i decided to throw my hat into the ring for the latest cupcake hero contest over at quirky cupcake because yes i do like the marshmallow, but really the most compelling factor is that she posted a picture of the stay puft marshmallow man.
the first thing i thought of was fluffer nutters, but the peanut butter immediately made me think of my banana cake & thus my casual twist to all of this is fluffer nanner nutters.
i think i actually achieved a flavor progression with this one. when you bite into the cupcake, the first thing you taste is the salty peanut butter/fluffy marshmallow fluffer nutter part which is mmm. but then you realize another flavor is coming through & by the time you figure out it’s banana, the fluffer nutter is disappearing & you’re getting something new that's a caramelized-y perfect companion to the banana. this is coming from brown sugar meringue buttercream & let me just stop here for a second.
brown sugar meringue buttercream.
dude.
fluffer nanner nutters!
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Banana Cake
Adapted from Lisa Yockelson’s ‘Banana Layer Cake’
in Baking by Flavor
2 1/3 C + 3 T unsifted cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 T shortening
1 1/2 C sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 C mashed (not pulverized into soup) ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
½ C buttermilk
1 recipe Brown Sugar Meringue Buttercream (see below)
1 jar marshmallow crème/fluff
Creamy, salted peanut butter – about ½ cup
Oven to 350
Prepare cupcake pans
Sift dry ingredients.
Cream butter & shortening at moderate speed for 3 minutes.
Add ½ of the sugar. Beat 1 ½ minutes. Add remaining sugar. Beat 1 ½ minutes.
Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, combining well.
At low speed, add vanilla and bananas and mix just till combined.
At low speed, add ½ of the dry ingredients. Stir just till combined.
Add all of the buttermilk. Stir just until combined.
Add the last of the dry ingredients. Stir just until combined.
Spoon into prepared cupcake pans.
Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.
Yield: approx. 20 cupcakes
Brown Sugar Meringue Buttercream
5 egg whites
8 oz brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into chunks
2 oz shortening
1 tsp vanilla
Heat egg whites and brown sugar at medium low, stirring constantly, just until you start to see steam rising from the surface of the mixture. Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer and whip at high speed until a meringue forms and bowl is cool to the touch.
Whip in the butter & shortening a bit at a time. The mixture will separate & look curdled at some point, but keep whipping. It will come back together again. Whip in the vanilla.
YIELD: 3 cups
To assemble cupcakes:
I used the end of a decorating tip to make a well in the cupcakes & a spoon to pop the plug out.
Fill with marshmallow fluff & I really recommend using a piping bag to do this because the fluff is a sticky/gooey/frustrating mess otherwise.
Add about a ¼-1/2 tsp of peanut butter to the well. Place the lid back on the cupcake.
Ice with brown sugar meringue buttercream.
