Chocolate Banana Chiffon Cupcakes

Today, I'm going to use a muffin recipe to bake chiffon cupcakes!

Huh!!! - I know that you must be saying this!!! You must be thinking that I'm a crazy woman. Due to my passion with baking, I must admit that I'm a little cuckoo... LOL!

Here, I'm being cuckoo again to think of this idea and have transformed a well-reviewed Nigella's chocolate banana muffin recipe from her book, Kitchen or here into these chocolate banana chiffon cupcakes...

These are not Nigella's muffins but... Chocolate Banana Chiffon Cupcakes

Who gave me this cuckoo idea? Obviously, my son... LOL!

Originally, I was going to bake chocolate banana muffins from her book, Kitchen by Nigella Lawson or here. As I was weighing out and preparing the ingredients, my son came along and started chatting with me.

"Mum, what are you baking?" asked my son with a nosy plus peckish look.

"I'm baking chocolate banana muffins..."

"Oh... I thought you are going to bake banana chiffon cake!!!" said my son with a rather sad and disappointed face because he saw that I was preparing the banana purée and thought that I was going to bake his favourite banana chiffon cake. Sadly, he walked away and I'm pretty sure that he didn't look peckish anymore...

"Wait a minute..." I tried to hold my son's interest. I'm not baking muffins anymore. How about if I bake chocolate banana chiffon cupcakes? They are not same as your favourite banana chiffon cake but they are chiffon cakes.

"Ok, mum. Ok" I know it is quite a reluctant ok but still an ok... LOL! And so, I went on and bake these.

Instead of using 1/4 cup (60ml) of oil, I have used 2 tbsp (30ml) of oil plus 2 tbsp of milk.

Instead of 1 egg, I have used 3 egg yolks to whisk with brown sugar, oil and milk. 

For the banana, I'm sticking to the amount as mentioned in Nigella's recipe.

Add the sifted dry ingredients that are also used in Nigella's recipe.

Next, I beat 4 egg whites plus 40g caster sugar until stiff peaks formed.

Fold in egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture.
And, use this wonderful cupcake scoop from Tovolo (Australia) to divide the mixture into baking cups

Glad that these cupcakes turned out to be pretty good.

To minimize any sudden change of temperature that will eventually result shrinkage, I have cooled the cakes in the oven with its door ajar.

I'm surprised that the cakes look really good!

... and taste really good too!

What can I say??? This is absolutely a great cuckoo idea!!!

Can you imagine 12 of these cakes contain only 2 tablespoon (30 ml) of oil? Seriously, I can't complain!!!

Looking at the cakes closer, the texture and description of these little chocolate banana chiffon cupcakes reminded me of the mango chiffon cupcakes baked by Happy Home Baking. She said that her cakes are a little denser than the chiffon cakes baked in tube pans but they are still light. Mine too... Although these chocolate banana chiffon cupcakes are not feathery light like banana chiffon cake, they are still light and moist with a bouncy sponge-cake kind of texture. Seriously, I can't complain!!!

Here's the recipe that is mostly adapted from the book, Kitchen by Nigella Lawson or here

Using half amount of Nigella's recipe with 3 egg yolks, 4 egg whites plus 40g caster sugar, I have transformed 6 chocolate banana muffins into 12 chocolate banana chiffon cupcakes

Ingredients A:

1 1/2 (about 160g) very ripe bananas, peeled and processed into smooth purée
3 egg yolks

2 tbsp (30ml) vegetable oil
2 tbsp (30ml) milk

40g light brown sugar110g all purpose flour
15g good quality cocoa powder, preferably Dutch processed cocoa powder like Valrhona
1/2 tsp baking powder

Ingredients B:

4 egg whites

40g caster sugar
Preheat oven to 150°C or 130°C fan forced. Place 12 standard-size bake-able paper cups on a baking tray. Set aside.

For ingredient A:
Using a handheld blender, process banana into smooth purée.

Using a hand whisk, whisk egg yolks, oil, milk and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until combined. Then, whisk in the banana purée.

In another mixing bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together. Sift the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture and mix until both mixtures are well combined. Set aside.

For ingredients B:
Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk egg whites at a medium low speed for 5 mins or until frothy. Increase beating speed to medium high. While beating, add caster sugar gradually in batches into the egg white mixture and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

Using a spoon or a spatula, combine both egg yolks and white mixture in batches and gently. Then, spoon the batter into the baking cups in 12 divided portions.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 mins. Increase the oven temperature to 180°C or 160°C fan forced and bake for another 5-10 mins or until a skewer insert comes out clean. Turn off the oven and allow the cakes to cool in the oven with its door ajar. These cakes are actually very stable! They will shrink but actually very little. Serve at room temperature.

Happy Baking
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