Banana Milkshake and Caramel Surprise Cupcakes

For this recipe I really fancied being a little bit more creative and playing with the concept of banoffee but with the extra flavour of banana milkshake!

What you’ll need for the cupcakes:

• 150g margarine
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 banana, mashed

For the decoration:

• Thick caramel/toffee sauce
• 175g unsalted butter
• 350g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp of banana milkshake powder
• Mini fudge pieces

Let’s get started!

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Line a bun tin tray with cupcake cases ready for baking.
2. Cream the margarine and caster sugar together until fully combined.
3. In a seperate bowl mash the banana, then add it to the butter mixture.
4. Crack 3 eggs into a cup and slowly add to the butter mixture, stirring after each addition.
5. Now add in the dry ingredients: the self-raising flour and baking powder and stir thoroughly. The cake mixture should be a smooth consistency with little pieces of banana visible.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cupcake cases and bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden. I managed to get 16 cupcakes out of the mixture.
7. Once baked, leave the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.

For the decoration:

1. To make caramel surprise centre, we need to make a hole in the centre of each cupcake. For this step, I used a small knife to carve out a circle of sponge, leaving a hole roughly 1.5cm deep.
2. Using a spoon or a piping bag, fill the small holes on each cupcake with the caramel/toffee sauce and then place the cutoff circle of sponge back on top.
3. To make the buttercream, cream together the icing sugar and unsalted butter with an electric whisk. For a creamier texture, a splash of milk can be added. I always mix the icing sugar in stages to stop it from launching everywhere! Once the buttercream looks smooth add in the banana milkshake powder and give it another whisk.
4. Using a star nozzle and piping bag, pipe the buttercream on as a swirl on top of the sauce. To finish sprinkle a few fudge pieces on top.

And you’re done! If you have a go don’t forget to share your makes with us on Instagram @aboxofbuttons or on Twitter @aBoxofButtons! See you next time!