Vintage Banana Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I’ve made these fresh banana cupcakes in the past – in a post I called “banana split cupcakes”. That banana cake recipe is one of my favorites! It’s full of fresh banana flavor, and has a hint of cinnamon as well. So what better way to top them, than with a cinnamon flavored frosting! I added just 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to a batch of my butter cream cheese frosting, and voila! It’s an amazing combination!

I kept the frosting it’s natural off-white color, and I decorated these with a “vintage” flare – I piped the frosting into a beautiful rose pattern, using a Wilton 1M tip. Then I added just a few small pearls on the frosting, just where I lifted the tip off the cupcake. They came out so elegant-looking! These would be perfect for a wedding shower!

Banana Cake recipe:

Bake at 350 degrees for 16 – 20 min. Makes 22-24 regular sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c cake flour
1 2/3 c sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 c vegetable oil
2/3 c buttermilk
1 1/4 c mashed very ripe bananas (3 bananas)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Place 24 paper cupcake liners into cupcake pans.

Combine dry ingredients into a stand mixing bowl, and blend using a whisk attachment.

Add vegetable oil, buttermilk, and banana. Blend on low – med until well combined for about 2 minutes.

Add eggs and vanilla. Beat for 1 min.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full.

Bake for 16 – 20 min, til lightly browned. A toothpick inserted in center should come out clean. Do not overbake. Cool completely.

Then whip up a batch of my butter cream cheese frosting:

Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter (room temp)
8 oz cream cheese (room temp)
4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Add butter, cream cheese, and flavoring to a stand mixing bowl, with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until very smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Start the mixer on LOW (you can even pulse it a few times, to incorporate the sugar into the creamed mixture, to avoid the sugar going all over you and the counter!) Then mix on med – med high, til well-blended. Once all 4 cups of sugar are incorporated, blend on high til there is a smooth, whipped appearance. Add the 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Blend again.

Place the frosting into a piping bag, with a 1M Wilton tip. Pipe on the the cupcakes in a swirl pattern to create a rose design. Garnish with a few white pearl candy beads.