Salted Caramel Banana Cupcakes

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These both look and taste amazing. You can freeze the salted caramel and store for other tasty recipes (such as my caramel shortbread)

Cupcakes;

4 Mashed bananas,

50g (1/4 cup) Brown sugar

100g (1/2 cup) Softened butter

2 Eggs

150g (3/4 cup) Plain/ All purpose flour

2tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Cinnamon

Pinch of salt

§ Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/356 F

§ Cream together the butter and sugar before adding eggs and bananas

§ Mix the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder together before sifting into the egg mixture.

§ Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases and smooth so that each top is as flat as possible

§ Bake for 20–25 mins. You can test whether the cupcakes are cooked by pushing a skewer into the mixture… if it comes out clean, your cakes are baked!

§ Remove your cakes from the tin to cool straight away. If you leave them in the tin too long, moisture will build up causing the cakes to pull away from their cases. While they are cooling, its time to move onto the salted caramel

Salted Caramel;

200g (1 cup) Caster Sugar

90g (1/4 cup) Salted Butter

120ml Double Cream

1 tsp Salt

Please be very careful as this mixture gets very hot

§ Heat the sugar over medium/low heat, stirring continuously until it has melted into a brown liquid. Be careful not to let it burn

§ Add the butter & stir until melted

§ Slowly drizzle in the double cream. Be VERY careful as the mixture will bubble quickly

§ Allow to bubble for 1 min

§ Remove the pan from the heat and add salt

§ I like to pour the caramel into a sauce bottle. This makes decorating the cake easier but you could use any heat proof container.

§ Allow to cool while making the buttercream

Buttercream;

250g (1 cup + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter (at room temperature)

600g (4 cups) sifted icing sugar/confectioners sugar

2 tbsp milk

§ Beat the butter for at least 5 mins (this makes the butter a lovely pale colour)

§ Add the icing sugar in two stages, beating the mixture for at least 5 mins between

§ Add the milk in very small amounts until the consistency of the buttercream is spreadable.

§ Either pipe onto the cake or spread using a spatula.

Now for the finishing touches…

That lovely hot caramel sauce could melt the buttercream, so pop your cupcakes into the freezer for about 10–15 mins

Make sure your caramel is a pourable consistency, you can blitz it in the microwave for a few seconds if needed.

Take your cakes out the freezer and drizzle the sauce over the buttercream. If you are not using a sauce bottle, a spoon will do!

Decorate with bananas and crushed chocolate if you like.

ENJOY!