banana split cupcakes

I have a confession... two of my four herbs have not made it. I have concluded that all of the traveling I have done for work has kept me from being an attentive gardener. And I blame Zach. (OK- it's actually entirely my fault and not Zach's) I WILL try again! If I am ever to attain my gardening dreams, I have to be able to master this simple container herb garden... I may not be the best gardener, but I am starting to love baking!! One of my favorite blogs, Annie's Eats, featured this fun recipe that was too adorable not to try! Can I just preface this by emphasizing (again) that I am not a cake person nor am I a banana person. I think I've been converted... While Zach and I were still dating, his mom got me a 3 and 4 ingredient cookbook. This described me perfectly! I like to keep things simple. My ideal recipe involves me throwing a few (not too many) ingredients into one pot, stiring it a few times, and that's it. Words like "folding", "dredging", "deveining"and "brining" scared me. If I don't know what two or more of the ingredients are the recipe gets tossed. Since being married, I have branched out from box cake mixes and frozen ready-to-eat meals. I know my husband is thankful for that! Normally I would look at a recipe like this for the banana split cupcakes and be really impressed (and I was), but I took it a step further and decided to tackle it all by myself! Have you ever filled cupcakes before? I swear I'll never make non-filled cupcakes ever again. Here is the recipe with a few of my own comments:

Yield: 30+ cupcakes

:cupcakes:

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2½ cups sugar
• 6 eggs, at room temperature (place eggs in bowl of warm water for a few minutes)
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk
• 1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (makes sure bananas have a few brown spots)

Make cupcakes first. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in 1 the mashed banana until well combined. With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely. After you put the cupcakes in the oven, wash and dry your mixer bowl and place in freezer along with whisk attachement (this is a tip from mom, thanks!).

:filling:

• 1 lb. strawberries, hulled and diced small (you won't use a whole 1 lb)
• 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar (give or take 2 Tbs, just add gradually until the berries are to your liking)
• 12 oz. crushed pineapple, drained (I used even less than this, and you could even omit this ingredient)

While the cupcakes are cooking, make the strawberry filling, combine the strawberries and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Toss well, smashing slightly with a fork. Allow the berries to macerate at least 20-30 minutes. AFter the cupcakes are cool and the berries have sat long enough, it's time to fill! To fill the cupcakes, cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife or small biscuit cutter. I'd never done this before, but it was really easy. Take your knife and insert it into the top of the cooled cupcake. Cut a circle (careful not to puncture the bottom of the cup. Make it a generous sized circle. Once you've gone all the way around, tile the knife toa slight diagonal and scoop up the circle you just cut. It doesn't have to be pretty- you can dig out some of the insides with your fingers. (The excess cake can be discarded- OR it's the perfect bite-size piece, your choice!) Add a teaspoon or two of the strawberry filling to the center of each cupcake. Top with a teaspoon or two of the crushed pineapple, filling to the top of the cupcake.

:frosting:

• 1½ cups heavy cream, chilled (again, this makes more than enough)
• 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract

While the berries are chilling in the fridge, make the frosting. Add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-beat! Blend in the vanilla extract with a spoon. Add the whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe a swirl of the whipped cream onto each filled cupcake, covering the filling. Don't worry about it being pretty, you'll cover most of it with ganache in a little bit. Transfer the filled and frosted cupcakes to the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

:ganache:

• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I found a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp. light corn syrup

While the frosted cupcakes are chilling, make the ganache. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl (I just used a white corningware bowl). Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-high heat in a separate small sauce pan. Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until a thick, smooth ganache forms. At first you will see chocolate specks floating in the cream, Blend in the corn syrup. Let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes so the ganache is not hot. This is really important! You'll know it's ready when it's gotten a chance to thicken up.

:garnish:

• Multi-colored sprinkles
• Maraschino cherries (with stems)

To finish the cupcakes, pour a spoonful of the ganache over the whipped cream topping of each cupcake. Immediately garnish with sprinkles and maraschino cherries before the glaze sets. Chill the assembled cupcakes until ready to serve.