cupcake heaven

[buckeyepie]

I was bored today and my sweet tooth kicked in. I grossly underestimated the amounts the recipe would make. From scratch I made butterfinger cupcakes, and while those where in the oven I decided I wanted a banana split, but no icecream in the house. So I also made banana split cupcakes. Now I have like 9 dozen cupcakes sitting on the counter. I guess I will be bringing cupcakes to a bunch of friends tomorrow. lol. Its a good thing I got it out of my system since hubby is getting wisdom teeth pulled wed. That means no goodies for awhile.

[sparklepuppies]

Yummy!! I'll take one of each please!

[havanaholly]

Oh, Lord! Totally decadent YUM!

[Debz]

Thye look fab and I love cupcakes. Could you post the recipes you used for them?

[Starfire]

Totally decdent!

[buckeyepie]

Thye look fab and I love cupcakes. Could you post the recipes you used for them?

Sure that isw no problem.

Butterfinger Cupcakes Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. sugar

4 eggs

Scant 1 cup mashed ripe banana

2/3 cup buttermilk

12 fun size Butterfinger bars, cut in half

For the frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

½ cup creamy peanut butter

3¼ cups confectioners’ sugar

1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

For garnish:

4 fun size Butterfinger bars, coarsely chopped

Directions:

To make the cupcakes, 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 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.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter and peanut butter until smooth. Slowly mix in the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth and well blended. Mix in the whipped topping until smooth and fluffy.

To assemble the cupcakes, place a candy bar half on top of each cooled cupcake. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe onto the cupcakes, covering the candy bar completely. (I used a large, unlabeled star tip to frost these cupcakes.) Sprinkle with chopped candy bars for garnish

Banana Split Cupcake

Yield: 30+ cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the 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

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk

1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

For the filling:

1 lb. strawberries, hulled and diced small

2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

12 oz. crushed pineapple, drained

For the frosting:

1½ cups heavy cream, chilled

1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the ganache:

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp. light corn syrup

For garnish:

Multi-colored sprinkles

Maraschino cherries

Directions:

To make the cupcakes, 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.

To 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.

To fill the cupcakes, cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife or small biscuit cutter. (The excess cake can be discarded.) 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.

To 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.

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. Transfer the filled and frosted cupcakes to the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. 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. Blend in the corn syrup. Let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes so the ganache is not hot.

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

[havanaholly]

I gained 5 pounds just reading the recipes!

[buckeyepie]

I know very decadent. I didn't eat many. I had one of each and was done. I love to bake but having pcos which causes high blood sugar I can't eat most of it.

[Debz]

Thanks for the recipes. I also love to bake but will end up being the size of a house if I keep eating all the cakes I make.

[havanaholly]

Haha, Deborah! That's why I had to stop baking! although I've had great success with a low-fat baking book we ran across in a remainder bookstore.