Banana Turtle Cupcakes {Recipe)

These cupcakes are quite the mish-mash of a few of my favorite recipes. But they are SO good, and SO rich, and SO worth the work!

What You Need:
For the Cupcakes: (Banana Cake Recipe)
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. butter (at room temperature)
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
3/4 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed ripe bananas
1/2 c. buttermilk

For the Icing: (Caramel Buttercream Icing Recipe)
1/2-3/4 cup Caramel Sauce (make your own or use store-bought)
4 egg whites
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla


For the Filling: (Chocolate Ganache Recipe)
4 oz. semisweet chocolate
4 oz. heavy whipping cream


Optional:
  Extra Caramel Sauce and melted chocolate for drizzling.
  Pecan halves and chopped pecans for decorating.

Make The Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees (F). Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. (This recipe makes approximately 2-dozen cupcakes.)

Combine the butter and sugar in a mixer bowl and beat on medium until they are light and fluffy. (2-3 minutes)
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add vanilla.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix on medium-low until just blended.
Add the bananas. Mix until just blended.
Add the remaining flour mixture. Mix until just blended.
Add the buttermilk. Mix until just blended.
(Click this link to see How to Substitute for Buttermilk.)

Scoop 1/4 cup batter into each of the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted near the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Make the Icing:
I'm going to give you the condensed version of this recipe here. If you want all of the ins and outs and tips and tricks, please check out the original recipe post: Caramel Buttercream Icing Recipe.
And if you want to make Homemade Caramel Sauce, which I recommend, click here.

!Wipe down all utensils with a paper towel dampened with vinegar before starting this recipe!

In a double boiler, or in the bowl of your stand mixer situated over a pot of simmering water, combine egg whites and brown sugar. Whisking constantly, bring the mixture up to the temperature of 160-degrees (F).
*Note: 160-degrees is the food-safe temperature for egg whites - according to the egg people's website. So, please be careful here. It can take a while, especially if you take the eggs straight from the refrigerator, but to me, this step is very worth it! Plus, I read that meringue actually forms best if the eggs are brought to 160-degrees because of something with breaking down some part of them- it got scientific and lost me, but just do it, please?!

When you get the mixture to temperature, let them cool for about 3-5 minutes on the countertop before whipping. Then, on high speed, whip the egg white mixture until stiff peaks form. (This usually takes about 4 minutes in my stand mixer.)

If you're using a stand mixer, switch to the paddle attachment here, and mix in the butter and (cooled) Caramel Sauce. The mixture will turn soupy, that's okay. Turn the mixer to high, and let it whip until another stiff peak forms.
*Note: If you add the caramel sauce while it is too hot, this may warm the butter too much, and your icing won't come together here. If after about 5-7 minutes your icing is still not getting thick and forming a peak, put the whole bowl in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and try whipping it again.

Make the Filling:

In a microwave-safe, two-cup measuring cup, heat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream to just hot, but not boiling. (Usually about 30-90 seconds on high.)

Assemble the Cupcakes:

When the cupcakes are cool, and the ganache filling is about the thickness of pudding, you can assemble the cupcakes.

To fill the cupcakes:
Insert Tip #352 about halfway into the cupcake. Squeeze until you feel the bottom of the cupcake "puff" on your fingertips.
(See my complete tutorial on Filling Cupcakes here.)

To frost the cupcakes:
With a pastry bag loaded with Tip #1A, pipe a swirl on the top of the cupcake. Hold the bag straight up from the cupcake, start at the outside edge, and swirl the icing towards the middle.
(See my complete tutorial on Making a Cupcake Swirl here.)

To garnish/decorate the cupcakes:
If you want to add the chopped pecans around the edges, first toast the pecans in a 350-degree oven for about 5-7 minutes, reserve 24 pecan halves, then finely chop the rest. Carefully roll the edges of the icing in the chopped pecans, or you can just dip the entire top of the cupcake with the pecans.

Add a drizzle of either melted chocolate or caramel sauce (or both) by placing the sauce in a sandwich bag, and cutting a very small corner off.

Top with the halved pecans.
Yum!

Click the Links Below to See:
Banana Cake Recipe
Caramel Butter Cream Icing Recipe
Homemade Caramel Sauce Recipe
How to Fill a Cupcake Tutorial
How to Swirl a Cupcake Tutorial
Other Cupcake Recipes and Ideas

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