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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Ode to the King



This post starts about 2 years ago when a neighbor went to Jamaica for some Navy business and he bought bake some banana liqueur for my girlfriend and I. Since I am more of a social drinker, there was plenty of liqueur left. Thinking of things to do with it, I decided on cupcakes, but not just any cupcakes....The King's cupcakes.

Elvis is known for his music, hip moving, and that lip. He is also known for his peanut butter and banana sandwich. If this combination is good enough for a sandwich it has got to be good enough for cupcakes.
I sat down sometime in December and just wrote a recipe and finally got around to trying it in January. The flavors were awesome....to me. What would others feel about this cupcake? Would it be moist enough? How would people react to the peanut butter and banana together? Would they be able to tell the flavors apart yet get the understanding of them together? That's what my neighbors are for. They are my guinea pigs, so to speak. I can always trust them to tell me what is definitely on their mind. This taste test was easy, only one person would have like more peanut butter flavor in the frosting.
I also took some to my humming sister and her humming kids....lol. The reason I call them that is because when they eat and the food is good, they hum. All 4 of them! How did the test taste go? Hmmm mmm mmm, I assume you get the idea. This went so well that my oldest nephew change what he wanted for his birthday. Initially he wanted Dorie Greenspan's sweet potato biscuits, but it quickly changed to these cupcakes.
I didn't want to put this recipe up until I had tried it out a few times. Each time they came out right. So, here it is for your baking pleasure:


Banana Cupcakes
Makes 24 regular cupcakes

Recipe by Devona McGill

3 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk, room temperature
¼ cup banana liqueur
2 bananas, ripe and mashed appx. 6-8 ounces (I buy bananas that have brown spots and freeze them, so the weight might be a little different)

Preheat oven to 350˚
Line two 12 cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.
In medium bowl sift together the first 3 ingredients, set aside. In another bowl mix the bananas, milk and liqueur together.
In mixing bowl of stand mixer, with paddle beater, cream butter and sugar together until light, about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time making sure that each addition is incorporated completely. Add vanilla.
Alternately add the flour mixture and the banana mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. After all ingredients have been added beat on medium-high for 1 minute.
Using a #24 scoop (or just spoon it in), generously fill each liner with mix and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cool on cooling rack.


Peanut Butter Frosting
Recipe by Devona McGill

6 ounces peanut butter
4 ounces butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk
4 cups powdered sugar

Place all ingredients in bowl of stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment beat frosting until it becomes creamy.

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