One of my favorite childhood memories was going to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) with my family. My mom and I both loved Banana Nut Pancakes (which I don’t see on their menu anymore these days but you can ask for it). For some reason, as a 6 year-old, I thought I was cooler than my brother, just for the sheer reason that I had the same favorite pancakes as my mom. I would share a giant stack with my mom, smiling all the way through the meal, because I just knew my mom liked me more. Yup, purely because my brother would order something else.

Maple Cupcakes with Whipped Cream, Bananas, and Pecans 2

I’m pretty sure I’m now older and wiser, a little less immature, but my favorite pancakes are still covered in bananas and nuts. When I saw a cake recipe using maple syrup in How to Be a Domestic Goddess, by Nigella Lawson, I decided to work from there and make a pancake inspired cupcake. (On a side note, the recipes in that book have been hit or miss for me.) The cake portion is maple flavored and it’s topped with freshly whipped cream, freshly sliced bananas, and toasted pecans. It’s a lighter cupcake (which I need at this time of year) and it brings me back to my childish breakfast memories of trying to be mom’s favorite. I’m pretty sure my mom would love these cupcakes too.

Banana Nut Maple Cupcake

As I mentioned, the cake portion of this recipe comes from Nigella’s book. I don’t like that many recipes use self-rising cake flour, which is not always available everywhere. When I did find it, I bought several boxes, but then soon realized that I never see recipes anywhere else that use self-rising cake flour. The solution is, don’t buy it. You can make it yourself quite easily if you ever need it, like when you make this recipe! For every cup of cake flour, stir in 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. It’s cheaper to make it yourself as well.

You can bake these cupcakes in paper liners or spray the pans with non-stick spray. I did half one way, half the other, and they ended up baking up differently. For this recipe, I like the look of the non-stick spray cupcakes more, but they are a little bit fussy to get out of the pan, A few of mine ripped.

Maple cupcakes 2

Pancake Inspired Cupcakes
~makes 24 cupcakes

Maple Cakes

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 11 ounces maple syrup
  • 3 1/3cup self-rising cake flour
  • 3/4 cup hot water

Topping

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 to 3 bananas, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted and cooled
  • maple syrup to drizzle (optional)

Instructions –

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lin cupcake tins with paper liners or spray with non-stick spray.

2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in maple syrup gradually. Alternate adding flour and hot water, and beat until smooth.

3. Divide into cupcake tins, about 3/4 of the way up for each. Bake for 14 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack (20 minutes if you use non-stick spray instead of liners). Cool completely before adding whipped cream.

4. Don’t assemble cupcakes until ready to serve or bananas will turn brown. To make whipped cream, place heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in the mixing bowl of your mixer and chill with the whisk attachment for 15 minutes. Beat until stiff peaks.

5. Pipe onto maple cakes. Top with bananas and pecans. Drizzle with more maple syrup if desired.

Banana Nut Maple Cupcake 2

posted by jessica at 03:18 PM Filed under Desserts, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.