Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes

I realize it's been awhile since I last share with you some tasty treats. So here is a recipe I tired that was rather yummy or at least my co-workers sure seemed happy with them.

Bake 350 for 17 minutes - yields ~16 cupcakes

Prep Bananas

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 3 whole peeled bananas on a baking sheet and roast 15 minutes. Remove bananas from oven and let cool, reduce oven temperature to 350F

Nilla Wafer Crust

4 C Nilla Wafers, crushed finely

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, melted

Vanilla Bean Banana Pastry Cream

2 C milk

6 egg yolks

2/3 C sugar

1 Vanilla Bean

2 T flour

2 tsp banana flavoring

Roasted Banana Cake

3 Ripe Bananas, roasted (see above)

2 C Cake Flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, room temp

1/2 Sugar

3 eggs, seperated

1/2 C sour cream

Chantilly Cream Frosting

2 C Heavy Whipping Cream

4 T powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla

Mix Nilla crumbs with melted butter and blend together thoroughly, either using a food processor or your hands. The mixture should stick when you pinch the crumbs but still stay light a fluffy when broken apart. Place one tablespoon of cookie crumbs in each cupcake liner and press down, forming a compact crust. Bake for 4-6 minutes until the crust turns a slight golden brown.

Bring the milk to a boil. Set aside.

Place the yolks, sugar in a bowl and whip with wire whisk for 3 to 4 minutes, slowly add flour and continue mixing for 1-2 more minutes or until well combined. 

Place the milk in a medium saucepan; scrape seeds from the vanilla bean and add to milk along with the pod. Bring the milk to a low boil, remove from heat and in a slow steady stream add half the milk to the egg yolk mixuture whisking the entire time. Pour the egg yolk mixture back iton pot with the remaining milk, whisking to combine and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly with the whisk. The sauce will thicken as soon as it reaches the boiling point. Reduce heat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid scorching. Remove from heat add pour through a strainer into a large bowl. Add banana extract and allow to cool to room temperature

Meanwhile, sift together cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each one is fully incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add roasted bananas and beat to combine. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of sour cream, and beating until just combined after each. Beat in vanilla.

In another mixing bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites to soft peaks;  fold one-third whites into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in two batches.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely.

In a large bowl place 2 cups of heavy cream and using a whisk or hand blender, whip until you see tracks or soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually as the cream begins to stiffen. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble cupcakes, using a small spoon or 1" circle cooking cutter or apple corer cut out the centers of the cupcakes for the custard filling and set the tops aside. Fill each cupcake to the top with custard and place the tops back on. The top will be a little higher than the rest of the cupcake but that will help hold the height when you add the whipped cream.Place chantilly cream into a pastry bag fitted with a medium French-star tip. Generously pipe whipped cream on top of cupcakes, making sure you cover the tops completely. Garnish with a vanilla wafer. (Don't forget because these have a whipped cream topping it's best to store in fridge and let come to room temp before serving)

NOTE - If you've read this far and seemed overwhelmed you could easily shortcut this by using boxed banana pudding mix and skipping the Nilla Wafer crust and just crushing the cookie and either sprinkle on top or adorn around the edges. (I would only do this right before serving as over time the cookie will soften against the whipped topping)

Enjoy!