Banoffee Cupcakes

There's a bit of a cake culture where I work.  Whenever someone brings cake into the office, a kind of party atmosphere descends and everyone gets very greedy.  It would be a competition, but our admin manager used to be a chef so when he brings cake, you know it's going to be amazing.  He made Nigella Lawson's Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake weeks ago and people are still talking about how good it was!  For me, taking cakes to work is based on mainly selfish reasons; firstly, if I bake them I know I can eat them (even the odd flourless cake that makes its way into the office is hit-or-miss depending on what baking powder has been used).  Secondly, I bake so often that I have to give some cakes away or else the Husband and I would quickly become obese!  

These banoffee cakes were a take-to-work bake that I'm quite proud of. Roasting the bananas gives a lovely sweet banana-y taste to the cakes, while filling them with dulce le leche (optional, and time consuming) adds decadence.  

Banoffee Cupcakes

For the cakes:

2 bananas

190g gluten free self-raising mix

190g margarine

190g light brown soft sugar

3 large eggs

For the icing (frosting):

100g dulce de leche 

75g butter or margarine, softened

175g icing sugar

dried banana chips, to decorate

Optional:

200g dulce de leche

• Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Place the bananas, unpeeled, on a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes.  Leave to cool, still in their skins.
• Peel the bananas and chuck in a food processor and pulse a few times to mash. 
• Add the self-raising mix, margarine, sugar and eggs and whizz up to a smooth batter.
• Line a cupcake tin with paper cases and pour batter in each case, about two-thirds full.  You will get 12-15 cakes with this.
• Bake for 17-20 minutes (at 180 degrees C), until a skewer comes out clean.
• Leave to cool in the tin.

Optional:  Fill a piping bag attached with an eclair filling tip with 200g of dulce de leche.  Push a knife tip into the centre of each cupcake, about half-way down.  Pipe the dulce de leche into each cupcake until you see it reaching the top of the cake.

• Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.  Add the softened butter and the dulce de leche.  Whisk together until you have a fluffy icing (frosting).  (You can beat the dulche de leche and butter together first, then add the icing sugar, but I find that the icing is too soft when I do it that way.)
• Fill a piping bag attached with a star tip with the icing and pipe on to each cake (or you can spread the icing over each cake - you won't need as much icing to do it that way).
• Decorate each cupcake with a banana chip.

Actually, there is a third selfish reason -  I like watching other people enjoy my baking, it's a great ego boost!