banana

Ever since I discovered Jessica (of What Jessica Baked Next) and her wonderful (and amazingly-photographed) concoctions, I made a promise to myself that I’ll try some of her recipes. I follow her blog and Instagram account, and almost every day, my feeds (especially IG) are filled with mouth-watering treats of all sorts— from focaccia breads to cheesecakes, to ice cream recipes and even rice meals! This girl sure knows how to bake… and cook. 😉

Which brings us to the topic at hand (lol). Yesterday (which I fondly call #bakedaysunday), I finally got the chance to try one of her cupcake recipes: Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting. What made me try it? Well, first of all, they consist of bananas, chocolates and cream cheese— which happens to be some of my favorite things to eat. Second, the ingredients are really easy to find! I always come across recipes with unfamiliar ingredients, which sadly decrease my interest in making them. Third (and lastly), it’s been a while since I made cupcakes. 🙂 Honestly, I missed it so much.

Okay, I won’t bore you with the details. Obviously, this is entirely based on Jess’ recipe, but I had to modify it a bit because of ingredient unavailability and my curiosity to try stuff. Haha.

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Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
(Recipe courtesy of What Jessica Baked Next)

Ingredients

Banana Cupcakes:

– 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)

– 1 cup granulated sugar

– 2 eggs (room temperature)

– 1/2 cup sour cream or buttermilk (I used Yakult as my buttermilk; about 1 1/2 bottles of it)

– 2 ripe bananas (mashed)

– 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)

– 1 tsp baking soda

– 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

– a pinch of salt

– 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:

– a little more than 1/4 cups (60g) unsalted butter (softened)

– 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar (sifted)

– 1 tsp vanilla extract

– 1 3/4 cups (14 oz) cream cheese (softened)

Decorations:

– banana slices

– chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.

2. Cream the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla in medium speed until pale in color and fluffy. Then, add the eggs one by one.

3. Add the buttermilk and mashed banana into the butter mixture and mix until combined.

4. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the mixture and mix for 1-2 minutes (medium speed).

5. Fill the cupcake liners with 2/3 of the batter, then bake for 18-22 minutes (or until an inserted toothpick/cake tester comes out clean). In my case, it took me more than 30 minutes. Haha.

6. Once baked, let them cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

7. Now for the frosting: cream the butter for 2 minutes on medium speed. Then add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, and mix starting on low speed. Cream for about 5 minutes or until it’s pale in color— and don’t worry if it gets too crumbly; it will soften once the cream cheese is added.

8. Which brings us to the cream cheese. Lol. Add it to the mixture, set the mixer on high speed, and cream for about 2-3 minutes or until the frosting is creamy yet thick enough to pipe.

9. Finished? Then pipe away, my friend! Top with chocolate chips, banana slices, or anything you can think of— as long as it still goes with the recipe. Haha.

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The result? Two words: soooo good!

The cream cheese frosting was on fleek (so smooth and it didn’t take me a long time to make it!) and the cupcakes were so moist and fruity. Overall, I love it!

Oh, and I tweaked some of the cakes a bit— I took out a separate bowl of batter from the main one and added 1/4 cups of chocolate chips into it. So some of the cupcakes have chocolate chips not just on them, but in them. At first, I was afraid it would ruin the output, but thank goodness it didn’t! The result? Chewy cupcakes with bits of chocolate that you can actually bite!