Banana Split Cupcake
Cupcake Hero is BACK! This is one of the first blogging events I ever participated in. After a 9-month or so hiatus, CB has brought it back for all of us cupcake fans out there. This month’s ingredient is banana, which was a shocking selection since CB does NOT like banana. I struggled all month to think of a creative use of banana in a cupcake. Finally, on a restless night, I came up with this idea.
As you know, a classic Banana Split has a split banana, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream, topped with pineapple, strawberry, and chocolate. Then the whole thing is topped with chopped nuts, whipped cream, and of course a cherry.
These cupcakes are so freaking cute! I can’t wait to make them again. They taste just like a banana split with the added bonus of having some cake in it! I opted to leave the nuts and whipped cream out, but you could definitely add those if you wanted to.
First I started with some Martha Stewart yellow buttermilk cupcakes. They are my current go-to white cupcake. Although the recipe makes a TON of cupcakes! Then I used my round cookie cutter to cut out the center of the cupcake.
Next I added a slice of banana.
On top of that I added some mushed up strawberries. You could also use strawberry ice cream topping, but I just took some frozen strawberries, thawed them out, put them in a ziplock bag and mushed them by hand.
Then I topped the strawberry with another banana slice. At this point I realized I wouldn’t need the top of the cupcake that I had cut out. So I ate it. Tasty!
For the frosting, I used the pineapple cream cheese frosting that I’ve made tons of times, except I bumped up the amount of pineapple in it. Then I got it really cold by putting it in the freezer for about an hour so that I could scoop it with my cookie scoop to make it look like ice cream.
Next I drizzled some pourable chocolate ganache over the top of the frosting.
Lastly I topped with a cherry.
I wanted to do a shot of the inside of the cupcake. It’s quite messy in there, but that is definitely the way a banana split looks after you take the first bite.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
The pops are so cute!! Love the colors you used to decorate them with.
Thanks! I just wanted something springy and fun.
Looks adorable!!
These look amazing! Great job. I don’t know if I’d have the patience 🙂
It really helped to break it out into steps. And the help from Hubby was big. If I had to do all 80 of them myself, I probably would have given up half way through…
Holy cow… 80 of them?! You’re a trooper!
Those turned out great though!
They’re SO cute! I love all the different sprinkles you used!
Those are just too cute…and tempting!
Those are incredible!!! great job!!!
Very pretty! I’ve seen those brownie molds. I’m waiting to grab one when I get one of those 40% off coupons.
Glad to hear your MIL had a wonderful party.
~ingrid
Very cute! These look great!
What a cute idea! I love all the bright colors!
Lovely job! Thank you for posting my link. I like your color combination and the flower pots for displaying the brownie pops. Very creative!!
Have you ever tried to freeze them after you dipped them in chocolate? I am thinking of making some for a wedding but wouldn’t have time to dip them on the day of the event.
Lisa, I have not done that for brownie pops before. But I have frozen cake balls which are also covered in chocolate. I would assume it would work just fine. You could always make a small batch to test it out. Definitely let me know how it goes!