cupcake project | 13: banana caramel cupcake

{Hello! I'm back! So so sorry for being MIA in the last couple of weeks -- I had to much to do, so little time. Tss.}


I had overripe bananas in my fridge again. Sigh, when will I ever learn not to stock up too much on perishable items?

That isn’t a problem for me though, as I am perpetually itching to bake something. That was exactly my dilemma over the weekend. I wanted to bake but didn’t know what to bake. I am also low on funds as this month has been terribly busy and slightly costly. It was one of my college best friends’ wedding the other week, you see. And being “stage” friends and it being the first wedding in our bunch, we wanted everything to be memorable. More on that in a future post, which will hopefully be written within the next few weeks. If you’re curious about the wedding preps and whatnots, you can check out her “wedsite” here. You can also check out their fabulous photos at MyPhotato’s Facebook page.

So, as I was saying... I wanted to bake over the weekend. Oh, not to forget, I made my first real and successful Italian Meringue Buttercream AND homemade caramel, too! I can just die, I feel so fulfilled, really. Meringue buttercreams used to be the death of me. I’m proud to say, “Not anymore!”

Hmm, bananas + caramel + real buttercream. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Of course, there can be no better combination than banana and caramel! Okay, Nutella comes close, too. And chocolate.

I decided to make banana caramel cupcakes with caramel buttercream. Ahh, cupcake heaven.

I wanted to make these, but it called for 6 eggs. I didn’t want to use all my eggs since I still have other cakes to bake this week. Maybe next time. I settled for some other recipe instead, and I couldn’t be happier with the result – moist and with just the right amount of sweetness, although I wish it was fluffier than dense.

I will only be posting the cupcake recipe – I am too lazy, I know. 

Caramel sauce recipe can be found here. For the Italian Meringue Buttercream, I used Butteryum’s recipe. I promise I’ll post my own versions within the week. {pressure}

Banana Caramel Cupcake
Adapted from Bakers Royale and Annie’s Eats

For the Cupcakes:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 – 1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/3 – 1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk

For the Caramel Buttercream
1 cup Italian Meringue Buttercream
3-4 tbsp caramel sauce, plus more for drizzling 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 6-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

In a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add mashed bananas and mix until incorporated.

Add in flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk and mix just until combined. Don’t overmix. 

Scoop batter up to 3/4 full (I filled mine up to 2/3, but it didn’t rise as much). Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool in cupcake pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

For the Caramel Buttercream: 

Mix Italian Meringue Buttercream and caramel sauce together. 

Assembly: 

Once cupcakes are cool, core cupcakes using an apple corer or a paring knife. Fill cupcakes with 1 tsp caramel buttercream. Replace tops on cupcake..Frost cupcakes as desired. I used Ateco tip # 855 – my current favorite. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Devour!