Best Banana Cupcakes With Caramel Butter Cream Frosting Martha Stewart Recipes

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM (MARTHA STEWART RECIPE)

Steps:

• 1. Bring 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Wash sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Cook, undisturbed, until caramel is dark amber. Remove from heat, and slowly add cream, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Let cool. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Place whites and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and attach bowl to a mixer. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add beaten butter, cup at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Switch to paddle attachment. With mixer on low speed, add caramel, and beat until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.) Read more at Marthastewart.com: Caramel Buttercream - Martha Stewart Recipes

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Prepare an ice-water bath. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/4 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Brush down sides of pan with a damp pastry brush, and cook, without stirring, until dark amber. Immediately dip bottom of pan in ice-water bath to stop the cooking. Gradually stir in cream until completely smooth.
• Combine remaining 1 cup sugar, egg whites, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer set over (not in) a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar has dissolved, and mixture is warm and feels completely smooth when rubbed between fingertips. Transfer bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and bottom of bowl is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.
• Add butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and slowly beat in caramel until incorporated. Increase speed to high (mixture will look curdled) and continue beating until smooth, about 3 minutes. Switch to paddle attachment and beat on low, 2 minutes more. Use immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days. Before using, return to room temperature and beat until smooth.

CARAMEL BUTTERCREAM FOR BANANA CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Bring 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Wash sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Cook, undisturbed, until caramel is dark amber. Remove from heat, and slowly add cream, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Let cool.
• Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Place whites and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
• Remove from heat, and attach bowl to a mixer. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add beaten butter, cup at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in vanilla.
• Switch to paddle attachment. With mixer on low speed, add caramel, and beat until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.

BANANA CUPCAKES WITH CARAMEL BUTTER CREAM FROSTING (MARTHA STEWART RECIPE)

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Mix any remaining wet ingredients in a bowl if needed. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wet ingredients and ending with dry. Scrape sides of bowl. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 3 days, unless otherwise noted.
• 2. 1.Make cupcakes as directed in Basic Cupcake How-To, using mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla for wet ingredients. Stir pecans into batter. Once cupcakes are cool, frost tops with caramel buttercream. Frosted cupcakes will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days. Top with banana slices before serving.

BANANA CUPCAKES WITH HONEY-CINNAMON FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with honey-cinnamon frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

FLUFFY VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Put butter in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium; add sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well, about 5 minutes total. Add vanilla and salt. Raise speed to medium-high; beat until smooth, about 1 minute more.

VANILLA CUPCAKES WITH BUTTERCREAM ICING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated; scrape down sides of bowl, and beat in vanilla.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
• Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.
• For the hat, score a circle in center of cupcake. Cut a cone with knife at an angle, rotating cupcake as you go. Using a wide round piping tip or a resealable plastic bag with one corner cut off, pipe buttercream into the cavity and on top for the head. Use gumdrops for the collar and a cinnamon candy for the nose; insert chocolate sprinkles for eyes. Use more buttercream and multicolored sprinkles to create a pom-pom for the hat.

FLUFFY VANILLA FROSTING

Steps:

• With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
• Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium-high. This process should take about 5 minutes. Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.
• Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

BANANA AND VANILLA CUPCAKES WITH BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl; set aside. Beat 1/2 cup butter and the white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla with the last egg. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the chopped bananas, mixing just enough to evenly combine. Pour the batter into prepared cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
• While the cupcakes are cooling, make the buttercream by beating 2/3 cup of butter in a bowl until smooth and glossy. Beat in the vanilla, followed by the confectioners' sugar. Once no dry lumps of sugar remain, add the cream and food coloring. Whip on high speed until light and fluffy. Frost the cooled cupcakes with the buttercream frosting.

BASIC BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
• Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)

CARAMEL FROSTING

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat until nut-brown in color, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour butter into a bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind; let cool.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add confectioners' sugar, vanilla, salt, and butter. With the mixer on low, slowly add cream; beat until smooth. If frosting seems too thick, stir another tablespoon cream into the mixture.