*Banana Cupcakes*

Cupcakes are everyones' favourites. They are light and yummy! If you dont want to eat a big slice of banana cake, loaded with calories you can always opt for a small cuppie cake with light frosting.


Today I'm going to blog about "Banana Cupcakes With Frosting:"

(I made a light/thin frosting but you can opt for only banana garnish on top or cream cheese/thick frostings with these cupcakes, too.)



Ingredients:

1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted melted butter
1 + 1/2 cups mashed bananas plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



Directions:


1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees Centigrade. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper cups. In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2.Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.

3.Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, approx. 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely before frosting. Spread with Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.


Frosting:

Combine 500g icing sugar + 5 tablespoon water, combine and whisk till smooth. Yellow food color can also be added.






----End Notes---

A few tips & tricks I follow for perfect cupcakes:

Never over-bake or overmix cupcakes they will become dry & chewy instead of moist & and spongy.

Use a good baking pan/muffin tray (if you're into baking, then you must invest in good kitchen utensils)

Bring all ingredients to room temperature before mixing your cupcake batter. Cold eggs & cold butter can never make good cakes.

Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean so keep close watch of teh oven temperature and time. It's all about the timing.


Hope you enjoy these with your family and I'm sure kids would love it! :)

What's For Breakfast Mummy?!?

Pancakes!! Breakfast of the day is Pancakes. We love 'em! Just a little twist for my son who is a very choosy & picky eater (like most kids these days). But he loves it when I make faces, shapes out of food, it fascinates him. Give it a try :) it really works with kids. Boys loves cars and animals- whether its car shaped nuggets or a cat face sandwich, it attracts them to food.

Easy Pancake Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in milk, egg and oil. Mix until smooth.

2. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the batter onto the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Twists to the basic recipe:

Now comes the fun part ;) You can make a number of changes with basic recipe, you can add bananas (chopped) & nuts, or chopped apples & cinnamon or whatever your kid likes.

I just add a small banana, make the face with Nutella, the hair with Peanut butter and drizzle it with honey! :) thats how you get the yummy Happy face! :)

Give it to kids with a glass of warm milk or orange juice, healthy breakfast for the weekends or just before school.