Apparently, bananas are marked for extinction. Due to commercial banana farming, the vast majority of bananas in the world are one seedless variety called the Cavendish, bred for its quick growth, pleasant taste and all-around good looks. As is the recurring problem with breeding, this hasn’t made for the genetic variation that results in a healthy species, and one good virus will probably wipe out the world’s most popular fruit some time in the next ten years.
This is a sobering thought. It’s hard to imagine a world without bananas. Especially since there are always bananas in our apartment, and they are always going from a sprightly yellow to a toasty brown, with an intriguing speckled stage in between. And brown bananas are awesome for baking: banana bread, banana cookies, and now these cupcakes. Bananas have the same leavening and binding action as eggs, so you can use ‘em as a substitute in recipes that call for eggs (1 banana ~ egg). They tend to make any baked good light, moist, and (of course) sweetly banana-flavored. It’s a good thing.
Over Easter weekend, I found that my family in Jersey had a similar banana situation. So when I let them flip through VCTOTW this recipe had a natural draw. And not only do these cupcakes put overripe bananas to use, they add in plenty of extras to make you feel like you’re eating a banana split sundae with all the fixins’. Once the batter is made, the recipe directed me to fill the cupcake liners, then add 1 teaspoon of chopped chocolate and 1 teaspoon of melted of melted pineapple preserves. I couldn’t find anything that was straight pineapple (Jersey grocery stores defeat me once again), so I ended up using peach, if memory serves me correctly (and it probably doesn’t – but maybe my kind family will remember better than I). You heat up the preserves in a saucepan until they get good and runny, then spoon into each cupcake before it’s baked. Take a spoon and give each cupcake a stir before popping in the oven, and viola! A swirl of fruit and chocolate inside each banana cupcake.
For the topping, I followed Isa & Terry’s suggestion and put Fluffy Buttercream (142), walnuts, and Quick Melty Ganache (143). It all creates an insanely good combination of flavors that, yes, recalls an ice cream sundae without the brain freeze. The family seemed to enjoy them as well, and an omni friend I foisted a couple onto, even though he claimed he could “taste the vegan.”
As Terry & Isa point out, these cupcakes on their own make a great base for other possible toppings. And I cannot wait to try their “Elvis” variation, which makes use of Peanut Buttercream (151). I just have to get on that before bananas go the way of the great auk and the passenger pigeon.
1 Comment
May 29, 2008 at 8:07 pm
apricot preserves, my dear!! and the cuppers were superb!