Banana Split Cupcakes

Difficult: No
Time consuming: this was a 2 day cupcake for me, but no individual part took too long

Whenever given the option at an ice cream shop, I almost always opt for something predominantly chocolate.  Or covered in fudge.  Or blended with chocolate milk and more chocolate fudge.  I rarely ever go for a fruity flavor.  Unless is Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip, but that's about the only exception.

But when I saw these Banana Split Cupcakes on Annie's Eats, I knew I had to make them (and then donate them to the Lent fish fry as a courtesy to my waistline).  The banana cake is so moist and is the perfect vehicle for the strawberry and pineapple filling.  Topped with a whipped cream frosting, ganache, sprinkles, and a cherry, and that's as close to an ice cream banana split as you're gonna get.

The recipe yielded 33 cupcakes for me, but I only wanted to bring 24 cupcakes to church, since my husband really like the cake and wanted to take it plain as "muffins" to work for breakfast.

The Recipe:

yields 33 cupcakes

Ingredients

Banana cupcake
2½ cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon. salt
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk on hand, use: 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a glass measuring cup, then filled to the 1 cup line with milk, +2 tablespoons milk)
1 1/3 cups mashed ripe banana (for me, this was from 3½ bananas)

 Strawberry Pineapple Filling
10 ounces of diced, hulled strawberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, thaw first)
1½ tablespoons powdered sugar
8 ounces canned, crushed pineapple (fresh would be better if you have it, but canned is fine)

Whipped Cream Frosting
12 ounces heavy cream
1½ teaspoons gelatin, + 6 teaspoons cold water
3/8 cup powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ganache Topping**
 6 ounces chocolate (I used milk chocolate chips, but bittersweet chips or chopped bar chocolate is fine too)
2 ounces heavy cream
1 teaspoon corn syrup

*Note: the ganache I used had equal parts cream to chocolate (6 ounces cream, 6 ounces chocolate), but I found that it never really "set up" - even after cooling to room temperature, then an hour in the freezer, which made a kind of runny mess on my cupcakes.  So the ingredients above reflect ganache for a "hard glaze."  Also, the ganache I had made way too much, so hopefully I've adjusted the ingredients enough so that you can top the cupcakes (if not, let me know in the comments and I can try to fix it)

Garnish
marashino cherries
rainbow jimmies

Directions

Make the cupcakes
1.   Line cupake pan with liners, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs 1 at a time, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl between every egg or 2.  Mix in the mashed bananas.

3.  Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the stand mixer, and mix until just incorporated.  Then add half of the buttermilk.  Mix.  Then another 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix.  Then the rest of the buttermilk, mix.  Finally, add the remaining 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.

4.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full, pop into the oven, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for 20 minutes.  The cupcakes should spring back lightly when touched, and a toothpick inserted should come out with only a few moist crumbs.  Let cool a few minute in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling
5. Macerate the chopped strawberries with the powdered sugar for at least a half hour.  Strain berries from liquid.  Strain pineapple from juices.  Set both aside.

Make the frosting
6.  Combine the gelatin and water in a small, microwave safe bowl.  Set aside for 3 minutes...

7.  In the meantime, in the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the cream and powedered sugar to soft peaks (do not over beat, you will end up with butter!)

8.  Back to the gelatin - microwave for 30 seconds so that it's completely liquidy and all the gelatin dissolved.  Let cool (but don't let it become solid).  With the mixer running on low, add the liquid gelatin to the cream, increase mixer speed, and beat until stiff peaks form.  Mix in vanilla.

Make the ganache
9.  Put the chocolate in a small bowl, set aside.

10.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it simmers, then pour over chocolate.  Let sit for a few minutes, then whisk to combine.  Add corn syrup, whisk to combine, and let sit so that it's cool but not too thick.

Assemble the cupcakes
9. Core out the middle of the cupcakes (using a cupcake plunge or the cone method), save the cake scraps.  Fill the cupcakes with scant a teaspoon of each strawberry and pineapple, then top with a portion of the cake from the core.


10.  Pipe the whipped topping on the cake (I used a large Wilton round tip).  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Top with a spoonful of ganache.  Before the ganache sets, sprinkle with jimmies and garnish with a marashino cherry.




Cupcake recipe adapted from Annie's Eats
Ganache info from The Kitchn

Cookies and Cream Frosting

Difficulty: Easy
Time Consuming: Less than 10 minutes

**Some house keeping things: by some, I mean 1: I added a "Pin It" button to most of my posts (I'm still working my way backwards to get them all set up).  I haven't tried using it, so if you like the recipe, try using my "Pin It" button for Pinterest and let me know if it works (or didn't).  Thaaaaaanks :)

This is the last week for my church's Lenten Fish Fry, and I wasn't planning on baking anything.  See, my husband wasn't going to volunteer since he had to coach a high school rugby game right after school and couldn't take the treat up to church.  And I workout right after school on the other side of town and wouldn't be able to get them there either.  Then rugby got switched, so Kenny decided to volunteer.  I felt like I couldn't send him empty handed, so I thought I'd whip up a batch of brownies.  Brownies turned into cookies and cream brownies, which of course needed a ganache topping (thanks, Bakerella!).  Suddenly, "whipping up" a batch of brownies became a 2 hour project.  But ooooooh baby are they to die for.

I used my favorite brownie recipe which takes less than an hour from start to finish.  I modified the recipe by using only 1 1/2 sticks of butter instead of two, which I think makes for a fudgier brownie.  Then I topped them with this incredible cookies and cream frosting I found online.  Finally, I finished them over by smothering them with ganache.  To make them prettier, you can whisk together a few tablespoons of powdered sugar with a few teaspoons of milk (add a splash of vanilla if you want), drizzle lines over the ganache, then swirl together with a toothpick like I did.  I popped them into the fridge for a few hours to let everything set up, cut them into 28 bars (7 rows by 4 rows), and plated them for the fish fry.

They turn out so rich - the fudgy brownie is the perfect base for the creamy cookie frosting, and the ganache really sends the whole dessert over the top.

I was able to frost around 1/2" of frosting over a 13x9 inch pan; I'm not sure how many cupcakes you could frost with it, but I imagine 12 if you pipe large swirls, 24 if you spread it smooth with a knife moderately.  If anyone tries, please feel free to comment and let me know :)

The recipe:

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1 stick of vegetable shortening (1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream, milk, or half 'n' half
12 Oreos, crushed finely

Directions:

1.  In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the shortening and butter until smooth.  Add vanilla extract and mix in.

2.  Stop the mixer and add 1 cup of powdered sugar, and mix until combined.  Slow mixer down, add 2 tablespoons of cream.  Stop mixer, add 1 cup of sugar, mix on medium to combine.  Slow mixer down, add remaining 2 tablespoons of cream.  Stop the mixer, add 1/2 cup of powered sugar, mix on medium to combine.

3.  Taste the frosting - if it is sweet enough, then mix on medium-high for about 3 minutes, until the frosting becomes fluffy.  If you want it sweeter, add another 1/2 cup of frosting, slowly mix to combine, then crank up the speed until fluffy.

4.  Fold in crushed Oreo's and frost your treat!


Cookies and cream frosting adapted from the Dollhouse Bake Shoppe

Amaretto Cheesecake Brownies

Difficult: No way.
Timely? About 30 passive and 20 or 30 active

The Buckeyes whooped up on Wisconsin last week.  And more importantly, Michigan this week (leading the Bucks to a 12-0 season!).  But last week our friends had a house warming slash Buckeye football party and of course I had to find something fabulous to bring.  When I asked my husband what he wanted, he came up with "brownies with amaretto."  His requests never fail to exasperate me (previous requests have included soft gingersnaps, soft thin mints, and Mississippi mud brownies like he likes but can't describe).  Fortunately, amaretto brownies were an easy request.  Some quick googling led me to my recipe of choice.

This is a 3 layer dessert.  Decadent doesn't even begin to describe how rich, fudgy, and tasty these turned out.  The brownie layer is made from a box mix (*gasp*), and I just grabbed a fudgy generic box from Aldi's.  The middle layer is like cheesecake and adds so much flavor and dimension to the dessert - I suppose you could leave this out if you wanted, but really, who doesn't like cheesecake?  And I topped mine with ganache, although the original recipe called for just straight up melting chocolate over top and smoothing it around (last time I tried that I was not too successful).

A word about ganache: Ganache calls for heavy cream for a reason.  The milk fat in heavy cream helps the ganache set properly.  Using skim or 2% milk doesn't have enough fat and is not an adequate substitute.  Maybe you could use half-and-half? I don't really know.  But I do know that if you don't have heavy cream on hand when you decide to make ganache on a whim, you can make your milk fatter by adding butter.  To end up with 1 cup of "heavy cream," melt 1/3 cup of butter into 3/4 cup of milk.  I did this and I didn't love how my ganache turned out but I had no complaints from the people eating the brownies....so do what you gotta do :)

Ingredients
For the brownies:
1 package chewy fudge brownie mix (around 19 ounces)
2 eggs, plus 1 yolk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur

For the cheesecake:
8 ounces cream cheese or neufchatel cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon Amaretto or other almond-flavored liqueur

For the ganache: (Bakerella's recipe)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Directions

1.  Make ganache - place chocolate chips in a medium bowl and set aside.  Put heavy cream and butter in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the butter melts.  Just when it starts to bubble and boil, remove from heat, pour over chocolate chips, let sit for a minute, then stir to combine.  Set aside.

(Note: I like to make the ganache first so that it has a chance to cool and thicken before I pour it, but you can make it last if you worry that it will set up and harden too much in the down time)

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a 13x9" baking pan with foil, spray with cooking spray, and set aside.  (You don't have to line with foil, but I like to so that I can lift the bars out of the pan to cut, and I don't have to wash the pan!)

3.  In a small bowl, lightly beat the two eggs and extra egg yolk. (*Note: my brownie box directions called for 2/3 cup oil, I only used 1/2 cup and decided to add the extra egg yolk)

4.  In a large bowl, mix eggs, oil, amaretto, and brownie mix until just combined (over mixing will result in cakey brownies - that's why you beat the eggs before adding to dry ingredients).  Pour into prepared baking pan

(Note: you are basically just making a box of brownies, replacing the water in the recipe with Amaretto - I made some adjustments with the eggs/oil for a better brownie texture)

5.  Using a hand mixer, cream the cream cheese in a medium bowl, add butter and continue to cream.  Add sugar, eggs, flour, and amaretto - mix until smooth and combined (there may be very small lumps of cream cheese, but that's ok).

6.  Pour the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter.  Smooth the cream cheese layer evenly making sure it spreads to the edges and corners.

7.  Bake for 30-35 minutes (a toothpick inserted 2 inches from the edge of the pan will come out clean).

8.  Pour ganache over the cheesecake/brownies and let everything cool to room temperature and set.  I stuck mine in the fridge to speed up the process.

9.  Remove from pan by lifting any foil overhang, transfer to cutting board, and slice into desired sizes.  I cut 9 rows by 4 rows for 36 bars, but then cut each bar in half because they were so rich.  Store in the refrigerator.


This recipe was adapted from Viking.

Almond Joy Cookie Bars

 Difficulty level: Easy
Time consuming: No

Every month at school, the special education team gets together to go over things.  I started baking for these meetings back in the fall when one of our intervention specialists became pregnant and was always hungry, and have continued to bake for each meeting ever since.  Our special ed director said that people have never been more prompt for our meetings since I started baking.  Yay!  I will feature some of my other treats here in the future!  This month, for our last meeting of the school year, I brought these:

Doesn't it look delicious?  I had been thinking about making a coconut dessert for awhile but was unsure if people would like it.  Coconut is kind of a love hate thing, don't you think?  While waiting for an IEP meeting to start, my boss found the teachers candy stash and promptly helped himself to an Almond Joy candy bar.  The intervention specialist and myself quickly followed suite and were caught in the act by the teacher we were mooching from.  Fortunately for us, she didn't care.  But that was it, that's how I knew I could make a coconut dessert and at least 3 people sitting at that table would eat it.

The recipe is actually pretty easy.  Cream butter and brown sugar together, then add flour and salt.  

Press into a foil lined and buttered 13x9 pan, sprinkle with chopped almonds, and bake.  

While that's baking, mix coconut with sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and mix.  Spread evenly over top of crust, then bake again 'til the top layer becomes lightly browned.  

While that's going, make ganache.  I didn't have any heavy cream on hand so I used skim milk, and guess what!? It turned out just fine!  Pour your finished ganache over the coconut, garnish with chopped almonds, and set in the fridge to cool completely. 

When it's cool, use the foil to lift the bars out of the pan and cut into whatever sizes your heart desires.  I made sure to get at least 20 out of mine so that I could bring some to my meeting and share with some other teachers as well.

I think next time I would either use a larger pan (maybe a foil lined cookie sheet, although the edges might not be high enough...) or cut the coconut layer in half.  These bars were thick.  But man were they good.  My boss, who is on a diet and didn't eat the Halfway House cookies I brought to last months meeting, ate two of these.

**Sidebar.  Did you know that it's actually possible to scorch chocolate even when using a double boiler?  You can.  In fact, I did.  I was trying to melt the chocolate using a double boiler with some butter and tried to thin it out with a few tablespoons of milk.  I ended up with a seized up chocolate disaster.  I was so sad, that was two whole bags of chocolate chips, and I was not about to waste them.  I microwaved some milk until it just started to boil and poured that over my chocolate and whisked until smooth.  I learned two things: 1) that you can scorch chocolate on a double boiler if the water is hotter than a simmer (I have a stupid, old gas range that's either off or really hot, no in between); and 2) if you want to add a liquid to chocolate, you have to add a lot or else the chocolate will seize.  That's why my few tablespoons of milk were a problem.

Here's the recipe:

Crust
10T of room temperature butter (1 1/4 sticks)
3/4c packed brown sugar (I used light)
2 1/2 c flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2t salt
1/4 sliced almonds, chopped (this part isn't rocket science, use as much or as little as you want)

Coconut layer (I'd consider cutting this in half, but I haven't tried it yet myself)
28oz sweetened, condensed milk (that's 2 cans)
28oz shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened; that's 2 bags)
1 1/2 t vanilla extract

Ganache
 3c semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (2 bags; you really could use whatever chocolate you prefer)
1/2-3/4c skim milk (but heavy cream is better)
2T butter

Garnish (optional)
A few tablespoons of sliced almonds, chopped.

Ready, set, go!

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13x9 baking dish with foil, leaving some hang over the sides so you can lift your bars out of the pan when you're done. Coat your pan with something nonstick, like spray, or butter, or shortening....etc.

2) In the bowl of your stand mixer or with an electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar.  Since I have a stand mixer, I used this time to sift together my flour and salt.  **Don't sift before you measure, or you might end up with a significantly different volume of flour than what I used which would alter the results.  Slowly add flour mixture to butter.  Mix until it has a chunky lumps, like peas.

3) Press the dough evenly into your pan.  Sprinkle your almonds on and lightly press so they stick into the dough.  Bake for 8 minutes.

4) While the cookie layer is baking, in a large bowl combine your sweetened condensed milk, coconut, and vanilla, and mix until the coconut seems evenly coated.

5) When your cookie layer has baked and cooled slightly (or not, if you're impatient like me), spread the coconut mixture evenly over top.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top has started to brown.  (I only baked for 20 minutes but probably should've gone a little bit longer).  If you're worried about uneven baking, rotate your pan halfway through baking.

6) While the coconut layer is baking, make your ganache.  Combine butter and milk in a medium saucepan and heat on the stove until it just starts to boil.  Immediately remove from the stove and pour in your 2 bags of chocolate chips.  Let it just sit and hang out together for a minute or so, then whisk until the chocolate is smooth.

7)  When your coconut layer has finished baking, pour the ganache on and spread evenly with a spatula.  Garnish with almonds.  You can let this sit at room temperature or stick it in the fridge to set the ganache.

8) When everything is cooled and set, remove the bars with your foil handles and cut into whatever size your heart desires.

9) Enjoy.  Maybe with a glass of milk because these are pretty rich.

This recipe is adapted from Just A Pinch