Choco-Coco-Banana Cup Cakes

This is one of my all time favourite recipies. The combination of chocolate, banana and coconut is just delicious.
After a number of tasty experiments, here is my 100% vegan cup cake recipe.

The not-so-secret ingredients in the cup cakes are mashed banana, cocoa powder and shredded coconut. The frosting is made with white chocolate and coconut oil, and the drizzle is simply melted dark chocolate.

The coconut oil is the hardest ingredient to find, but it makes for a real creamy coconut frosting. It is also the hardest ingredient to work with. If it is even slightly warm it will be a liquid, and too cold it will freeze rock solid. For this reason, you have to wait between steps for everything to cool down. The secret to making the cupcakes look so good is patience.

I love collecting kitchen gadgets and two in particular will make your life easier. First, a rotary grater makes mashing bananas a breeze, even if they are a little unripe. You can just use a fork, but I just get bent forks when ever I try this. Second, an icing pen is required to create the chocolate drizzle. Let’s get to the recipe.

Ingredients (makes 12)

For the cupcakes

230g self raising flour, 80g sugar, 16g baking powder, 75g cocoa powder, 50g dessicated, shredded coconut, 2 large bananas, 90ml sunflower oil and 250ml water.

For the topping

120g white chocolate, 4 tablespoons of coconut oil, 3 tablespoons of icing sugar, 100g dark chocolate, 12 walnut halves.

Making the cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix in the coconut.

Mix the oil and water together, and add slowly to the dry ingredients, stirring thoroughly. Finally mix in the banana until the mixture is very smooth.  Pour the mixture into the muffin cases, leaving a little room for them to rise.

Bake the cupcakes for  30 minutes, until they have risen and springy to the touch. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

Making the toppings

Only start this step once the cup cakes are cool, or you won’t be able to apply the frosting to the cakes. Beat the coconut oil and the sugar together and melt the white chocolate. Stir the two together and let it cool until cold.

You may need to put the topping in the fridge. As it starts to solidify, stir it to stop it turning really hard. When thickened, spread the frosting onto the cupcakes and add a walnut. If the frosting becomes rock solid, you can use a hot knife to apply the frosting. Leave the cupcakes in the fridge to let the frosting harden again.

Finally melt the dark chocolate, put it into a icing pen and drizzle over the muffins. Remember to wait until the white frosting has set completely.

Enjoy!