This Cupcake is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

Of my two kids, my son is the more difficult when it comes to eating. He is tall and lean like his Dad and it really is no wonder given how finnicky an eater he is. We have had lots of battles at the kitchen table and then one day when I was at the pediatrician's he simply said, "Give up. He'll get the nutrition he needs from the food he eats but don't make mealtimes unpleasant. You are there to enjoy and savor, not fight." Spoken like a true Frenchman but you know what? He's right and since that day, that is exactly what I have done. Now that doesn't mean that I've stopped trying to sneak more "good for you" food onto his plate. And I know many of you parents out there have the same dilemma. That's why I decided to post this "good for you" cupcake recipe (okay, it has sugar and all that other bad stuff but the added bananas = real fruit, get high marks in my book).

This recipe is originally from The Australian Women's Weekly - Cupcakes, but I came across it on another food blogger's page : The Red Deer. All I can say is thank you Alicia, The Red Deer, for putting this out there. I actually made this recipe twice in a 72 hour period - it's that good!



The first time I made them, I topped them with a vanilla bean cream cheese frosting and melted milk chocolate. The second time I opted for a strawberry buttercream and a light dusting of my new Salmon Pink Mystical Dust for extra glamour. I really enjoyed both of these variations and will likely try the recipe with a lemon cream cheese frosting as originally posted the next time I make them.

Here's the recipe. I made some modifications cause I didn't have everything in the pantry which I have noted in the sidelines. You'll love the moist rich cake it yields, the delicious banana-y taste and best of all, your kids will too:

Sour Cream Banana Cupcakes (from The Australian Women's Weekly - Cupcakes)
As posted by The Red Deer
Makes 12

90g butter, softened
110g brown sugar
2 eggs
75g self raising flour (I used 150g. total of regular flour + 1 tsp. baking soda instead of the mixture of 75g. plain flour, 75g. self-raising flour and 1/2 tsp. bicarb soda)
75g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp mixed spice (For you non-Aussies like me, Alicia says this is coriander, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. I substituted a mix of 1/4 tsp. each ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cracked pepper)
2/3 cup overripe banana, mashed (about 1 1/2 bananas)
80g sour cream (2 whopping tbsps.)
2 tbsps milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Beat butter and sugar until creamy and light. Add eggs one by one mixing well after each addition.
3. Stir in sifted ingredients, banana, sour cream and milk.
4. Divide batter amongst cupcake liners, and bake for 20 minutes.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (from The Australian Women's Weekly - Cupcakes)
As posted by The Red Deer
Made more than enough for 12 cupcakes

60g butter, softened
250g cream cheese
500g icing sugar, sifted
juice of 1 lemon

1. Beat butter and cream cheese until combined, light and fluffy.
2. Add the icing sugar and beat until combined.
3. Add the lemon juice and beat until combined, and then keep beating until smooth.

BTW, you'd have to be living under a rock not to know the title of this post refers to "Hollaback Girl" a song from the fabulous Miss Gwen Stefani (sorry, Mom, don't mean to offend you! I don;t really mean that you live under a rock.). I've always been curious about what the lyrics really meant and came across this pretty funny, tongue-in-cheek explanation a while back.