Baking crabapple cupcakes

One of Oscar's and my favourite activities is baking cupcakes. Oscar takes such great delight in helping to measure the ingredients and pour them into the mixing bowl. Of course one of his favourite parts is licking the spoon! 

When it's baking time, we head straight for one book, the Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook. In our humble opinion, it's the only cupcake cookbook you need. Every member of my family owns one. The cakes are so light and airy and the frostings are devilishly divine. The only problem is choosing which scrumptious recipe to bake!

Today's recipe was decided for us. With banana prices sky high at the moment we couldn't let this pile of overripe bananas go to waste. So together we whipped up a huge batch of Natalie's banana fudge cupcakes (otherwise known as banana and macadamia cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting, drooool!).

I challenge you to make these, and stop at eating just one!


banana and macadamia cakes
makes 24 keeps 2 days freeze 2 months
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3 1/3 cups plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
250g softened unsalted butter
2 cups castor sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups mashed over-ripe bananas
3/4 cup macadamias, chopped


Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line two 12-hole muffin trays with cupcake papers.

Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1 -2 minutes. Add the castor sugar a third at a time, beating for two minutes after each addition. After the last addition, beat until the mixture is light and fluffy and the sugar is almost dissolved.

Add eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition or until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. 

Add a third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed until combined. Add half of the buttermilk and half of the mashed banana and beat until combined. Repeat this process. Add the remaining third of the flour mixture and beat until thoroughly combined; do not over-bet as this will toughen the mixture. Add the chopped macadamias and beat until evenly combined.

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Spoon mixture into cupcake papers, filling each about three quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the trays immediately and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before frosting.
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NB. I have made these cakes with and without macadamias, and they turn out perfectly without any need to tweak the recipe. You can halve the recipe if you don't want the temptation of 24 cakes! I tend to put half  into our cake tin and the other half in the freezer.

chocolate fudge frosting

makes 4 cups of frosting - enough for 24 cakes

keeps 1 week

8 cups icing sugar

1 cup cocoa

200g softened butter

3/4 cup milk

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter for 1-2 minutes. Add the milk, vanilla extract and half of the icing sugar mixture, and beat for at least 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat for a further 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy and of a spreadable consistency. Add extra milk if the mixture is too dry or extra icing sugar if the mixture is too wet.

You can use the frosting immediately.

NB. It depends how generously you ice your cakes, but I think a half measure of this frosting is ample for 24 cupcakes. And yes, that includes the spoonfuls that end up straight in the mouth!

This recipe comes with the Oscar seal of approval xxx