Banana Chocolate Cupcakes

I woke up early this morning and had nothing to do, so I decided I wanted to be the Cupcake Fairy and deliver cupcakes to anybody who asked for them! I had hoped for so many requests that I would run out of cupcakes, but apparently a lot of people had plans or was not in need of cupcakes. I delivered to a few friends, one of whom was shopping at a local mall with her mom! I just waltzed right in and handed her a Tupperware of cupcakes! It was rather random, but a lot of fun! Last night, I had been asked to make cupcakes for a friend who is pregnant and craving sweets. I asked what kind, and she didn't have any specific requests, so I decided to mess around with a recipe and add to it. I also wanted to work on a new chocolate frosting recipe, to see which recipe I like best. I didn't want to use a new cupcake recipe, I wanted to tweak an existing recipe. I decided on the Fudge Marble Recipe, but instead of having two recipes, I decided to mix the yellow batter and fudge mix and then add the bananas. For the frosting, I continued my search for the perfect chocolate butter cream, and I think I may have found it here. It uses quite a bit of powdered sugar, but we shall see.

I'm leaving this cupcake recipe available as I do not use it anymore. The cupcake came out great, and it should be baked again!

Cupcakes:
Information:
Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Makes: 20 regular sized cupcakes

Ingredients:
Fudge

1 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into two (three) pieces

3 tbsp light corn syrup

9 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ tsp vanilla extract

Yellow Batter

1 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder 

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 large egg**

1 large egg yolk**

1 cup sugar

½ cup canola or corn oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 bananas, overly ripe, but not black

½ cup sour cream

**For a double batch, you double everything except the eggs. For a double batch, you do 3 large eggs only. Well, for a triple batch (that would be a single and a double batch put together), it would be 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk.

Directions:

1. Make the fudge first: in a medium saucepan, heat the cream, butter, and corn syrup on low heat. Small bubbles will form, but do not let the mixture boil.

2. Right before the boiling point, remove the pan from the flame and add the vanilla and chocolate chips. Let the mixture sit for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Whisk the mixture to completely combine the cream base and chocolate.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, beat the egg, yolk, and sugar on medium speed until the mix is thick and cream-colored, roughly two minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl if necessary. 

5. On a low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. 

6. Mix in the chocolate until completely combined.

7. Mix in the bananas. The mixer should tear the bananas to pieces if it's on a medium-high speed.

8. Mix in the flour until completely combined.

9. Continue mixing and add the sour cream until completely blended. 

10. Preheat the oven to 350°.

11. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.

12. Pour batter into the cupcake liners, about 3/4 full.

13. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

14. Let the cupcakes cool on a cooling rack before frosting.

Frosting:

Information:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Makes: 3 cups

Ingredients:

1/2 C shortening **
1/2 C butter, at room temperature **
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp milk

**For this recipe, I didn't want too much shortening, so I did 1/4 C shortening and 3/4 C butter, which came out a little less dense and more buttery, which is what most people expect. I may do it this way from now on if I have enough butter.

Directions:

1. Beat the shortening and the butter together until creamy.

2. Add the cocoa, powdered sugar, and vanilla and beat on low until the powders are mixed completely.

3. Add the milk and beat on a high speed to smooth the mixture.

4. Using a pastry bag to frost the cupcakes.