Cupcake conspiracy: Bananas Foster

INDIANAPOLIS - I’d like to start off this week’s Cupcake Conspiracy by saying honestly and openly that I am not naturally a fan of the banana.

There are about three instances where I might eat a banana willingly – my mammaw’s homemade ‘nanner pudding, freshly-baked banana bread and Bananas Foster.

I understand lots of folks really love bananas, and my finicky banana-hatin’ has seen a lot of eye rolls. In an effort to wave the olive branch (or banana leaf in this case), I came up with this twist on Bananas Foster sans the fire and brimstone.

See the recipes on my tumblr food blog

I started off with just a basic yellow cake as the base. I make mine with an extra egg than most recipes call for. This is a great little trick to get a much moister, richer cake. For the banana flavor, please, please, please, I beg you, to never let imitation banana flavoring darken your oven door. One, good-sized, ripe banana mashed up until smooth is perfect for this recipe. Mix in right after creaming the sugar and butter.

The icing is a basic buttercream with cinnamon added. For an added oomph, roll the cupcakes – after icing them – in crushed, toasted almonds. It adds a little texture and dimension. For some extra-super deliciousness, chopped candied pecans would put this right over the edge of nom-insanity. But I digress.

Saving the best addition to this cupcake for last, we take a bit of N’awlins and drizzle it all over this tidbit of tastiness. Bananas Foster, originally created in the New Orleans famed-restaurant Brennan’s, is a rich, rum-laced sauce laced with bananas caramelized in brown sugar and butter. Downright sinful, it is, downright sinful.

After baking the cupcakes and letting them cool, ice them and roll in the almonds or pecans. Heck, use both. Let the icing firm up awhile before you ladle on the Bananas Foster. Although Bananas Foster has a thick consistency from letting it cook down nice and slow, it is still can be a bit runny.

Wah-lah! This finished product is nothing but win. #omnomnom

*PRO-tip: Make mini-cupcakes to share with many friends. You can turn a batch of 12 regular-sized cupcakes into 30-45 bite-sized treats and share with everyone!

See the recipes on my tumblr food blog

Twinkle VanWinkle was born in a small town in Mississippi. A life-long lover of music, media and food, she grew up following those three things along her path. She has almost 20 years of professional cooking under her apron strings, feeding thousands of friends, family and other folks while working in restaurants and bakeries in Oxford, Miss. She baked 300 apple pies for the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and appeared on “The Best Of...” in the same year. Along with producing dynamic entertainment content for LIN Media, she is a mother, musician and social media fanatic.

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