Sunday, November 9, 2014

Playing with Nigella's Banana, Cherry and White Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe!


It must be one of my missions in life to never throw away over ripened bananas!  I was lucky enough to find a recipe that called for 3 ripe bananas and decided this was the one to use.  Only problem was that it called for cherries and white chocolate and I had neither one!   Not that I would be deterred from trying this new banana cupcake recipe.  I just substituted frozen raspberries and milk chocolate chips.  they were delicious too!

I own the UK version of Nigella's "How to be a Domestic Goddess"  but looked up the American version on the internet to see if I could use both versions simultaneously to help me do this as fast as possible.  Using cups is much easier and faster, but I do believe using measurements gives more consistent results.  One roadblock though, how to weigh frozen raspberries?  I am not sure, but I would guess frozen berries weigh more, but a quarter cup is just a simple quarter cup!  

One thing I have learned to be very helpful since starting this blog is the advantage of having all the necessary ingredients together before starting.  Many times before I started doing that, I would be in a mad panic in the middle of a recipe, at a crucial moment and unable to find an essential ingredient.   This no longer happens, but on occasion, something worse happens as a result of all those little bowls of ingredients ready and waiting for me.  Those little bowls can move, seemingly on their own......

Being unfamiliar with this recipe, I did think the batter was really runny when I put them in the cupcake liners and into the oven to bake.  Thankfully, I began to clean the kitchen right away which is not my usual practice!  And lurking behind the kettle was one cup of plain flour just sitting there waiting to become part of the batter......I whipped those cupcakes out of the oven and contemplated just throwing it all away.  But instead, I took each and every soggy cupcake out of the pan and dumped the batter into a bowl.  I wish I had thought to take a photo of the mess of those liners dripping on the saucer after I managed to salvage the process.  Who knew those cupcakes would survive and come out tasting wonderful, even after such a stupid and careless mistake!


Not to reinvent the wheel, I am sharing the recipe I found on the internet with both measurements!   Many thanks to dinnerdujour.org for doing all the work!    The few notes I added are in purple.  Recipe on its own follows at the end.

Banana, Cherry and White Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted by dinnerdujour.org from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
Makes 12 cupcakes
See the bowl just under the butter?  That is the one I missed!
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (125 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream or natural yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups (300 g) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup (40 g) dried cherries, chopped (you could substitute dried cranberries or even raisins)  I substituted frozen raspberries
1/4 cup (50 g) white chocolate, chopped, or use chips or buttons  - milk or dark chocolate works too!
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin tin with paper or silicone cases.
Melt the butter in a saucepan big enough to eventually hold all the batter. Off the heat, add the sugar, vanilla and mashed bananas. Stir in the sour cream or yogurt and the eggs and beat to mix with a wooden spoon. Sift in the flour, baking soda and baking powder, then fold in the cherries and chocolate. Mix until everything is just blended (don’t overmix!), then divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cases. Cook for 20 minutes, until golden and springy on top and a tester comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes in their papers to a wire rack and leave till cool.
"Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our own life.  Laughing at someone else's can shorten it."  Cullen Hightower

Banana, Cherry and White Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted by dinnerdujour.org from How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
Makes 12 cupcakes
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (125 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup (60 ml) sour cream or natural yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups (300 g) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup (40 g) dried cherries, chopped (you could substitute dried cranberries or even raisins)
1/4 cup (50 g) white chocolate, chopped, or use chips or buttons
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin tin with paper or silicone cases.
Melt the butter in a saucepan big enough to eventually hold all the batter. Off the heat, add the sugar, vanilla and mashed bananas. Stir in the sour cream or yogurt and the eggs and beat to mix with a wooden spoon. Sift in the flour, baking soda and baking powder, then fold in the cherries and chocolate. Mix until everything is just blended (don’t overmix!), then divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cases. Cook for 20 minutes, until golden and springy on top and a tester comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes in their papers to a wire rack and leave till cool.


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