BANANA & PINEAPPLE SWIRL CUPCAKESReference: "Baking For All Occasions", Flo Braker.
Prep: 45 minutes or so Bake: about 23 minutes total
Oven: 350°F
Pineapple Swirl Filling:
One 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Banana Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium bananas or 3 small)
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1. Before baking, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. If you don't have paper muffin liners you can lightly coat a 12-cup standard muffin pan with nonstick spray, then flour the cups, tapping out the excess flour. I prefer to line the muffin pans with fluted paper or foil liners that you can buy at the store. Repeat with a second muffin pan, preparing only 3 cups and spacing them evenly around the pan. Spacing the cups promotes even baking when not all of the cups are filled.
2. To make the pineapple swirl filling, drain the pineapple in a sieve over a small bowl (see above). Press the pineapple against the sieve with the back of a spoon to release as much of the juice as possible. Drain the pineapple further on a few sheets of paper toweling. Discard the liquid.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld mixer), beat the cream cheese on very low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg and salt, mixing just until the ingredients are blended and creamy. Now go back to your pineapple bits in the paper towels and gently twist the paper towels areound the crushed pineapple to absorb any additional juice and then stir in 1/3 cup of the pineapple. You can save the remainder if you have any for another use. I myself had just the right amount. When you've made it (see below), you're going to need to scrape this filling out into a small bowl and wash out the mixing bowl and paddle as you'll soon need it for the banana cupcake part.
4. To make the banana cupcakes, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper or any other paper bit that you can gather a big wad of flour up with by picking it up by its corners and pour flour out of. I like to save my baking paper and use instead a brown paper sack like they give you at the grocery store. Ahh, the economy of the brownbag. ;) Now you put the mashed bananas into a medium bowl, add the milk and vanilla and mix together with a rubber spatula or pastry scraper (see below).
5. In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg just until incorporated. Add the banana mixture (it will look curdled at this stage but that's okay; it won't after you add the flour mixture so don't worry) and beat on medium-low speed until it is incorporated. On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in two or three additions, mixing just until smooth and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition.
6. Here's the down and dirty messy part. I couldn't take a picture of this cupcake batter debacle, because I like my digital camera with a little less food crusted on it, but I can assure you that whilst doing this step you ARE doing it right if your hands are sticky and covered with cupcake gunk. Shhh -- relax. You're a #^$%&* professional. Hahaha. Okay. Here we go. Get your tablespoon measuring spoon out and spoon 1 tablespoon of the cupcake batter into each prepared muffin cup, spoon 1 tablespoon of the pineapple filling over the batter and then top each with 2 more tablespoons of the banana batter. So it's like this: 1 tablespoon banana + 1 tablespoon pineapple + 2 tablespoons banana = cupcake. If your oven is wide enough, bake both muffin pans side by side, spacing them about 1 inch apart. If not, put the second pan on a rack in the upper third of the oven. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring back without leaving an impression when gently pressed, 22 to 24 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
Currently Listening: Soundtrack for "The Pianist" - Chopin's "Waltz no. 3 in a minor, Op. 34, no. 2"
Currently Reading: "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell", Tucker Max.
"The Other Side of Desire", Daniel Bergner.
Oven: 350°F
Pineapple Swirl Filling:
One 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Banana Cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium bananas or 3 small)
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1. Before baking, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. If you don't have paper muffin liners you can lightly coat a 12-cup standard muffin pan with nonstick spray, then flour the cups, tapping out the excess flour. I prefer to line the muffin pans with fluted paper or foil liners that you can buy at the store. Repeat with a second muffin pan, preparing only 3 cups and spacing them evenly around the pan. Spacing the cups promotes even baking when not all of the cups are filled.
2. To make the pineapple swirl filling, drain the pineapple in a sieve over a small bowl (see above). Press the pineapple against the sieve with the back of a spoon to release as much of the juice as possible. Drain the pineapple further on a few sheets of paper toweling. Discard the liquid.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld mixer), beat the cream cheese on very low speed until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the egg and salt, mixing just until the ingredients are blended and creamy. Now go back to your pineapple bits in the paper towels and gently twist the paper towels areound the crushed pineapple to absorb any additional juice and then stir in 1/3 cup of the pineapple. You can save the remainder if you have any for another use. I myself had just the right amount. When you've made it (see below), you're going to need to scrape this filling out into a small bowl and wash out the mixing bowl and paddle as you'll soon need it for the banana cupcake part.
4. To make the banana cupcakes, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper or any other paper bit that you can gather a big wad of flour up with by picking it up by its corners and pour flour out of. I like to save my baking paper and use instead a brown paper sack like they give you at the grocery store. Ahh, the economy of the brownbag. ;) Now you put the mashed bananas into a medium bowl, add the milk and vanilla and mix together with a rubber spatula or pastry scraper (see below).
5. In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg just until incorporated. Add the banana mixture (it will look curdled at this stage but that's okay; it won't after you add the flour mixture so don't worry) and beat on medium-low speed until it is incorporated. On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in two or three additions, mixing just until smooth and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition.6. Here's the down and dirty messy part. I couldn't take a picture of this cupcake batter debacle, because I like my digital camera with a little less food crusted on it, but I can assure you that whilst doing this step you ARE doing it right if your hands are sticky and covered with cupcake gunk. Shhh -- relax. You're a #^$%&* professional. Hahaha. Okay. Here we go. Get your tablespoon measuring spoon out and spoon 1 tablespoon of the cupcake batter into each prepared muffin cup, spoon 1 tablespoon of the pineapple filling over the batter and then top each with 2 more tablespoons of the banana batter. So it's like this: 1 tablespoon banana + 1 tablespoon pineapple + 2 tablespoons banana = cupcake. If your oven is wide enough, bake both muffin pans side by side, spacing them about 1 inch apart. If not, put the second pan on a rack in the upper third of the oven. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring back without leaving an impression when gently pressed, 22 to 24 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
Currently Listening: Soundtrack for "The Pianist" - Chopin's "Waltz no. 3 in a minor, Op. 34, no. 2"
Currently Reading: "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell", Tucker Max.
"The Other Side of Desire", Daniel Bergner.
No comments:
Post a Comment