Banana Pudding Cupcakes

This past weekend, we celebrated of one of my favorite people in the entire world, my friend Ben who had a birthday earlier this month. Like much earlier this month. As in April 5th earlier. Why the delay in celebrating? Life. A wedding, a  bachelorette party (not in that order), a few DC2NY round-trips, Passover, DVR fueled marathons of Happy Endings etc. 

But seriously, Ben is incredible. So just here at Braided and Egged we're going all out. As you might remember last year's Ben Birthday creation was an orange and blue cookie creation I dubbed Gator Bait in honor of Ben's alma mater (go gators!). They were amazing. I might not be able to top it, but I sure as heck am going to try. 

Ben and I have been friends for years, but it never fails to surprise us both when we realize funny parallels in our upbringings. We both have fabulous moms (hi Sharon and Susan!), great style, a love of DC, a family history in the scrap business (junk not DVF swatches), and a passion for banana pudding. Now it's pretty incredible that given my personal affinity for banana pudding I have heretofore never made it on my own. Sure I've helped my grandmother layer the bananas and Nilla Wafers a time or two, but make it on my own? Chalk it up to fear of consuming the entire batch by myself or perhaps a distrust of insant pudding packages not purchased at an HEB. But if you know how awesome Ben, you're acutely aware that I would be willing to take such risks. Without further ado, I present to you the Banana Pudding Cupcake.

I started with the classic 1-2-3-4 cake I learned at the lap of the best. My timeworn copy of Fanny at Chez Panisse (truth it is in fact possible to give a kid a present they will use forever). 

Banana Pudding Modified 1-2-3-4 Cake

"This cake is called 1-2-3-4 because it is a very old recipe and people could remember the ingredients by the numbers without having to write it down." - Fanny at Chez Panisse

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

2 not yet entirely rotten bananas, smashed with a fork 

1 package instant vanilla pudding prepared according to directions on box
2 "just right" bananas
1 container Cool Whip

Heat oven to 350° F. 

Sift the cake flour, scoop into a measuring cup, scrape a knife across the top of the cup to level it, and measure 3 cups. Put the flour in a separate bowl. Add baking powder and salt to the flour and combine. 

Separate the eggs. Put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. 

Beat the butter using a hand-mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar, and smashed bananas and beat again until very fluffy and light yellow. Add the egg yolks and beat them in briefly. Add vanilla and mix well.

Next add the flour and milk in parts. Sift about half of the flour over the butter mixture and lightly stir it in. Exchange the spoon for a large rubber spatula, and pour in about half the milk. Use the spatula to gently mix the milk into the batter. Sift over the rest of the flour and stir it in. Pour in the rest of the milk and gently mix it in.

Using a very clean metal bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand-mixer. When the whites are very fluffy and will hold a soft peak shape when you lift up the whisk, they're ready. I always have to remind myself to be patient at this point. They'll get there. 

Scoop up some of the whites with the spatula, add to the batter, and very gently stir them in. This will lighten the batter and make it easier to fold in the rest of the whites. Then pour the rest of the whites onto the batter and begin to fold them in. Use the spatula to lift up some of the batter from the bottom of the bowl and fold it over the whites. Turn the bowl a little and fold again. Do that just until the egg whites are mixed in. Try not to crush the air bubbles in the whites, this is what gives the cupcakes a light and delicate texture.

Add the batter to your lined cupcake tins, they should be about half-full, and put in the center of the oven to bake for about 25 minutes. When the cakes are lightly browned, and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean, they're done. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

make 32 cupcakes.

While the cupcakes are baking prepare your instant pudding according to directions on the box. Mine required 3 cups of milk and approximately 5 minutes to chill. Not made from scratch but I'll take it. 

Once the cupcakes cooled I cut a little circle in each that was about an inch deep. I took the cupcake scraps and threw them into the pudding (no reason to waste good cake) and mixed in two cups of Nilla Wafers broken up into pieces. I then poured the pudding into a sandwich bag to pipe into the cupcakes (my friend Liz thought up this genius move) and cut a one inch hole in the corner of the bag.

Liz handled the piping so if you have any questions about that part you'll have to consult her. I was busy straightening my hair in preparation for the torrential downpour awaiting us once we stepped out my apartment door. Time well spent.

Anyway after that we packed up the cupcakes and brought them over to Ben's in the fabulous cake carrier he got me for Hannukah. 

When you're ready to serve the cupcakes, simply take our your container of Cool Whip and using a spatula spread about two tablespoons onto the top of the cupcake. Garnish with a Nilla Wafer or two and a slice of banana and you've got a party (especially if you have Ben with you). Happy birthday Ben!