Dad's Banana Birthday Cupcakes

Banana Birthday Cupcakes
Photo by Pam Stephan

Dad was going to have his 89th birthday and I wanted to do something special for him all through out the day. So I made a batch of these banana cupcakes and took them along to the cafe for breakfast. We shared these with our waitress and other diners, as part of our day-long celebration!

You may notice that the icing looks a bit irregular - well, Dad helped me ice them. We put each cupcake on a turntable and I squirted icing on them while Dad turned them around and around. Sometimes he missed the turntable and stuck his fingers into the icing. (We set those aside.) He thoroughly enjoyed helping out and he especially enjoyed doing Quality Control on these. Hey, somebody has to be the taste-tester around here!

Banana Birthday Cupcakes

Makes 2 dozen (24) cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 box of Betty Crocker Banana Cake Mix*
2 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of water
1 very ripe banana, mashed well
1/2 teaspoon banana flavoring (or 1 tsp if you really like banana!)

1/2 teaspoon ground Allspice

1 16- ounce container of Buttercream Icing**
Powdered sugar

Cook it:
Preheat your oven to 375°F (350°F for dark or nonstick pans). Put cupcake papers in 24 cupcake pans.

In a small bowl, beat all wet ingredients well. Include the mashed banana, and leave no lumps.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and Allspice. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stir until batter is smooth.

Divide batter into 24 muffin cups, bake for 15-18 minutes in preheated oven.

Cool completely before frosting.

Frost it:
In a small bowl, sift 1 cup of  powdered sugar, to remove all lumps. Add contents of Buttercream Icing container, blend well. Use this to frost the cupcakes in any way you like.
After frosting, I like to put the cakes in the refrigerator to set the icing.

Banana Cupcakes, 2nd Try!
Photo by Karl Stephan

*Duncan Hines is also good

**Duncan Hines Creamy frosting, Buttercream

Caramel Pecan Layered Gooey Brownies

Caramel Pecan Layered Gooey Brownies
Photo by Pam Stephan

Brownies are good. Layered brownies are better! And when those layers include a thick slab of melted chocolate and another of caramel, you've got a great treat.

This recipe came to me via a coworker. He brought these to the office one day, and when I asked for the instructions, he told me he'd have to ask his mother! She was flattered to be asked, and sent along the recipe. I've since made it many times for parties and gatherings.

Brownies like this go together easily, because you start with a cake mix. The hardest part of making this recipe is unwrapping the caramels.

Caramel Pecan Layered Gooey Brownies

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix
1 cup of chopped nuts, your choice (optional)
1 cup of evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk)
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter or margarine, melted
35 caramels, unwrapped (11 oz. bag)
2 cups chocolate morsels (12 oz. bag)

Cook It:
Use an ungreased 9x13" pan.
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Unwrap all of the caramels, eat about 4-5 of them and save the rest!

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix and nuts (if using).
Measure out 2/3 cup of milk.
Add the milk and  melted butter to the cake mix, stir well.
You will not need to add egg!
Spread half of the batter in the 9x13" pan, bake at 350º for 15 minutes.

While that is baking, put 1/3 cup of milk in a small saucepan and add the caramels.
Over a low heat, melt the candies into the milk.
Stir frequently to prevent scorching and create a smooth sauce.
 
Remove the brownie from the oven, sprinkle the 2 cups of chocolate morsels over the baked batter.
Try to make an even layer of the chocolate.
Drizzle the melted caramel all across the chocolate.
By teaspoonfulls, drop remaining batter on the caramel sauce.
Don't worry about covering the caramel completely.

Bake for another 25 - 30 minutes, until center is set.
Cool well before slicing into squares.
Use a wet plastic knife for a clean cut.

Serve and enjoy the compliments!

Brownies are easily served in muffin papers.
Photo by Pam Stephan