Bananas Foster Redux

I used the same Bananas Foster cupcake recipe to make these star cupcakes for the graduation party of my niece and two nephews.  (Congratulations to Jordan on her Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University, Drew on his diploma from Choctaw High School, and Garrett on his Masters Degree from Texas State University!)  The star shape fit in nicely with the star theme of the party.

I used the Wilton silicone star cupcake pan for these and was not at all pleased with it.  I found that I had to experiment with the baking time and ultimately had to increase the cooking time by about half (34 minutes, instead of 24), plus I could only cook six cupcakes at a time.  To make 45 cupcakes, it took me almost half the night.  They were cute, but just not worth the effort for me.  I will be giving this pan to my niece, who loves stars of all kinds. 

Going Bananas

I had been wanting to make some banana cupcakes for some time.  I bought bananas, let them ripen, and then lost the urge to make anything.  I went through this cycle a couple of times, so the last time I bought bananas, I also bought the other things I knew I would need to create a recipe, banana baby food, yogurt, etc. 

I toyed around with different banana cupcake ideas.  I considered banana-apricot, banana nut, banana-caramel, etc.  I finally decided on Bananas Foster, which is basically caramelized banana, but with a few other subtle flavors.  True Bananas Foster has rum flavoring, but I left this out.  I might use a little extract next time, but I didn't want to use it this time.

The cupcakes were topped with a buttercream-based frosting, which had been blended with butterscotch and caramel.  Turbinado sugar (raw sugar) and caramel dessert topping were drizzled over the icing.

The taste of the cupcake was similar to banana bread, but was not as heavy or dense as most banana bread recipes.  The crumb was soft and light.  The frosting was very sticky, but had the complexities of the different flavors.  The turbinado sugar provided a nice textural contrast to the icing.


I will definitely make these again, probably with a couple of slight variations.  I should do it soon, too, as I have tons of leftover frosting!