•  butter
•  sugar
•  eggs
• ripe bananas
• honey
• yogurt or buttermilk
• vanilla extract or banana flavor, optional
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• cinnamon
• ground nutmeg, optional
• flour
• King Arthur Flour Cake Enhancer, optional, for moist texture

I followed the recipe as written using vanilla rather than the banana flavoring.  I do love bananas, but banana flavoring?  Not so much.  I feel like using two good-sized ripe bananas gave the cupcakes plenty of banana flavor.  The cinnamon and nutmeg are  a perfect enhancement to that flavor.

I also used yogurt rather than buttermilk.

Because I am always looking to try something new, whether it be a recipe or a product, I ordered the optional King Arthur Flour Cake Enhancer that the recipe suggests.  Its purpose is to help create a more moist product and top increase the shelf life of your baked goods.

From the King Arthur website:

“And what IS Cake Enhancer, exactly? It’s rice starch, polyglycerol ester, and mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids – complicated looking words, but nothing to be afraid of. These fatty acids come from vegetable fats, and act as emulsifiers, allowing fats and liquids to combine more easily. They also serve as stabilizers and texture enhancers. Widely used in commercial baked products, they keep baked goods fresh and soft, and help cakes stay light and fluffy.”

The banana cupcakes definitely had a great texture.  Unfortunately, since I have never made this recipe before, I have no means of comparison with and without the Cake Enhancer.  I am going to try it on a tried and true recipe and see if I can see or taste a discernible difference.

And then there is the frosting!  How can you go wrong with peanut butter anything?

• confectioners’ sugar
• peanut butter, creamy or chunky
• vanilla extract
• salt, optional, to taste
• milk or half & half

This frosting is perfect for these banana cupcakes.  But I have to say, it would probably be equally as tasty on a chocolate cupcake as well.  And maybe even my favorite yellow cake.  All that to say that it is a really good frosting!  This from a person who does not normally enjoy frosting.

Honey roasted peanuts are used as a garnish.  The instructions say to dip the freshly frosted cupcakes into the peanuts.  Because frosting, the noun and the verb form of that word, and I are not the best of friends, I was not going to dip the cupcakes!  I was proud of myself for getting fairly neat swirls of frosting on the top of the cupcakes.  Turning them upside down was not a risk I was willing to take!  I opted to sprinkle the crushed peanuts on top instead.

The printed recipe says that it makes a dozen cupcakes.  I got fourteen and that was with over-filling a couple of places in the pan and leaving a little extra batter in the bowl for my husband to enjoy. 🙂  I could easily have gotten fifteen, and maybe even sixteen, cupcakes from this recipe.

Confession: I made enough frosting to cover only three of the cupcakes.  I put the rest of the unfrosted cupcakes in the freezer.  I may eat them as is, or pull them out as needed and again make smaller batches of the frosting.

Because I found this recipe so delicious, I am going to work on a “redux” to see if I can bring its calorie count down a little.  If I am successful with that, I will share it in a later post!

For now, may your June be full of sunshine and cake!

King Arthur Flour’s Original Cake Pan Cake

I had planned a different cake for this week, one I’ve been wanting to make, KAF’s Caribbean Rum Cake. I had the recipe printed out ready to go, as it was my last one to make in their Year Of The Bundt series from a year ago or so. But then, somehow I saw this one, again, for Cake Pan Cake. I’ve looked at it before in passing, but never really gave it serious attention. I noticed they even have a post about it on their Flourish Blog, that they shared as THE recipe to share to mark their 225th Birthday.

What caught my attention was that it’s one that emerged from WW2 era, concocted during the time when ingredients were subject to rations. So, this cake has no eggs, milk or butter. (When I told Jeremy that before I made it, his comment was “oh, so therefore not good”) This something my grandmother would have made. I’d actually bet money on it!

The other wonderful thing about this cake is, if you wanted, you can mix it right in the pan. I chose the updated version, where you mix dry in one bowl, and wet in another, then combine. I also liked the fact I could do this by hand – no mixer required. And, it was fast to come together, I believe I told Kris that it wasn’t much more effort than making a cake from a mix! The “frosting” is a simple ganache of chocolate chips and half and half. And honestly, this would be good without it too! The whole of this recipe is so simple and fast, it will make a nice recipe for those times when you want or need something fast and simple, with ingredients you generally have already in your pantry!

CAKE

• King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour
• sugar
• Dutch-process cocoa, natural cocoa, or Triple Cocoa Blend
• salt
• espresso powder, option
• baking soda
• vanilla extract, gluten-free if necessary
• cider or white vinegar
• vegetable oil
• cold water

ICING

• semisweet chocolate chips
• half & half

I used a square pan, but you could use a round pan too. They suggest cutting it into 16 pieces, and I at first thought – “No! That’s too small!” – but really, it’s not. It’s good sized piece for this cake. Just right actually. Granted, I could always eat more chocolate cake, but this size works nicely. It’s moist and chocolatey without being overly sweet.

After Jeremy’s comment that it can’t possibly be good with no milk, eggs or butter – he changed his tune quickly when he tasted it. Both of my boys were extremely complimentary of this cake, and that’s a pretty good stamp of approval! I had to limit seconds until I could get the photo of it taken! It won’t last long around here, I even had a piece for brunch with my coffee!!

This is one recipe you have to try – it’s one of the easiest and yummiest things I’ve made! In fact, I plan on teaching Harry how to make it – he could just dust it with powdered sugar and call it done and it would still be yummy.

As Kris mentioned wanting to try a redux on her recipe, I want to try it on mine too. I’d like to try swapping some of the vegetable oil for applesauce. The recipe, as made, and cut into 16 pieces, clocks in at 220 calories. I want to see if I can do a bit better than that, BUT not compromise the cake! I will definitely let you know what happens when I do!