Banana Cupcakes with Leftover Buttercream
Chocolate | Vanilla Chai | Brown Butter Caramelized White Chocolate Cream Cheese
Banana Cupcakes with Leftover Buttercreams: Chocolate | Vanilla Chai | Brown Butter Caramelized White Chocolate Cream Cheese
Don't let that beautiful buttercream go to waste! Use it all in one go on a big batch of banana cupcakes!
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- Piping Bag with Round Plain Tip
- Kitchen Scale (optional but HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR ALL YOUR BAKING!)
Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes
- 2 ā cups spooned and leveled all-purpose flour
- 1Ā¼ tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated preferred)
- 1Ā½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (12 Tablespoons)
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1Ā½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp dark rum or Malibu coconut rum (optional)
- 1Ā¾ cups mashed bananas, very ripe (about 4 bananas)
- 1/2 cup coconut milk or buttermilk or sour cream or plain yogurt (use whichever you have on hand!)
Brown Butter Caramelized White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter (1 cup or 2 sticks)
- 1 lb cream cheese, full fat (2 pkgs, strong preference for Philadelphia brand)
- 1 lb white chocolate, fine quality (I like Valrhona or Callebaut)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream
- 6 oz egg whites (approximately 6 whites)
- 1Ā½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks or 16 oz)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao)
Vanilla Chai Italian Meringue Buttercream
- 6 oz egg whites (approximately 6 whites)
- 1Ā½ cups granulated sugar
- 1-2 tsp chai spice mix
- 2 cups unsalted butter (4 sticks or 16 oz)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Chai Spice Mix
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground cloves
- 6 tsp ground ginger
Instructions
Banana Cupcakes
- Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350Ā° F.
- Line 2 standard size 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake wrappers.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg and whisk well.
- Using a stand or hand held mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together until creamy and light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add the vanilla and rum and mix well.
- Turn the mixer down to low and add the bananas. The batter will curdle but it will come back together when you add the rest of the ingredients.
- With the mixer still on low, add a third of the flour mixture, then half the milk (or yogurt/sour cream), then another third of the flour mixture, then the rest of the milk, and finally the last third of the flour mixture. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and fold the mixture just until fully incorporated.
- Distribute the cake batter evenly among the 24 muffin cups. I recommend using a 1/4 cup measure or an equivalent ice cream scoop for each cup and then going back with a spoon to add more, if needed.
- Bake the cupcakes, one tin at a time, for 15-20 minutes, then check. You want a cake that is light golden and springs back to the touch. A toothpick inserted should come out with a a few crumbs struck to it. Continue baking for 2 minute intervals until they're done. Allow them to cool on a rack before removing from the muffin tin.
Brown Butter Caramelized White Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream
- Several weeks or a day ahead, make the caramelized white chocolate: I don't think I can do better than the venerable Dave Lebovitz when it comes to explaining how to caramelize white chocolate so I am simply going to send you to his recipe here: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/caramelized-white-chocolate/ You'll see that he uses 12 oz instead of 16 oz chocolate but this doesn't matter. Just follow the directions and expect the process to take a bit longer.
- My advice is remember to use a high quality chocolate with a high cocoa butter content. Use a lower cocoa butter content and you run the risk of crumbly, chalky chocolate, as David mentions. Also, make sure to stir it every 10 minutes and keep the oven temperature to 250Ā°F--this isn't a process to speed up! Just start this process first and continue to prepare your other ingredients in between stirring sessions. Lastly, if it's a bit lumpy and you need to smooth it out with the immersion blender or hand mixer, do it while the chocolate is still warm. It's much easier.
- Once the chocolate is caramelized and smooth, allow it to cool, covered, on the counter, while you work on the cupcakes. You want it to still be liquid for the buttercream but not too warm or it will melt the cream cheese and butter.
- A day or 3 hours ahead, make the brown butter: In a small saucepan, melt the 1/2 lb of butter over medium heat. The butter will sputter and foam. Keep a close eye on it. As it begins to brown, carefully stir it with a wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the butter is a golden brown, remove it from heat. It will continue to cook and become a darker brown. Scrape the pan a few more times to make sure the brown bits don't stick to the bottom. Let the butter cool to room temperature, then scrape it into a plastic container, cover, and put in the fridge to solidify. (You will use this for your buttercream later.)
- Make the buttercream: Scrape the room temperature cream cheese into the bowl of your stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to slowly beat the cheese until it's completely smooth. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. This shouldn't take more than 5 minutes with room temperature cream cheese. While you're doing this, pull the brown butter out of the fridge so it can warm up a bit. You want it to remain firm but not super cold or it will be hard to incorporate into the buttercream.
- Bring your caramelized white chocolate back to a liquid state by nuking it in the microwave 20 second intervals, stirring and breaking it up each time, just until it's completely melted. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle the chocolate into the cream cheese. Once it's all in, turn off the mixer, scrape down the bowl, and then turn the mixer to medium and whip until creamy and homogenous.
- With the mixer on low again, begin adding the brown butter, spoonful by spoonful. Make sure to add all those yummy brown bits! (Melted and re-solidified butter has a weird texture, don't be concerned, it's main use is for flavor at this point, not creaminess. The cream cheese will supply all the creaminess that you need.)
- Once the mixture is fluffy and well incorporated, add your vanilla. You may want to add a pinch of salt as well, totally up to you! Use immediately on your cupcakes. The frosting can, of course, be refrigerated and re-whipped as needed.
Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Prepare the egg whites: Separate the eggs and add the whites to the bowl of an electric stand mixer. (Discard the yolks or keep refrigerated up to 2 days for another use.) Using the whisk attachment, begin whipping the whites on a low speed.
- Prepare the sugar syrup: As the egg whites are slowly whipping, measure the sugar and water into a small saucepan. Stir just to moisten the sugar, taking care to not get sugar on the sides of the pan. Start to heat the sugar and water on medium heat, without stirring.
- Finish whipping whites and boiling syrup: As the sugar dissolves and the syrup starts to boil, increase the whipping speed for the egg whites. Continue to slowly increase the whipping speed to medium-high. The goal is to whip the whites to firm peaks just as the syrup boils to 240Ā°F, as indicated on candy thermometer.
- Make Italian Meringue: Once the syrup reaches 240Ā°F, turn off heat, and carefully pour syrup into a heat safe glass measuring cup with pouring spout, such as Pyrex. Turn the mixer down to the lowest speed and, slowly and carefully, begin pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl. Pour about 1/4 of the syrup, then turn the mixer up to medium for about 20 seconds. Turn down the mixer to the lowest speed again, pour another 1/4 of the syrup, then whip on medium for another 20 seconds. Repeat until all the syrup has been added to the egg whites. Turn the speed up to medium-high and continue whipping until the meringue is completely cool.
- Complete the buttercream: While the meringue whips, unwrap all 4 sticks of butter and cut each stick into 8 equal sized chunks. Set aside to come to room temperature.
- Chop chocolate into bite-sized chunks and heat in microwave at half power for 30 seconds. Stir chocolate and repeat for another 30 seconds. Continue stirring and heating until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside to cool.
- Once the meringue is cool, switch out the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment. Mix the meringue on low speed while slowly adding the butter, one piece at a time, until all of it has been added. The buttercream will probably look curdled at first. Continue mixing until the buttercream becomes silky smooth, like a dense whipped cream. Slowly mix in melted chocolate, salt, and vanilla. Use immediately, refrigerate for one week, or freeze for 1 month.
Vanilla Chai Italian Meringue Buttercream
- Complete all steps for the Chocolate Italian Meringue Buttercream up to and including adding the butter. Instead of melted chocolate, add the vanilla and chai spice to taste.
