A little while ago a dear friend of mine gave me a very mouthwatering book: the Making Cupcakes with LOLA cookbook. After reading it like one would a novel, I decided that I wanted to make each and every single one of them!

But I have one other thing I’m truly excited about: I’ve started a collection of chinaware! And my first items are from the PiP Studio Love Birds collection. I had my eye on them for such a long time! I’m completely in love! (Honestly. They didn’t send me those items nor did I receive any form of payment to say so.)

About these cupcakes now. I admit to having an idiosyncrasy when it comes to bananas: I don’t eat them raw! And the sight of them mashed almost makes me sick. I love them any other way though: fried, baked, cooked, caramelised… You name it – and I eat it! And these cupcakes are GOOD! So fluffy and yummy that ate 3 right out of the oven! I just couldn’t stop 🙂

And then I topped them with a gorgeous meringue – OMG!

BANANA CUPCAKES
(slightly adapted from Making Cupcakes with LOLA)

INGREDIENTS
185g flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp bicarb
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs
200g caster sugar
100ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 bananas, mashed

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line muffin tins with 18 paper cups.
Beat sugar and eggs together for about 8 minutes, until thick and pale. Add oil and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
Sift together flour, cinnamon, bicarb and salt into the eggy mixture and beat on low to incorporate. Mix mashed bananas in.
Pour the batter into the cups and bake for 18-20 minutes.
Allow them to cool completely before decorating.

MERINGUE
(source: Making Cupcakes with LOLA)

INGREDIENTS
3 egg whites
180g icing sugar
¼ tsp cream tartar
½ tsp vanilla extract

METHOD
Mix together sugar, whites and cream tartar in a heat proof bowl and put it over a pan with simmering water. Beat it with a whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the temperature reaches 60°C.
Take away from heat and beat with a mixer until hard and shiny peaks start to form. Add vanilla and continue beating a bit longer.
Leave it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes and apply using a piping bag. Then, if desired, use a blow torch to burn the meringue a little.