Caramel Banana Cupcakes

I bought a tin of caramel at the supermarket a while ago and wondered what I could do with it.  I had a brainwave on Tuesday afternoon on the school run home and thought I would use up the spotty over-ripe bananas we had by making banana cupcakes and to make them a bit special I would add a dollop of caramel to the middle of each one.

The majority of the cupcakes disappeared within seconds of being decorated, however I did manage to grab a few and take quick photo before I was ambushed.

Caramel Banana Cupcakes

2 medium sized over-ripe bananas, mashed

100g butter or baking spread

100g caster sugar

2 large free range eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

12 teaspoons caramel from a tin

Chocolate Buttercream Icing:

250g icing sugar

50g cocoa powder

60g butter or baking spread

175g caramel from a tin

Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas Mark 4.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Put all the ingredients, except those for the icing, into a large bowl and beat until smooth.  This only takes a minute or two with an electric beater.

Fill the paper cases half full of mixture then dollop one teaspoon of caramel onto the mixture in each paper case.  Spoon the remaining mixture evenly into the paper cases making sure you cover the dollop of caramel.

Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes.  Leave to cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing:

Put all ingredients into a bowl and beat to a smooth and fluffy consistency.  Spread or pipe over the top of the cupcakes.