Banana Split Cupcakes
If you buy just one book about baking this year, may I suggest “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. Why? Because this book is the bomb! A bomb full of sugary, floury goodness! The first cupcake I made was the Basic Chocolate Cupcake which turned out perfect..light and moist and rich. I’ve made vegan chocolate cupcakes before and I must admit I did not get such a great result. It was good but not great. The tips they give in this book are really helpful and do make a difference in the results you get. These ladies know what they’re talking about! They take their work (baking cupcakes) seriously and it shows in the cookbook they’ve produced.
The next cupcake I tried were “Gingerbread Cupcakes” which I made as a Christmas gift. Again, the results were amazing. And now it’s Banana Split Cupcakes and the Elvis Cupcake. This was the most elaborate cupcake I’ve ever made and I was unsure of what the results would be like. But it turned out to be delicious! To be honest, I did’nt think it was possible to make such a creamy, fluffy frosting without using butter. Well, I’m a believer now!
But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself!
Vegan Banana Cupcakes
1/2 cup very ripe banana, mashed well (the darker and browner the banana the better!)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup rice milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1. Preheat Oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with liners.
2. Push the mashed bananas through a sieve or blend for a few seconds with an immersion blender or regular blender to get rid of any remaining lumps. It should be fairly smooth.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl and mix. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, rice milk, vanilla, almond extract and mashed banana. Create a well in the dry ingredients and fold in wet ingredients, mixing to just combine- don’t over mix (very small lumps are okay).
4. Fill liners two-thirds full. Bake for 20-22 minutes till knife inserted into cupcakes comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.
Peanut Buttercream Frosting
1/4 cup margarine
2 tablespoons shortening
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or molasses (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1-2 tablespoons rice milk, soy milk or soy creamer
1. With electric hand mixer, cream together margarine and shortening at medium speed till smooth. Add peanut butter, barley malt syrup, and vanilla and beat till very smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in sugar; mixture will be very stiff. Dribble in rice milk a little at a time, beating continously till frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.
Adjust the thickness of the frosting by addding rice milk or more confectioners’ sugar in small increments if needed. Frost or fill cupcakes.
To assemble the Elvis cupcakes you fill the center of the cupcake with frosting using their method. Then frost the top and sprinkle with chopped peanuts (plain or salted) and decorate with either fresh banana slices or banana chips.
Try it today and buy the book as soon as you can!
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World
