Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Banana Cupcakes


This past weekend at the shore, we had some visitors at our family house. Serendipitously, we also had three bananas in freckled, brown pajamas lying on the counter awaiting their eventual transmutation into what would become some kind of sweet treat for my brother's two friends. I contemplated. Heard Jack Johnson in my head. Remembered fondly a taste from several months ago. I began to page through a wilted, well-worn copy of the Joy of Cooking, unmasked from a catch-all junk drawer stocked with odds and ends my Nana used to collect along with rubberbands, hairpins, takeout menus, a ball of fisherman's string, mini water-guns (you never know...) When I landed on the Banana Cake recipe I knew I had found a winner, which I decided to turn into cupcakes once I realized we didn't have the right cake pans.



The closest recipe I could find online that was similar to the one I used is this one. I used butter (not margarine), 2% Greek yogurt, and added chocolate chips and walnuts to some of the cupcakes. I also had to adjust the cooking time slightly since I think cupcakes bake much faster. The recipe for the cake called for 30 minutes but I took them out after 20. They were a bit tougher and chewier than I would have liked so I would suggest taking them out sooner if you plan on making them.

Everyone seemed pretty pleased with the outcome. Even the bananas. I think they'd be happy to know that their time on earth was not in vain; in fact, they were able to reproduce a lovely batch of a dozen and a half babies.


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