Banana Cupcakes

Banana Cupcakes

I have an INTENSE love for a really delicious banana cupcake. Especially, a banana cucpcake with cream cheese frosting. As Rachel Ray would say, "Yum-O." The great thing about banana cupcakes is the banana makes them very moist, so you would really have to muck up the recipe for these cupcakes to turn out terrible. I decorated mine with M&M's, since that was all I had in my magic food cupboard, but usually you would class them up with a bit of chopped walnuts. DO NOT SKIMP ON THE BUTTERMILK!!! It is ESSENTIAL to the perfect cupcake (Yes, I'm yelling at you by writing in all-caps)!

The Best Ever Banana Cake (courtesy Recipezaar)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas ( 2 big bananas )

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 200 degC
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes.
11. This will make the cake very moist.
12. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
13. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla.
14. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
15. Spread on cooled cake.
16. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting