A soft Banana Cupcake is filled with the most delicious and creamy Banana Pudding, which is also used to top the cupcakes, and then gets sprinkled with sugar and blasted with a blowtorch to caramelized, crackling perfection, resulting in an awe-inspiring creation.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword banana, cupcakes
Prep Time 40 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 12cupcakes
Calories 250kcal
Author Camila Hurst
Ingredients
Banana Cupcakes
1½cupsall-purpose flour191 g
1½tspbaking powder
¼tspbaking soda
¼tspfine sea salt
½cupvegetable oil120 ml
¾cupgranulated sugar150 g
2large eggs
1tspvanilla extract
2/3cupmashed bananas146 g (about 1 1/2 bananas)
Banana Pudding
2cupsmilk480 ml
2cupsvery ripe chopped bananas340 g (3 to 4 bananas)
1vanilla beansplit in half (see Note)
4large egg yolks
½cupgranulated sugar100 g
3tbspcornstarch24 g
¼tspfine sea salt
1tbspunsalted butter14 g at room temperature
1tspvanilla extractoptional
1/3cupgranulated sugar66 g for topping
Instructions
Banana Cupcakes
To make the Banana Cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and line 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil and granulated sugar for 1 minute, until incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing each egg fully before adding the next. Add the vanilla and mashed bananas and stir to combine.
Lastly, add the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners, filling them about two-thirds of the way. Bake for about 18 minutes. Start checking the cupcakes at the 15-minute mark, and keep baking and checking as necessary. To see if the cupcakes are ready, gently press with your finger on top of the cupcakes, and if they spring right back, they are done baking. Let the cupcakes cool completely before filling and frosting.
Banana Pudding
To make the Banana Pudding, place the milk, chopped bananas and seeds from the vanilla bean in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring it to almost a boil.
When you see the first few bubbles, remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan and let the bananas and milk infuse for at least 4 hours, or place the pan in the fridge overnight. When the milk is done infusing, place the pan back over medium heat and reheat until hot.
While the milk reheats, in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt. Strain the milk, being careful so you don’t let any banana pieces get through the strainer. Gently squeeze the bananas to release as much milk as possible from the solids without letting them through. Slowly pour 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the hot milk over the yolk mixture while whisking nonstop. Keep adding the remaining milk very slowly, whisking the pudding continuously.
Once all the milk has been added to the yolks, return the whole mixture to the saucepan that you used to heat the milk by pouring it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any bits of yolk that may have cooked or banana pieces that may have gone through.
Place the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring nonstop with a wooden spoon or spatula, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom very well while you cook it. The custard will start to get thick and it will look lumpy for a while, but just keep stirring over medium heat. After a minute or so, the mixture should be thick and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter (and vanilla extract, if using), stirring to combine. Pour it into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap, placed right on the surface of the pudding so it doesn’t form a skin as it cools. Place it in the fridge to chill completely.
To assemble
To assemble the cupcakes, use a spoon to remove the center of each cupcake. Place the Banana Pudding in a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip. Pipe the pudding into the center of each cupcake, and then pipe a mound of pudding on top of each cupcake. Use a small spatula or spoon to make it smooth and round.
Only brûlée the top of the cupcakes right before serving, or the caramelized sugar will lose its crackling and crunchy texture as it sits. It will still be delicious, just not crunchy. Sprinkle about ½ teaspoon of the granulated sugar on top of the pudding, making sure to coat all over in a thin and even layer. Use a blowtorch to gently brûlée the sugar.
Storage
The cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Feel free to use 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean. In this case, add the vanilla extract after you are done cooking the pudding and have removed it from the heat.