Sunday, June 27, 2010

Banana-Choco-PB Cupcakes
















I recently started taking cake decorating classes given by Wilton at my local craft store and for one of the classes we had to bring in cupcakes to practice filling and decorating. Thinking of my friend Megan, I decided to make banana cupcakes and fill them with chocolate ganache, then top them with peanut butter frosting. We also learned how to make a shaggy mum out of buttercream and that is what is on top of peanut butter frosting swirl.

I found the banana cupcake recipe on Martha Stewart's website:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/desserts_E0308WELD_T

1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add in melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs and vanilla extract into the well.
4. Stir until combined. Make sure you don't overmix the batter.
5. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter amongst 12 cupcakes.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, checking to make sure an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool on a cooling rack.

While the cupcakes were cooling, I started on the chocolate ganache. The key to working with chocolate is to use good quality chocolate. Do not use chocolate chips because they will not melt properly.

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 whipping cream

1. Place the chopped chocolate into a medium mixing bowl.
2. Heat the cream in a saucepan until it begins to boil. Pour it over the chopped chocolate and let it sit for 3 minutes.
3. Whisk the chocolate and cream together until the mixture becomes smooth.
4. Allow the ganache to sit overnight.

The next day, I filled the cupcakes with the chocolate ganache using a piping bag and a #230 tip.

I made peanut butter frosting to top the cupcakes with:

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c creamy peanut butter
2 c icing sugar, maybe more
milk

1. Beat the butter until creamy.
2. Add the peanut butter and beat until fully incorporated.
3. Mix in the icing sugar a cup at a time.
4. The mixture will be very stiff. Mix in milk a teaspoon at a time to get the right consistency. At this point you can add in more sugar or peanut butter or milk in order to get the right amount of sweetness or flavour and the right consistency that you want in your frosting.

No comments:

Post a Comment