The big football game this weekend is more than just a huge sporting event. I am not nearly as big of a football fan as I am of baseball and really have no stake in whether Atlanta or New England wins. For us, the Super Bowl this year is more about just hanging out, relaxing and watching the game for the commercials. The big game also means it’s a day to enjoy all kinds of snack foods. Everyone breaks out their favorites for Buffalo wings, nachos, cocktail franks, egg rolls, meatballs, sandwiches, chips, dips and your favorite drinks. If you are hosting a party this year you probably have lots of things picked out for snacks and halftime, but what about dessert? Dessert might get overlooked, beyond the football field sheet cakes you can get or the football cookies, so why not do something different, easy and homemade? I have a particular love of banana desserts and sought out to make a cupcake this year for something different. I ended up combining two recipes, with a cupcake recipe from Martha Stewart for banana cupcakes and a Bananas Foster frosting recipe from Glorious Treats to make something great.

Banana Cupcakes with Bananas Foster Frosting

For the Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana for garnish (optional)

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

1/4 cup banana, mashed (about 1/2 a banana)

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dark rum (optional)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. In the well, mix together the melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir the ingredients together to incorporate the flour mixture without over mixing everything. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups.

Place the pan into the oven and bake the cupcakes until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the muffin pan. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting. Mash the banana in a small bowl with the lemon juice. In a large bowl or bowl for your stand mixer, beat the butter until it is smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mashed banana and beat it with the butter until it is well incorporated and smooth. Add the powdered sugar slowly, one cup at a time, while slowly mixing, so that it blends in well. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, dark rum (if using) and the vanilla extract. Beat all of the ingredients together until everything is well incorporated, and the frosting is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Spread the tops of each cupcake with the Bananas Foster frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice the banana into rounds and place one on each cupcake, if desired.

It’s a pretty simple cupcake recipe that presents nicely and has some great flavor to it. The banana cupcake is lighter than the typical banana muffin you might like and has some good banana taste to it, but the frosting is what really makes it perfect for me. The frosting has the flavor of the great Bananas Foster dessert, especially if you take advantage of the dark rum in the ingredients. I actually boosted the banana flavor up a bit for the frosting by adding some banana syrup to the frosting mix (about 1 1/2 teaspoons did it for me). I also halved the original recipe for the frosting since I had only twelve cupcakes to do and the recipe seemed like it was more if you want enough to frost a whole cake, which wouldn’t be a bad idea either. We each tested the cupcakes, and the came out nicely, with moist cake and a great frosting.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!