I love baking cupcakes. Duh, right? If I didn't, this blog wouldn't exist. But seriously, not only are they delicious, they have so many other benefits besides the individually-sized sugary goodness. I mentioned in my Mint Chocolate Chip post how much more willing people are to help you out when you are known for thanking them with a heaping plate of cupcakes. My newest cupcake revelation is in regards to recognition. Since I started the blog, I have begun to develop a much broader range of tasting subjects for my cupcakes. Because my theme for the blog is taking pictures of the people who eat my cupcakes, I have started to bake a lot more for the different groups I belong to on campus. I am always the first to volunteer to bake for meetings and gatherings so new people are constantly eating my cupcakes and I am starting to become more widely known for them. Not to make it sound like my apartment smells of rich mahogany and leather bound books, but it is just sort of nice to have developed this little cupcake queen title among my friends and colleagues. I can't help but feel pretty good about my cupcake skills when I hear of people telling their friends about me. I even had a friend who was inspired enough to try on of my recipes on her own! Who knew baking cupcakes came with such a confidence boost? Anyways. Now that I'm off of my high horse, let's talk about the recipe for this post. Since I love bringing cupcakes to new people and events, I decided to bring some banana shortbread cupcakes with butterscotch buttercream to a little gathering for APO. I have had this nagging urge to incorporate shortbread into a cupcake for a while now. A nice crunchy, buttery layer on the bottom of the cupcake just sounded like the best idea and I am so glad I tried it.
Kyle and Kristina with their cupcakes at brother interview potluck!
SHORTBREAD:
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
splash of vanilla
1/4 t salt
1T heavy cream
Cream the butter and sugar together until they are just combined. Add the vanilla, flour, salt, and cream and beat until combined. Kneed the dough until it sticks together, but don't over kneed. Press the shortbread dough into lined cupcake tins, about a centimeter thick.
BANANA CAKE:
This recipe is one I have used previously in my Banana Cupcakes. I haven't worked much with butterscotch so I wasn't really sure what flavors would go well with it. So I figured banana wouldn't be bad.
3/4 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 stick of butter, melted
4 ripe bananas, smushed and mashed to a gloopy mess
2 eggs
2 T vanilla
1 t cinnamon
Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a little well in the bowl and add the melted butter, eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Stir to combine but don't over mix the batter. Divide the batter among the cupcake tins, over the shortbread. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
BUTTERSCOTCH BUTTERCREAM:
1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
splash of vanilla
1 Bag butterscotch chips
In a double boiler, melt the butterscotch chips. They don't really melt as much as they just get kind of pasty. Set aside to cool. Beat the butter until fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth and fluffy. Slowly add the melted butterscotch to the mixture and mix until well combined and delicious. The butterscotch, like all of the extras in my buttercream recipes, is to taste. If you want the frosting to be super butterscotch-y like me, use the whole bag. The frosting was super sweet when I used the whole bag, so if you are looking for something less intense, cut down on the butterscotch.
I must say, I was a big fan of these. Since I had no experience working with shortbread and little experience with butterscotch, aside from my passion for butterscotch pudding when I was little, these cupcakes were definitely a challenge. But a welcomed challenge, nonetheless. My suspicion of banana and short bread pairing well together was spot on. I was really happy with the result and I am totally going to use more butterscotch in my recipes!
Until next time, my friends!
xoxo,
KG
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