But I was certainly the cupcake hero at my house and my husband’s place of employment!
As you may recall, I entered Quirky Cupcake’s Cupcake Hero May 2008 : Cocoa competition. It took them quite a while to pick a winner (sadly not myself). Now that a winner has been selected and I have an occassion to post it, here’s the recipe for Sexy Mexy Banana Hammock CuppyCakes aka “The Cabana Boy”. This cupcake was a fabulous choice for my May (at least I think it was)-my (Mexican/Cabana Boy) husband and I went on vacation during the month to beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Note: The cupcake itself is vegan-and only dirties one bowl (woo hoo), the frosting is not, but could easily be made so with minimal changes.
The picture I took so submit to Cupcake Hero is awful, but it was hot in my house and I was having meltage and shaky hand issues (a tripod is on my Christmas list).
Vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake
-1 c sugar
-1 1/2 c all purpose flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 c canola oil
-1 Tbs vanilla extract
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 c unsweeted cocoa
-1/4 tsp cayenne or Mexican chili powder
-1 c cold water
-1 Tsp balsamic vinegar
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. Combine all cake ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Pour into the pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one cupcake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely.
Banana Butter Frosting
-1/4 c butter, slightly softened
-1/2 c mashed bananas
-1/2 tsp lemon juice
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-2 pinches of ground cinnamon
-3 1/4 c confectioner’s sugar
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter, banana, lemon juice, vanilla with an electric mixer. Slowly beat in confectioners’ sugar, adding more if needed to make your desired consistency.
Makes about 2 1/3 cups
On top of mine, I added a dehydrated banana slice and another pinch of cinnamon. I couldn’t quite get the frosting thick enough for my desired consistency, but it was very tasty anyway.
Running with kitchen shears. 