PrintBanana Cupcakes: Buttercream vs. Cream Cheese?
The best part about taste testing a recipe for cupcakes is that you can get a dozen opinions. This week for my magazine recipe review I decided to bake the banana cupcakes with honey-cinnamon frosting from the March issue of Everyday Food. I was intrigued by idea of the spiced buttercream. In my experience, most banana cakes are slathered in sugary cream cheese concoctions, of which I'm not the biggest fan. (Is that a horrible thing to admit as a foodie? What's your take on cream cheese vs. buttercream frosting?)
Initially, I was concerned that my cupcakes would lack complexity and depth. Only white sugar was called for, not dark brown, and the bananas I had on hand were ripe but not overly so (I prefer to bake with bananas that are spotted and mushy). But it turned out that my fears were unfounded. The cupcakes were moist, tender, and full of banana chunks. They puffed up perfectly and had lovely, golden tops. And the frosting? A surprising blend of spicy and sweet, thanks in large part to the subtle hint of honey.
As with any buttercream, the amount of confectioners sugar needed can vary, and I ended up using about 1/2 cup more than was called for. Other than that, I made no adjustments to the recipe. And based on the happy reactions of eleven of my friends (I saved the biggest one myself, of course!), I won't the next time I bake them either.
About the author: Lucy Baker is a graduate student in the writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. Before returning to school to pursue an MFA, she was an assistant cookbook editor at HarperCollins. She lives in Brooklyn and is currently obsessed with all things fennel.
Banana Cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting
Adapted from the March 2008 issue of Everyday Food
- makes 12 -
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the frosting:
1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar (I used about 1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Procedure
1. To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°F. Fill a muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add in the butter, bananas, eggs, and vanilla and mix well. Divide batter evenly between the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
2. To make the frosting, beat all ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth.
3. Spread the tops of cupcakes with the frosting and serve.
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13 Comments:
is there a typo in the amount of flour called for?
i8alot at 4:11PM on 02/19/08
@i8alot: We'll find out the correct amount soon!
roboppy at 5:06PM on 02/19/08
I usually fall into the cream cheese frosting camp, but on a cupcake like this I probably would have added some marscapone to the buttercream. I'm come across recipes for marscapone frosting that were way too heavy for my taste, so I usually make a standard buttercream and add marscapone and honey to taste.
LizNYC at 5:07PM on 02/19/08
It's 1 1/2 cups flour, I just checked it on the Everyday Foods site.
Michelle Jones at 5:12PM on 02/19/08
Both are delish I think. I am a bigger fan of anything with cream cheese but variety is the spice of life right :).
http://organicandnaturalmom.blogspot.com/
love2cook at 5:19PM on 02/19/08
I'm not a big buttercream fan unless it's one of the cooked buttercreams (Italia, Swiss, etc.). Every time I taste one built just on butter, something in my head tastes Crisco even if there isn't any in there.
As for banana cake, a local cupcake shop pairs their banana cupcakes with Nutella frosting, which is pretty good!
OneWallKitchen at 5:20PM on 02/19/08
I just made a Nigella cake that called for adding heavy cream to the cream cheese icing while beating it. Definitely a success, though next time I'm going to try beating the cream thena adding it to the frosting....
Charcuterista at 5:38PM on 02/19/08
Cream Cheese all the way. I have yet to have a buttercream that I liked.
vox8ight at 9:10PM on 02/19/08
I like both frostings, so I'd go with the cream cheese frosting if the cake was all being eaten the same day. If uneaten cake was going to be stored overnight or longer I'd use buttercream and save the refrigerator space.
srhcb at 10:21PM on 02/19/08
when alex witchel wrote an article about the cake doctor for the ny times, she published a frosting recipe that approximated the beloved sara lee. it was a basic butter/cream cheese/powdered sugar but also called for a drop or two of loriann banana creme flavoring, which i bought at the cake supply store on 22nd street. normally i wouldn't consider adding something like that to my food, but i have to say it was fantastic.
i have some frozen bananas, so will have to try this.
cybercita at 11:40PM on 02/19/08
I think American buttercream (aka butter + confectioners sugar) is nasty, and I don't think a Swiss or Italian meringue buttercream would be appropriate for this cupcake, so I would definitely put cream cheese frosting on this.
raspberry eggplant
charm city cupcake at 9:53AM on 02/20/08
I tend to lean more toward the cream cheese frosting (but I use much less sugar than most recipes call for) -- but with banana cupcakes, I'd be more likely to go with a caramel frosting or a chocolate fudge frosting :)
CookiePie at 10:11AM on 02/20/08
I will eat any frosting, anywhere, on just about anything. That's the whole reason I eat cake, really.
DDoll at 2:33PM on 02/20/08