Cupcake Critique.

I know, two blogs in one day. Total craziness, right? (Especially considering this whole potty-training non-sense that's going on in my house!) Well, I have several things that I wanted to blog about and they're building up. The more they build up, the less likely I am going to blog about any, so I figure two in one day is a good thing.

And so, onto today's blog #2:
A few weeks ago I picked up Martha Stewart's February magazine. Admittedly, I only usually buy the Halloween and Christmas Martha mags because she kinda annoys me. Not the way Rachael Ray does, but in the way that she's the MacGyver of crafting. Just use dental floss, a thumb tack, and several skeins of yarn and voila! A bookcase. Anyhow, I was instantly drawn to the pretty picture on the cover: vibrantly frosted mini cupcakes in the shape of a heart. Too cute!

I have this habit of buying a magazine like that and letting it lay around my kitchen for weeks and weeks. This magazine was no exception. Usually during breakfast & lunch I look at it. Over and over. And over.
Finally I decided it was time to get off my ass and make one of the cupcakes. I had super black spotty bananas and decided to give the Banana Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream a go!

The Review:
The cupcake itself: YUMMY! Deliciously banana-y. Delicious texture too...I actually went out and bought the cake flour as opposed to my usual unbleached all-purpose. The only change: I used diced walnuts instead of pecans (Why? Cheaper, and, well, I don't really like pecans.)
Will make the cake again. Definitely!

The frosting: Don't forget to take an aspirin to thin your blood with this mofo. 3 sticks of butter! THREE! Oh, and lest I forget to mention the 80 gazillion steps. Make the caramel, cook the eggs whites over double-boiler, whip egg whites, whip butter separately. PAIN. IN. THE. ASS. The caramel itself was very good. The icing, while everyone who ate it enjoyed it and complimented on how "light" it was, wasn't that wonderful to me. Perhaps it was all the work, or maybe it was the thinning of the arteries that supply blood to my brain as a result of eating the frosting, but I just didn't think it was worth it. On the plus side, it wasn't too sweet, which a lot of people like (I am not one of them), on the negative side, 3 sticks of butter (which, in my opinion could've been reduced by half!), heavy cream, sugar, and egg whites.