Banana And Chocolate Cupcakes

I really love baked goods with bananas in them.  I have previously posted recipes for whoopie pies and breads so now, in honour of National Cupcake Week I'll post the recipe for these cupcakes!

Ingredients:

120g plain flour

140g caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

Pinch of salt

80g unsalted butter (room temperature)

120ml whole milk

2 eggs

120g bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas Mark 3

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and butter with an electric mixer on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency.  Slowly pour the milk into the mixture, beating until all the ingredients are well mixed, then add the eggs and mix well.  Scrape any unmixed ingredients off the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Stir the bananas into the batter by hand until they are evenly incorporated.  Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases so that the cases are two thirds full and then bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back and a cake tester or tooth pick comes out clean when inserted.  Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tins before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.  Frost the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream (recipe on the Basic Recipes page) and to finish them off, grate some chocolate onto the top.  One batch makes 12 cupcakes.