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Recently, I had the opportunity to throw my bff, Jhiane, a Baby Shower.
It was a small and intimate shower with some of our closest friends, her favorite foods, and no tacky Baby Shower games. Although I do enjoy the company of some children in my life, I loathe Baby Shower games, the good thing is, so does Jhiane.
The main menu consisted of…
a Cheese Platter.
Mini Chicken Tacos (Trader Joe’s) – taste awesome.
Cucumber Chive Afternoon Tea Sandwiches.
Salsa Mac & Cheese – Jhiane’s favorite dish!
Black Bean Taquitos (Trader Joe’s) – dry, not worth purchasing.
Rosemary & Garlic Chive Bread – heavenly!
And Banana Cupcakes w/Cream Cheese Frosting.
Yup, my friend and I share the same love for food, but that’s not the only thing we have in common.
We share the same love for dancing, music, celebrity gossip, eating, desserts, staying up late with a cuppa, sleeping, shopping, New York City, and vacationing at fun islands. We are in a lot of ways the same person.
Jhiane and I go way back and have known each other for the past 15 years, and each year my friendship with her seems to deepen and strengthen to the point where I can honestly say she probably knows me better than anyone.
it’s not often that I tell Jhiane what it is that I love so much about her, but today I will type it out…
She can read me like an open book.
She forces me to be true to myself even when times are tough.
She isn’t uptight about anything.
She never judges me no matter what I tell her.
She keeps it real, always.
She makes me laugh at myself, herself, and everyone else.
She finds humor in just about everything.
She lifts me, sees the good in me, and then tells me all the things I should be grateful for when I fail to see the big picture.
She has stayed on the phone with me (and fallen asleep on me) many, many times after hours when I’ve felt high and low.
She is happy for me when good things happen to me.
She steers me in the right direction when I’m off track.
She is always ready to eat and dance.
She is so supportive of my blog and all of a sudden I’ll randomly get a bunch of hwc Facebook updates from her.
She makes me step out of my comfort zone and experience new things in life.
She is selfless.
She is my best friend, my partner in crime.
Jhiane has been an exceptional friend to me, and I know she’s going to be an even exceptional mother to her newborn daughter, Malia, who was born just last month, a healthy, beautiful baby. She’s a miracle!
Although Jhiane’s life will be consumed with so much love, joy, and stress in the next few months, one thing is for sure, it’s my turn to be there for my bff while she experiences the highs and lows of motherhood, a difficult, but rewarding journey for every mother I know.
How to make Banana Cupcakes?
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Add butter and sugar to a bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium to high speed.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla.
5. Mix until light and fluffy, like this.
6. In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients… flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix.
7. Add half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined, do NOT over mix.
8. Add half the buttermilk.
9. Alternate between the dry and wet ingredients, starting with the dry and ending with the dry. DO NOT OVERMIX. This is what you should have.
10. Mash/puree the bananas.
11. Add the mashed/pureed banana to the cake batter.
12. Mix the banana in for about 1 minute. DO NOT OVERMIX.
13. Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop the cake batter into a cupcake liner.
14. The recipe says to bake for 23 minutes at 300 degrees, however I baked mine for about 33 minutes at 300 degrees.
15. For the frosting. Add the butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl.
16. Whip the butter and cream cheese until well combined for about 5 minutes.
17. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar.
18. Beat until creamy. Add a tablespoon of milk, if need be.
19. If desired, add food color.
20. HEAVENLY!
Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
for the banana cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 eggs
- splash vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- just a pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 cup pureed ripe bananas
for the cream cheese frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- splash vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk, optional: to thin out the frosting a little, if need be
- a couple drops of yellow food coloing, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Add butter and sugar to a bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium to high speed.
- Add the eggs and vanilla. 
- Mix until light and fluffy, like this.
- In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients… flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix.
- Add half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined, do NOT over mix.
- Add half the buttermilk. 
- Alternate between the dry and wet ingredients, starting with the dry and ending with the dry. DO NOT OVERMIX. This is what you should have.
- Mash/puree the bananas.
- Add the mashed/pureed banana to the cake batter.
- Mix the banana in for about 1 minute. DO NOT OVERMIX. 
- Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop the cake batter into a cupcake liner. 
- The recipe says to bake for 23 minutes at 300 degrees, however I baked mine for about 33 minutes at 300 degrees. 
- For the frosting. Add the butter and cream cheese to a mixing bowl.
- Whip the butter and cream cheese until well combined for about 5 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar. 
- Beat until creamy. Add a tablespoon of milk, if need be.
- If desired, add food color.
- HEAVENLY!
they look delicious!
Thanks Dina! They are.
We have not seen banana cupcakes in a while! These look great! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks girl. These cupcakes are beyond delicious! I promise you won't be disappointed.
Thanks Holly.. yeah, I am so lucky too. Baby Showers are SO boring to me, it's different when you are hosting because I can control how much baby stuff I wanna do. ๐
You certainly have a best friend there, such a sweet post about Jhiane! You both are lucky to have each other. Quick ques about the cup cakes: is cake flour the same as self raising flour? I have not been able to find plain or self raising flour in Delhi even in international stores…have any idea what I can do to substitute flour? I really want to make cup cakes or muffins or even a cake! Thanks ๐
Thanks Amelia, we are both lucky, agreed. So I'm not sure about self-raising flour, but cake flour is essentially regular all purpose white flour and cornstarch – this results in a more tender cake. If you don't have cake flour, you can make it as follows:
for every 1 cup of cake flour = 3/4 cup regular white flour + 2 tbsp of regular white flour + 2 tbsp of cornstarch.
I hope I didn't confuse you.
So this recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of cake flour.
You would need :
1 1/4 + 1 tbsp of white flour.
3 tbsp of cornstarch.
Hope that helps.
I love banana anything. These cupcakes are totally perfect for me or for a baby shower. ๐ I love the tea sandwiches. Congrats to your friend!
Thanks Anne, me too. Love banana anything. ๐
Congratulations to you Jhiane! What a great friendship you two have. So envious and so happy for you!
Thanks Ameena.. she's the best. ๐
When reading this you brought me to tears. Nish you have been such a profound blessing in my life. You make my life so worthwhile. You are my sister, maybe by not blood, but by destiny. I don't feel that I've thanked you enough for all that you do for me and all the support that you have given me. Thanks for all the great memories, laughter and conversations. Thank you for being there for me during my trials and tribulations. Thanks for throwing me such a thoughtful baby shower with so many delectable goodies to devour. Love your bestie Jhiane
Awww.. Jhiane. You're so sweet, I feel the same way, my sista from another mother. Lol. We've had some great memories to last me a lifetime.
Awww so so so fun!!! And such a sweet post…with sweet cupcakes to accompany it!
Thanks Joanne. The cupcakes were really delicious.