A Basket of Bananas

It's been a while since I made use of my little red riding hood basket. There hasn't been much of a chance to bake in large quantities given the amount of time I spent at school in MPR and LH1 last semester. Luckily it's still the beginning of the semester right now and I don't have to cook dinner, which gives me time to bake in between studying and blogging.

But perhaps a basket will be going out tomorrow morning given how much this batter has risen. I should have done a test batch first... but 3 dozen is still a good amount. It just doesn't have the same ring to it as 6 dozen plus 2 though. *sigh* Those were the good days.

I'll stop with the reminiscing and start the recipe now.

Banana Muffins

1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
6 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
dash of cinnamon

Cream together the butter and sugar until lighter in color and fluffy. (You can substitute and use 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup granulated sugar for a muffin that has a more molasses-y touch to it.) Add the eggs one at a time, making sure everything is incorporated before adding the next egg. Mix in the mashed bananas. (I like to mash half the bananas until they disintegrate and leave the other half of the bananas as slightly larger chunks).

In a separate bowl, combine the salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour. Sift and add to the banana mixture. Stir to combine without overmixing. Add a dash of cinnamon and vanilla at the end.Place a heaping tablespoon into each muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done.

The tops will be nice and golden, the muffin soft and moist. Yum. Feel free to add chocolate chips or nuts as desired.

Cupcasms

For some odd reason, every time Candice and I are in LH#2, we end up having the most interesting discussions. The time I'm thinking of right now includes oocytes and embryology with some inventive vocabulary of our own based upon a story about knitting and yarn-gasms. Yes, I realize it sounds vaguely indecent, but between cupcake and cupgasm, which induces a sense of greater fulfillment and joy upon consumption?

Exactly. So without further ado, I present to you the cupcasm that has been on my mind for days on end.
Oreo Cupcake with Oreo Frosting

2 packages of Oreos (I used regular Oreos)

*the cake batter I used made an amazingly light cake but because of that the batter was too thin to keep the Oreo from floating to the top of the cupcake. If you want the sandwich cookie on the bottom of the cupcake liner, choose a denser cake batter.

Hershey's Chocolate Cake
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting
1 - 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, plus extra if needed
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Quick Fix Frosting
1 can of prepared vanilla frosting

Preparation of Cake
Combine sugar, cocoa, both leavening agents (baking soda/powder), salt and flour in a large bowl. Mix to incorporate all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, milk and vanilla. Stir to beat up the eggs and mix everything together. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until mostly combined. Pour in a cup of boiling water and stir quickly to incorporate. The batter will look very thin but the hot water begins the action of cooking some of the gluten and helps to produce a light soft cake.

Assembly
Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners and place an oreo in the bottom of each liner. You'll need about 30 oreos. If you don't have extra muffin pans, just line and fill as you go. Pour the batter over the oreos, filling the cupcake liner 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done. This particular cake batter is a little thin so the oreo will rise to the top of the cupcake as it bakes so if you want the sandwich cookie to remain as the base of the cupcake, use a thicker batter to hold the cookie down.Frosting Preparation
Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and milk, beating until well incorporated and no lumps remain. Add the second cup of powdered sugar and vanillia, mixing well again. If the consistency is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add a little more milk.
Fill a ziploc bag with oreos, starting with half a package. Using a rolling pin or a mallet, crush the cookies into small pieces. Add into the cream cheese frosting and stir together. Frost the cupcakes with about 2 tbs of frosting.Frosting Cheat
So this is not the first time I have ever used prepared, canned frosting and neither will it be the last. And I am not ashamed to admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for overly sweet vanilla flavored concoctions. As with above, crush some oreos and add them into the frosting. If you like, add a little extra something (whiskey perhaps?) to keep the frosting from getting too hard. ;)

*Here's the cupcake cut in half...
Oreo... cake... frosting... it doesn't get any better...