Eggless banana cupcakes & Wilton 1-Class 3

So for class 3 of Wilton course 1, we had the option of decorating cupcakes or a larger cake. I wasn't too keen on frosting a whole cake, so I took the easier way out and did the cupcakes. I've always loved the combination of bananas and chocolate, so I made a chocolate buttercream frosting using the Wilton recipe for these eggless banana cupcakes. I had fun in this class, learning to pipe shells, flowers, figures, and part 2 (of 3) of the rose - I really wish they would just teach us the whole rose in one go so that we can practice at home!

So here, I present to you my clowns chillin' on my cupcakes, and my eggless banana cupcake recipe. The cupcakes were moist and spongy, despite having spent 3 days in the refrigerator...they were also a tad sweet, so maybe next time I'll cut down on the sugar. I apologize for the poor quality pictures...I was starving and didn't really have the patience to take better pictures.

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas - mashed

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar - I would suggest a little less

1/3 cup oil - I used 2 tbsp melted butter + oil to bring it up to 1/3 cup

2/3 cup milk

1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare muffin liners.

2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.

3. In a separate bowl, mix oil, milk, and vanilla & almond extracts with mashed bananas.

4. Mix wet ingredients into dry - no need for hand blender.

5. Fill cupcakes two-thirds of the way and bake for about 25 mins.