Finally, I decide to post another recipe! From one of my favourite cook books ^^ I halved the recipe as I only had one small banana, and they turned out just fine.
Makes 12 cupcakes
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. [I tend to make the frosting/icing while the cakes are baking to save time, if i'm extra speedy I wash the dishes at the same time! Haha]. 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.
For the Frosting
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.
