Banana Cupcakes

Bananas have to be one of my favorite fruits. I love to get them at the grocery store when they are mostly green and then put them in the fridge for a day or two. Many think I'm crazy because I love to eat them still slightly green. Oh they'll give you a stomach ache they tell me. Well, this is the way I've been eating them my whole life and they haven't hurt me yet! lol

Besides eating them fresh from the peel, I also love to make banana bread with them when they start to brown. There is just something special about that moist cakey bread. mmmm...so good. So when I was looking at a bag with 4 bananas just perfect for baking, I turned to Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan and found her Banana Cake Lots of Ways. So its not banana bread but it sounded really good! Instead of making a regular cake, I decided to make cupcakes. This recipe makes a lot...2 dozen in fact. Dorie lists many variations in the book so it is very flexible. I stuck with the basic recipe and it was so delicious. They are very moist. And the toasted coconut adds a really nice flavor to the cake. This recipe is definitely a keeper!



Banana Cake Lots of Ways

Ingredients:

All purpose flour – 2 2/3 cups
Baking Soda – 1 1/4 tsp
Fresh Nutmeg – ½ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Light Brown sugar – 1 cup (or substitute with white sugar)
Sugar – ¾ cup
Banana – 4 very ripe, mashed (1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups)
Eggs – 2 (at room temperature)
Butter – 12 tbsp (1½ sticks, at room temperature)
Vanilla extract – 1 1/2 tsp
Milk – 1/2 cup (substitute with sour cream, coconut milk or plain yogurt)
Grated coconut - 1 cup (substitute with dried cherries, raisins or half coconut, half cherries/raisins)

Method:

Center the rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter 2 9”x2” round cake pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pans on a baking sheet. (I used muffin pans since I wanted cupcakes).

Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together.

Beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugars and beat at medium speed for a couple of minutes, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, followed by the vanilla and rum. The batter will have a beautiful satiny consistency.
Now lower the speed and add the bananas-the batter will curdle at this stage-but will come together as the dry ingredients are added.

Still on lower speed, add the dry and liquid ingredients alternately, adding the flour mixture in 3 portions and the coconut milk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients).

Mix just until everything is incorporated. Switching to a rubber spatula, gently stir in the coconut. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the cakes are a deep golden brown. They should pull away from the sides of the pans and a thin knife inserted into their centers will come out clean. (Bake for 20-25 minutes if making cupcakes).

Transfer the cakes to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold and invert onto another rack to cool to room temperature right side up.