Peanut butter banana mousse cupcakes for Brewer Chris
7 Dec
Earlier in the fall, Suzy Woods–Philadelphia’s First Lady of Craft Beer, and beer sales rep for Allagash–reached out to me for some help at a brewfest and just happened to mention that her boyfriend Chris had gone through my blog and wanted some cupcakes.
I’m down with that.
Chris is the head brewer at Iron Hill Maple Shade, one of our favorite local breweries–great beer, great food and great service. At one of the brewery’s pumpkin ale events, I got to ask him what kind of cupcakes he wanted. His reply: Peanut butter banana.
This would be a tough one for me. I don’t really like bananas, and with Ray’s peanut allergy, I rarely eat peanut butter. Nevertheless, I always enjoy a challenge and began coming up with flavor combos. I emailed Chris my thoughts and he decided to go with a peanut butter cake, banana filling and chocolate frosting.
Now, a banana cake with peanut butter frosting would have been much easier … maybe too easy. But I have to admit, the banana filling gave me a tough time. My first try had me mashing the banana over heat with brown sugar and a little rum. The texture was uneven, and several of my taste testers described it as “overly ripe banana.” No good.
I didn’t want to use store-bought pudding, and most pudding recipes were actually for vanilla pudding with bananas added in. I would need to go the route of a pastry cream or mousse. After my success with the pumpkin mousse, I figured I could follow the same steps for the banana mousse. I tried it and wow! The flavor really popped and the texture was heavenly.
I baked up a half dozen for Chris and had one extra, which I wanted to sample. Though the idea of peanut butter and banana didn’t thrill me, I sat down with that little cake for science … and what wonderful science it was! Despite my general dislike for bananas, their flavor married with the peanut butter and chocolate was divine. And luckily for me, Chris and Suzy agreed.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks toward the center. Line cupcake pans with papers.
Combine dry ingredients; set aside.
Cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, then add vanilla. Add peanut butter and mix until combined.
Mix in the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about halfway full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes.
When done, transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely.
For the banana mousse, combine banana, sugar and salt in a food processor and puree.
Simmer puree over medium heat for 5 minutes in a sauce pan. Cool completely.
Whip heavy cream until soft peaks form; add vanilla and whip lightly until combined.
Once banana mixture is cool, fold in the whipped cream gently. Set aside until ready to pipe into cupcakes.
For the frosting, melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 2 to 3 30 second increments in the microwave. Set aside to cool.
Beat the butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until fluffy.
Add 1 cup of sugar gradually, beating until combined.
Add the peanut butter and chocolate, then add the remaining sugar in 1/2 cup increments. Add 2-3 tbsp of cream as needed to smooth out the texture.
To assemble, use a melon baller or the back of a Wilton 1M tip to core out some of the cupcake's center. Pipe in (or use a spoon) mousse. Use an extra large star tip to pipe on the frosting. Decorate as desired.
My boyfriend LOVES banana desserts and I’m a peanut butter/chocolate lover – these sound like a perfect compromise!
I absolutely will be making these in the very near future.
Super cute site, by the way =)
Thanks for stopping by! Chris loved these cupcakes, and I think they came out well.
Looking back at the recipe, I think you could cut the frosting in half…I currently use the same amount of butter and sugar for my more recent recipes, and they yield 28 cupcakes! I’m definitely learning that less is more when it comes to frosting.
Fantastic tip, thanks – we aren’t frosting fans, so I’ll definitely cut down on the quantities. Less is more when it comes to pure sugar for us.
I was just looking around and saw some of your salted recipes, those are more style. Maybe I’ll combine some of your ideas!
You’ve given me lots of inspiration!
I LOVE my salted caramel recipe…so so so so so good. Though I’ve tweaked it since then (like one does).
In lieu of 1 stick of salted and 1 stick of unsalted buttercream, I use all unsalted and add salt to my liking…typically no more than 1 tsp.
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes
You are so sweet! Thanks for all the tips!
New follower – now all I need is a new exercise blog to read to balance things out LOL
Now I’m following – couldn’t find the button on your site