Chocolate Banana Filled Cupcake

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then turn it down to 350 degrees just prior to baking.

Beat the butter with a mixer until it is soft, then add sugar. Beat for about 3 minutes. Add your eggs one at a time, beating until they are well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk them to incorporate them.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and beat it just to combine. Add 1/2 of the liquids (milk and vanilla), scrape down the bowl and beat to combine. Continue adding the dry and wet ingredients alternately, making sure you end with the dry.

Fill muffin tins 2/3rds of the way and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool, then frost.

For the filling:

In a pan, heat milk until very hot but not boiling. In a bowl, mix the sugar, flour/cornstarch, and salt together. Stir in the hot milk, and beat until well blended. Pour back into the pan and continue stirring vigorously over low heat for 4-5 minutes, until very thick and smooth. Add egg yolks and cook for a few more minutes. Cool.

Beat mashed bananas until smooth, add lemon juice and stir into the cooled filling. Let cool completely before filling cupcakes.

To frost the cupcakes, I used canned frosting for the cupcake tops. I made bananas out of marzipan, adding just a drop of yellow food coloring. I molded them just like Play-Doh, added lines with a butter knife and brown freckles with a toothpick. You could even top the cupcakes with fresh banana slices for adults (make sure you toss them in lemon juice so they don’t brown).

Notes:

You can also just use a box of chocolate cake mix for the cupcake batter. If so, follow the directions on the box.

You can also use Jello Banana pudding mix for the filling. If so, follow the directions on the box and add a mashed banana to the pudding.