Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes

I had promised that my next recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook would be the Nutty Apple Loaf but don’t get me started on that!! I went ahead and baked the said recipe and everything was great until I turned out the loaf and ended up with half of the loaf in the tin and half on the cooling rack. So I won’t be making that mistake next time I use that recipe. Besides how it looks, the loaf itself is truly delicious and full of flavour and I will be making it again (I will not be defeated)! Because the loaf was less than photogenic I decided to make up for it by trying out another recipe from the book and opted for these Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes were quick to whip up and the sponge on them is super light and fluffy and bursting with so much flavour. What makes these cupcakes even yummier is the chocolate frosting that is swirled on and finished off with chocolate sprinkles. These more than make up for my mini baking disaster with the loaf!

Banana and Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12

Ingredients
120g plain flour
140g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
A pinch of salt
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature

120ml whole milk
2 eggs (medium)
120g peeled banana, mashed

Chocolate Frosting
300g icing sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
40g cocoa powder, sifted
40ml whole milk
40g dark chocolate, grated with a cheese grater into shavings or sprinkles of choice

A 12-hole cupcake tray, lined with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 170oC/325oF/Gas 3.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture, beating well until all the ingredients are well mixed. Add the eggs and beat well (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula).

Stir in the mashed bananas by hand until evenly dispersed.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the Chocolate Frosting on top and finish with chocolate shavings or sprinkles.

Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Turn the mixer down to slow speed. Add the milk to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.