Thursday, July 21, 2011

Honey Beehive Cupcakes




On sunday we all went to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie in theatres. Unfortunately we didn't like the movie all that much (and we're fans of the old Winnie the Pooh movie) but the treats we had afterwards made up for it.

These brown butter banana honey cupcakes are one of my new favourites, you can really taste the honey and the banana creates a moist cupcake. Try a swiss meringue buttercream with a bit of honey folded in, or if you like whipped cream that's fine too, sweetened with a hint of honey they are super easy to do and only require a handful of ingredients.

Brown butter banana honey cupcakes:


1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

½ cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs, room temperature

1 ½ cups banana puree (about 4 bananas)

½ cup buttermilk (or yogurt watered down into the consistency of melted ice cream)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

To make brown butter: In a small heavy bottomed saucepan cook the butter over low heat until the butter is caramel coloured and smells toasty. DO NOT skim off any foam because those are the milk solids and they are what create the flavour once they toasts, because the rest is just melted fat and will not develop flavour on it's own.

Strain the mixture to remove the brown bits. (You can do this step a day ahead, it keeps in the fridge and then you just melt the butter again in the microwave when you're ready to use)

To make the cupcakes:

Using the paddle attachment, beat together the brown butter (which is now melted), sugar, honey and vanilla until it is cooled off slightly. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the banana puree and mix until incorporated.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Line your cupcake pan with wrappers and begin filling them (not too much or it will over flow!)

Bake for 15-17 mins (17 worked great for me)




Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Follow this recipe but instead of using the berry mixture add in a bit of honey at the end, 2 tbsp or so and a dash of salt and incorporate.


For honey Whipped Cream:

Pour your chilled heavy cream in the bowl and add some powdered sugar and whip until it's a beautiful creamy whipped consistency, add vanilla and drizzle in a bit of honey and fold in.

Decorate your cupcakes with either of the frostings above using a piping bag and a large round piping tip (I used Wilton No.2A) and begin piping a flat disk onto the cooled cupcakes and making circles smaller and smaller as you go higher to create a beehive look.



Later in the day we enjoyed Chicken and Dumplings, click here for the recipe.


12 comments:

Heidi @ Food Doodles said...

Those little bees are so cute! Beautiful cupcakes :D

Sashquatch said...

SO cute! And a delicious sounding cupcake recipe also :)

Barbara F. said...

Hi! Visiting from Pinterest. These are adorable and sound delicious. I will be visiting your blog again! xo

Jane said...

Those cupcakes just couldn't be cuter or more appealing. Love them!

Decia said...

hello i want to make these for my daughters 3rd birthday,however i only have a hand mixer and i'm new to baking just wondering if it will get good results without a stand mixer. Any advice?

Amatullah said...

Yes you can make it by hand!! A big bowl and a whisk, that's what I prefer to a kitchen aid mixer. hehe. I'm old fashioned that way. If you're going to do buttercream like the swiss meringue it's tricky and you need a handmixer at least but if you want to do whipped cream then you can whip it by hand, it's a little effort but it works (I do it outside in the garden to avoid splashes of the cream on me) sweeten it with a bit of honey.

Beth Michelle said...

I love Winnie the Pooh and I love these little cupcakes. They are beyond adorable.

Shirley said...

These are adorable, especially the "hives." I thought for sure the bee decorations were storebought, so I'm mighty impressed.

Anonymous said...

hi! can you tell me how many cupcakes this recipe makes? thanks!

Amatullah said...

All I remember was that they were all gone, pretty sure it made about 20ish.

Joey Greek said...

Made these cupcakes this morning, they are super good! The browned butter was easy to make and added a lot to the final flavor. I was able to yield about 30 cupcakes and topped them with a honey Chantilly. Thanks for the great idea!

Unknown said...

Awesome cupcakes