Long Distance Baking Project #6!

Wow! June is almost over! This month's recipe might be both mine and Amber's favorite so far! She picked it and everyone we shared them with loved them! But as Amber said, the are "involved" but they are totally worth it!
The recipe came from http://annies-eats.net/2011/03/11/banana-split-cupcakes/

Banana Split Cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. Buttermilk
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana

For the filling:
1 lb. strawberries, hulled and diced small
2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
12 oz. crushed pineapple, drained

For the frosting:
1½ cups heavy cream, chilled
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ tsp. vanilla extract

For the ganache:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup

For garnish:
Multi-colored sprinkles
Maraschino cherries

Directions:
1. To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and add in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in 1 the mashed banana until well combined.

3. With the mixer on low speed alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing only until just incorporated.

4. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about 2/3 to ¾ full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. To make the strawberry filling, combine the strawberries and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl. Toss well, smashing slightly with a fork. Allow the berries to macerate at least 20-30 minutes.

6. To fill the cupcakes, cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake with a paring knife or small biscuit cutter. (The excess cake can be discarded.) Add a teaspoon or two of the strawberry filling to the center of each cupcake. Top with a teaspoon or two of the crushed pineapple, filling to the top of the cupcake.

7. To make the frosting, add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and continue to whip until thoroughly combined and stiff peaks form. Be careful not to over-beat! Blend in the vanilla extract.

8. Add the whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip. Pipe a swirl of the whipped cream onto each filled cupcake, covering the filling. Transfer the filled and frosted cupcakes to the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

9. To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk together until a thick, smooth ganache forms. Blend in the corn syrup. Let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes so the ganache is not hot.

10. To finish the cupcakes, pour a spoonful of the ganache over the whipped cream topping of each cupcake. Garnish with sprinkles and maraschino cherries before the glaze sets. Chill the assembled cupcakes until ready to serve.

Makes 30 cupcakes!

I had a couple of baking assistants to help me, Jackie & Cassa!!













Amber's Name: Oh My Ganache Banana Split Cupcakes!

Sara's Name (not near as good as Amber's): Well Split My Banana Cupcake

Long Distance Baking Project #5

Finally catching up on our May recipe! A lot has happened here to make life feel a little out of whack.

Joplin is very slowly shifting into the rebuilding stage, which is certainly encouraging. In the midst of all of that, CIY is finishing week 2 of the summer. Jon has been to CO, MI & FL already! And the summer is just beginning.

I chose Strawberry Shortcake for May's recipe. The strawberries have been so yummy and I couldn't resist!
I looked at several strawberry shortcake cupcake recipes, but none of them were quite enough shortcake for me. So I decided to use a typical shortcake recipe and bake it in cupcake tins without liners. They turned out so well!!


Super Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
From Taste of Home
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1-2 Tbls sugar

Shortcake
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbls sugar (I recommend 3-4 Tbls)
1 Tbls baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup cold butter
1 egg
¾ cup sour cream

Topping
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1-2 Tbls sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1) Preheat oven to 425. Lightly spray cupcake tin with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar; set aside.










2) For shortcake, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; cut in butter until somewhat crumbly. In a small bowl, beat egg; add sour cream. Stir into the flour mixture just until moistened.

3) Turn onto a floured board; knead 25 times or until smooth. Roll out dough to about a 6” circle. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts. I used a small biscuit cutter to help make them equal sizes. Roll each part into a ball then flatten just enough to fit into each cup of the cupcake tin and drop in the bottom.

4) Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are golden brown but not burned. Remove cupcakes from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

5) For the topping, beat whipping cream and sugar with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes; stir in vanilla.

6) Just before serving, cut each cupcake in half horizontally. Spoon juice from the berries over each bottom layer, then a few berries and a dollop of cream. Add the top of the cupcake and layer remaining topping and berries.

Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

Amber's Name: Streetfest '11 Sugary Sweet Strawberry Shortcakes

Sara's Name: Super Strawberry Literally Short Cakes










I actually took them to a cupcake party! there were 8 of us. We each brought "naked" cupcakes and helped each other decorate. It was a really great time and hopefully something we'll do more often. Here's a pic of all of our cupcakes!













I also made one other cupcake this month to celebrate the graduates that come to Tuesday's at the Hill's!