For my second cupcake creation, I chose a much more complicated recipe. I made a few modifications (mostly because I was tired, was making a big mess, and had been baking for TOO LONG) but in the end, this one was definitely a winner in the taste department. I will show you all what I did and what I was supposed to, and give a few of my own suggestions as well!
^A quick shot of the completed cupcake as it is "supposed" to look. As I said, it was a very tricky recipe and the decorations are the trickiest! Mine version is a little shorter, but just as tasty, I'm sure!
^Banana Carmel Cakes requires lots of ingredients, shown above, you will need, softened butter, firmly packed brown sugar, eggs, self-rising and all-purpose flour, baking soda, allspice, bananas, sour cream milk, carmel sauce, heavy cream (whipped), dark chocolate.
^First you need to mix the eggs, butter, and brown sugar. Make sure the butter is softened before you do it, that would have made it easier for me (didn't read the directions ahead of time, oops!) and also, make sure you have the beaters for your hand mixer before you start or you'll have to run out to Meijer in the middle of the first big snow of the season to buy a new one like I had to ;-)
^After mixing the wet ingredients (and brown sugar), you'll need to put together both the flours, baking soda, and allspice. I doubled the recipe and I think I may have put in too much of the allspice. It's very potent, but really adds flavor to the finished cakes, so don't forget it!
^Last, mash up the bananas (the recipe calls for overripe ones, but mine weren't too ripe and they worked fine, just would have been easier to mash I think), sour cream and milk.
^Sift (bought a sifter when I was out purchasing the mixer :) in the dry ingredients with the first mixture, stirring as you go, and then add the banana mush mixture.
^Divide into baking cups. A normal recipe makes 12, or 6 of the Texas sized versions. I made 24 so I could share with everyone at work.
^As the cakes are baking (25 minutes for large cakes and 20 for the small ones), whip the heavy cream with your mixer and get your carmel ready.
^Fold 3 tablespoons of carmel in with 1/2 cup of the whipped cream. This ends up being pretty liquid-y, so I think I would also suggest buying the cream pre-whipped. The carmel makes it pretty sweet, and since whipped cream is already sugary, if you go that route, add a little less carmel!
^Let the cakes cool when they come out of the oven, and then you are ready to decorate!!!
^Slice up two medium sized bananas, very thin slices.
^Since this was getting late and I had made a double batch and had less bananas, instead of cutting the cakes in to three sections, I chose only to cut them in half. This worked nicely for the small sized cakes. If you go with the Texas sized ones, definitely do the three slices. Layer carmel (on the bottom!) and top with bananas before replacing the top of the cake.
^Top with the carmel cream mixture. As you can see, I couldn't put much on because it was very runny! It's really good, so if you can thicken that up, make sure to put more on. The recipe also calls for dark chocolate shavings. I used a Hersey bar, but that's really hard to shave because it melts as you are holding it. Get a bigger piece, that will work much better!
These babies again weren't that pretty but MAN! They taste fabulous! All those flavors together really blend well and make for a tasty treat. Enjoy!
