Monday, May 30, 2011

Summer Lovin'

First and foremost...I must extend my sincerest of apologies for the gap between posts. You know how they say "when it rains, it pours"? Well "they" are right!! I've been rather busy these past few weeks, work has picked up significantly and apparently owning a house requires one to actually to work on said house. Who knew?


Today's recipe comes as part of a request from a friend of mine. They're also a great little treat to remind us that summer is, indeed, coming! And what better way to celebrate the warm weather than a Banana Split -- in cupcake form, of course! These moist banana cupcakes are infused with caramel, have bits of cherries and chocolate chips, and are topped with a marshmallow fluff icing and choclate sauce. Peanuts, as always, are optional :)


And so, at long last, I present to you:

Banana Split Cupcakes

As always, we begin with our ingredients. To make this recipe easy and user friendly, I skipped the complications of making a basic cupcakes recipe from scratch and opted for a yellow cake mix as the base. 



First, put your cake mix in the mixer bowl. Reserve two tablespoons of mix in a separate bowl (we'll get to that later) 



Combine the cake mix, eggs, water and banana on low for 30 seconds, then on medium-high for 2 minutes. 




While all that is going on, combine your chopped cherries with the reserved cake mix. This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes. Add the cherry mix and chocolate chips to the batter and stir until well combined. 

 


Divide into 24 lined cups (I actually ended up with 28) and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. 



Just on their own, the color is really nice on these. And they smell AMAZING!


Once they're done, let them cool completely on a rack. 


[time lapse]


You can omit this step if you'd like:


Once the cupcakes are cooled, take a wooden skewer (or the back of a wooden spoon if you prefer) and poke a few holes in the top of each cupcake. 




Drizzle with caramel topping and let it soak into the cake. 




Combine the marshmallow fluff and frosting until well blended. 



Frost the cupcakes and drizzle with chocolate sauce. 



And, of course, don't forget the cherry on top! You can add whatever toppings you like. I personally like peanuts and sprinkles :) 


Happy Baking!!

Crystal 

-----------------------------------------------

Banana Split Cupcakes

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 cup of water
3 large eggs
1 cup of ripe, mashed banana
1 cup of chopped maraschino cherries, well drained
1 cup of miniature chocolate chips
Caramel Topping (optional)

For the frosting: 
1 1/2 cup of prepared vanilla frosting (homemade or canned)
1/2 cup of marshmallow fluff


Preheat the oven to 350 F


Reserve two tablespoons of cake mix in a small bowl. In your mixer bowl, combine the rest of the cake mix, water, eggs and mashed banana until well combined (30 seconds on low + 2 minutes on medium-high.) 


Meanwhile, mix the chopped cherries and miniature chocolate chips with the reserved cake mix. Once the batter is done mixing, combine the cherry & chip mixture with the batter until everything is well combined. 


Divide among 24 lined pans and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack. 


[Optional]


With the end of a wooden spoon or skewer, poke a few holes in the top of each cool cupcake and spoon in caramel ice cream topping. Let it soak into the cake while you prepare the frosting. 


For the frosting, combine the marshmallow fluff and icing until well combined. There will be enough to generously ice each of the cupcakes. 


Drizzle with chocolate, add your favourite toppings and enjoy! 



1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to try this. They look delicious.