Sweet Me Up: Desserts by miVi

The story behind the recipe:

A friend of mine challenged me to create a chocolate banana cake that would rival that of a bakery in downtown Toronto. This is the result. I found a regular chocolate cake recipe and added bananas and swapped out the milk with strawberry yogurt (mainly because that’s what I had in the fridge).

I’ve since then have put it in cupcake form.

Strawberry Banana Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 30 cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup butter
• 1 ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼cup bananas; mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• ¾ cup cocoa
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¾ cup strawberry yogurt
• Fluffy Vegan Buttercream (recipe below)
• 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips; melted
• 1 tbsp. butter or margarine
• walnuts, sprinkle to decorate
• 30 strawberries to garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cream butter with sugar and eggs.
3. Mix in bananas and vanilla.
4. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt separately.
5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 parts alternating with the yogurt. Begin and end with flour.
6. Pour into prepared cupcake wells and bake for 18-20 minutes. When cooled, pipe on frosting (recipe to follow). Add 1 tbsp of butter or margarine to the melted chocolate and drizzle over the frosting. Sprinkle with walnuts and sprinkles and top with a strawberry.

Frosting (using the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World  Fluffy Vegan Buttercream recipe)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup margarine
• 3-4 cups icing sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
• ¼ cup soy milk

1. Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.