Banana Bourbon Cupcakes

Banana Bourbon Cupcakes.

January 11, 2013

I feel like I’m committing a major sin or something.

I mean… cake, bananas, chocolate, frosting… bourbon. What the what.

Though I bet you’re not that surprised since I trash up desserts and well, food in general, any chance I can. It’s my favorite thing to do by far.

Yeah. So let’s be honest. This cupcake is sort of a mess. It’s a banana cupcake with chocolate chips, topped with bourbon buttercream, dipped in chocolate bourbon ganache. I just kept adding junk on top. I couldn’t help it.

This is sort of what it looks like when I get dressed in the morning. In attempts to be somewhat trendy and hopefully cute, I continue to add layer after layer until I look like a complete joke and am too embarrassed to go out in public. But then I go out in public anyway and just relish in my humiliation of way-too-neon accessories.

And the end result is no where near as wonderful as bananas and bourbon and chocolate and cake and frosting and gluttony. Oh well.

Oh and those things on top are just some crushed toffee pieces that I added because I am obnoxious.

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Ingredients:

cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 large egg
3/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed toffee pieces (like Heath chips)

bourbon buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons bourbon

bourbon chocolate ganache
4 ounces chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon bourbon

Directions:

cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk egg and add brown sugar, mixing until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Add sour cream and melted butter and mix. Stir in dry ingredients, then add mashed bananas and milk, mixing until batter comes together. The batter will be slightly thick. Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measure, scoop batter in liners until 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely.

bourbon buttercream
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in sugar until it's combined and all added. Add in vanilla and 2 tablespoons of bourbon, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. If the frosting still seems too thick (or you just, uh, want more booze), add in remaining bourbon and more if necessary.

bourbon chocolate ganache
Add chocolate to a large bowl. Heat heavy cream until just hot - when bubbles are appearing on the edges, then remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Once creamy, add in the bourbon, mixing again until smooth. Use however you'd like - dipping, drizzling, etc. I chose to dip about 1/3 of each cupcake top in the ganache before it firmed up, then topped it with some crushed toffee pieces.

[cupcakes adapted from these banana avocado cupcakes]