Scary-good Nutella cupcakes! Happy Halloween!

Here's some scary cupcakes in the spirit of Halloween. I actually had a terrifying nightmare of spiders after making these.  These nutella cupcakes literally made me wet myself a couple of times over!

Nutella is one of my favourite things in the world.  My JERK boyfriend (just kidding, he's awesome) bought me a jar about two weeks ago.  After polishing it off with a spoon within a day or two, I was INSPIRED, albeit a couple of pounds heavier. 

I followed a nutella cupcake recipe- but after doing this I decided that the delicious nutella flavour that I yearn for was lost once baked. But have no fear- I injected these bad boys with nutella, then made a nutella-based frosting.  They were amazing! (Obvs!) But in retrospect next time I'll probably just follow my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe, inject the centres with nutella, and slather on that delicious nutella frosting! The shortening I added makes it healthier.  Or something. 

I dyed some fondant black, and made some spooky shapes.  Took the better half of an afternoon, but I had fun doing it!  Again, these are shot from some ghetto cameras, so the photos don't really do them justice.

Here's the Nutella Frosting recipe- use on toast, to dip fruits and veggies in, stir some in your tea, or just decorate a cupcake:

• 1 cup Nutella
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk (add slowly)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the creamer attachment on your mixer, mix first two ingredients until incorporated. Mix in powdered sugar and milk, one at a time, alternating until you reach your desired consistency. Mix in vanilla- enjoy!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Everybody can rejoice- the hiatus is over!!

Hazaaaaa, after everyone has suffered a long, cupcake-less summer, Janna Banana Takes the Cake! is back!

A little about my haitus: I was busy leading a jet-setting life, and the rare days I was at home in Toronto, I spent my days napping, drinking wine, and napping some more.

Now that fall has hit, I have A LOT of time on my hands.  So you best believe you'll have something to look forward to once in a while. Also, as if this news wasn't exciting enough to accelerate your heart rate as you jumped up and down, squealing with delight; maybe this will be: I got a puppy and he is the cutest puppy in the world.

My bite-sized puglet, Bryan!

K, so now about cupcakes. I made some fall-inspired cupcakes last week, and obviously they were delicious.  Not being much of a pumpkin dessert fan (yes that includes everyone's beloved pumpkin-pie - gag) I decided to use this fall ingredient but in a way that I would enjoy- in chocolate cupcakes of course.

I mixed a few tablespoons of pumpkin purée, as well as a few dashes of cinnamon into a fairly standard chocolate cupcake recipe.  Another recommendation is substituting half of the granulated sugar with brown sugar.  The result: a delicious, SUPER MOIST chocolatey/pumpkin-ish circle of delight.

And here is a recipe for the AMAZING pumpkin buttercream I slathered on top:

• 3/4lb vegetable shortening
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2-3 tablespoons pumpkin purée
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 5 cups of powdered sugar

Throw all those ingredients into a stand-mixer (like this sexy one my boyfriend bought me for my birthday, NBD), put on the cream-er attachment, and let that thing work its magic for like 3 minutes.  My suggestions is to add the powdered sugar slowly, maybe cup at a time just to make sure you get it the way you want it.

 

A pug emerging from a spiral of buttercream frosting- dreams can come true.

During my summer festivities my fancy camera broke.. so hope you enjoyed these low-def pictures!