotta cheese per the instructions in my blog post on cheese. I used a whole gallon of milk. I then added about 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup of butter. At that point, I decided it was sweet enough. Probably because it tasted just like the cottage on pasta that I love but with a chunky play-dough kind of texture.

No need for piping here. I just piled the cheese on top of the cupcakes and sculpted it into a nice shape.

Lastly, I dusted each cupcake with cinnamon.

Anyone have a really good technique for dusting something on a cupcake? I used a mini sifter which worked well, but it was still hard to control exactly how much landed on each cupcake at once.