Chocolate Banana Caramel Cupcakes

Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners (this made 24 full size cupcakes plus about 10 mini cupcakes for me). Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar on medium high speed for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition until incorporated. Add the mashed bananas and beat on low to incorporate. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, alternating with 1/2 the buttermilk, mixing on low until just incorporated, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Use a scoop to fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake about 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:
Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing until incorporated. After 3 cups, add cooled caramel and salt and beat until well blended. Add additional powdered sugar if necessary to reach desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes as desired.

Caramel:
Combine butter, cream and sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat. Stirring constantly, heat to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and cook until thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Chocolate Sauce:
In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream about 1 minute, add chopped chocolate and let stand 1 minute. Stir until melted. Cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a squeeze bottle to drizzle on cupcakes.