Magic Belles

Phew! What a yummy week it has been! Cupcake Belle‘s kitchen at Cupcake Chalet has been filled with the delicious scents of her amazing cupcakes. The last recipe in her Cupcake A Day challenge is filled with sweet and squishy bananas. Here’s how to make them…

Banana Toffee Treats

For the cupcakes

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 small ripe bananas, mashed
• 125g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

For the topping

• 300g icing sugar
• 150g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 ripe medium banana, cut into slices
• Toffee sprinkles

Special equipment: Star nozzle and piping bag

1. Heat your oven to gas mark 4/180ºC/350ºF and line your cupcake tin with cases.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until they’re light and fluffy.
3. Add one egg at a time and beat the mixture together until it’s smooth.
4. Stir in the mashed bananas. Little ones will have fun doing this!
5. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and fold them into the mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases so that each case is two-thirds full.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, then let the cakes cool on a wire rack.
8. For the buttercream, sift icing sugar into a bowl, add the butter and beat well.
9. Pour in the water and vanilla extract and mix them in, too.
10. Pop a star nozzle into a piping bag and spoon in the buttercream. Pipe a swirl on top of each banana cupcake.
11. Let the buttercream swirls firm up a bit, then pop a banana slice on top of each one and scatter toffee sprinkles over the top (or nuts, chocolate or honeycomb, if you prefer!).

We hope you’ve enjoyed Cupcake Belle‘s recipes this week. Did you try her Triple Choc Chip or sweet Strawberry Heart Cupcakes yet? What about her clever Chocolate Cut-Out Cuppies or her Sweetie Surprises?

Don’t forget that National Cupcake Week supports a good cause – Clic Sargent for Children with Cancer – so please do make a donation if you can!