Banana Walnut Cupcakes with Banana Icing and Candied Walnuts

I made these cupcakes a while ago for an SPCA cupcake day fundraiser some of the students had organised at school.  I think these ones never made it to the fundraising table – another staff member purchased them before anyone else got a chance!  And, good on her – these cupcakes are divine.  The flavours of the cake, icing and candied walnuts (and the caramel drizzle – don’t forget that!) go together perfectly creating one sophisticatedly moreish cupcake.  The candied walnuts are really easy to make and are my new favourite thing.  I actually first made them to go in a broccoli and cranberry salad (so good), but here they add a delicious crunch to the sweet taste of the banana infused icing.

Makes: 12

Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1 ½ cups self raising flour
⅓ cup caster sugar
60g butter
⅔ cup mashed banana
½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
1 egg
½ cup milk

Candied Walnuts:
⅔ cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon sea salt

Banana Icing and Caramel drizzle:
130g butter
¼ cup mashed bananas
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
3 ¼ cups icing sugar
½ cup caramel sauce (I used Hershey’s Caramel Sauce)

Method:
Cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 190°C.  Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar and butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add in mashed banana, walnuts, egg and milk, and stir to combine.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pans and bake for 20 minutes.

Candied Walnuts:
To make the candied walnuts, place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over a medium heat.  Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the mixture is bubble and the walnuts have caramelised and turned a golden brown.
Line a dinner plate of baking tray with baking paper.  Place the walnuts on the baking paper and place in the refrigerator for at least 5 minutes.

To make the icing and to decorate:
Cream together the butter, banana, lemon juice and vanilla essence.  Slowly beat in icing sugar, adding more if needed to make a nice fluffy, spreadable icing.  If the mix is too thick, beat in a few drops of warm water at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes and decorate with the candied walnut pieces.  Drizzle caramel sauce over the top of each cupcake.

Mini Chocolate Courgette and Raspberry Bundt Cakes with Raspberry Cream

Whew, what a long title.  I couldn’t think of what to call these though.  One suggestion when I took them into share at work was ‘5+ a day cakes’ because they are packed with courgettes, raspberry and walnuts.  However, don’t let that put you off making them – yes, they have healthy ingredients in them, but they are delicious and you would never be able to tell how much courgette has actually gone into them; you can’t really taste it.  I’ve had a couple of requests for the recipe from the few people who tried these cute little cakes, because they are seriously that good.

I made my cakes using a mini bundt tin, but you could use ordinary muffin tins.  Using my bundt tin, the recipe made 30 mini cakes.  I also served my cakes with Raspberry cream, but you could just serve them with a light dusting of icing sugar.

Ingredients:
Cakes:
¾ cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups grated courgette (about 6 courgettes)
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
⅔ cup evaporated milk
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed and excess liquid removed

Raspberry Cream:
2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 ½ teaspoons raspberry powder
300ml cream
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Prepare (grease or line) baking tins if necessary. 
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Mix in the courgette, walnuts and vanilla essence.
In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients.  Mix the dry ingredients into the courgette mixture in 3 lots, alternating with the evaporated milk.  Fold through the raspberries.  Spoon the mixture into the baking tins.  Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted can be removed cleanly.  Leave to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cool rack to cool completely.

To make the raspberry cream:
Beat together the cream, vanilla essence and icing sugar until you are happy with the consistency of the cream.  Add the raspberry powder and beat again, until just mixed through.

*I decorated my cakes by filling the hole left by the bundt tin with the raspberry cream, dusting with icing sugar, and sprinkling with chocolate crunch bits that I purchased from The Pretty Baker.  I purchased the mini bundt tin from Stevens.

Pear, Walnut and White Chocolate Muffins

These Pear, Walnut and White Chocolate Muffins are delish; the pear makes them really moist and the walnut and white chocolate compliments the fruit perfectly.  We had some pears sitting around going uneaten, but once transformed into these muffins, they were gone in a flash!  My Nana tried them while she was up in Auckland over Christmas and I have had to send her the recipe too.

Ingredients:
½ cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup flour
⅓ cup wholemeal flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup plain yogurt
1 large egg
1 ½ cups finely diced peeled pears
½ cup white chocolate bits
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease or line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Stir in the walnuts and make a well in centre of mixture.
Combine the brown sugar, oil, vanilla essence, yogurt and egg in a small bowl.  Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist.  Fold in diced pear and white chocolate.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin.  Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the muffin batter.  Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until the muffins spring back when touched lightly in centre.  Leave to cool in the muffin tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.