Banana Split Cupcakes–there’s nothing else that really needs to be said. They’re delicious of course, but they’re also beautiful. And did I mention easy?
The Story:
My mother has two sides. The more predominant side of her will pick up every penny she sees off the street. Even if she has to stop the car and get out, she will get that dirty, grimy, gunked-up penny and tuck it away for safe keeping. Every penny counts.
But the other side of her–the side that comes out once every few years–will splurge on silly things.
We went to Disney World as family when I was about 10. It was during my “only pink” phase, so the photos we have are a little disturbing with 90’s fashion in all hot pink. But on one of the days we went to get ice cream. I was thinking maybe 2 scoops if I was lucky. But my mother said we could order whatever we wanted. My brothers and I went a little crazy. We each ordered the most lavish (and biggest) sundaes we could find on the menu. Mine was as big as my head, and you can bet I finished it all!
I still pick up every penny I see in the parking lot and on the sidewalk. But every once and a while, it’s good to spend the pennies on something a little silly. It’s worth the memories you make.
Banana Split Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 Box Devil's Food Cake Mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C. oil
- 1/2 C. milk
- 1 C. sour cream
Banana Cake:
- 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
- 2 Large Bananas ripe
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 C. oil
- 1/2 C. sour cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Strawberry Frosting:
- 2 C. butter softened
- 1/4 C. Freeze-dried strawberries crushed in a food processor
- 6-8 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Melted chocolate, sprinkles and cherries for decoration
Instructions
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.
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2. Chocolate Cake: Sift cake mix into a large bowl, then add eggs, oil, milk and sour cream and stir until smooth. Set aside.
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3. Banana Cake: Sift cake mix into a large bowl. Mash bananas using a fork in a small bowl and then add to cake mix. Add eggs, oil, sour cream and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.
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4. Use a small food scoop or a spoon to place a small amount of chocolate cake batter in the side of each cupcake liner. Then scoop a small amount of banana cake batter next to it.
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5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
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6. Let cool.
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7. Strawberry Frosting: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add in crushed freeze-dried strawberries. (See a below recipe for more on these awesome berries!.) Slowly add in powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Add in vanilla extract.
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8. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with melted chocolate, sprinkles and cherries!
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NOTE: You can half each box of cake mix and add only half the ingredients if you only want 20 cupcakes. You can use the extra cry cake mix to flavor butter creams later or Rice Crispy treats!
Freeze Dried Strawberries:
I get my packages from Trader Joe’s, but some Targets and other stores have started to carry them too. They are PERFECT for buttercreams because they have all the flavor and color from berries, but none of the moisture, so you can add as much as you want without making the frosting runny! If you want a few photos on working with them, check out my Strawberry Pop Tart Cupcakes!
Here’s my photo set up! I used this white tabletop made for me by a lady who makes food blogger props! How awesome is that?! I have my handy-dandy reflector board as always and then some props (bananas, napkin, fresh fruit) for extra color and texture!
If you want to know more about food photos, check out all my posts about it:
It’s not magic! It really does work, I promise! The batter is thick so they don’t just blend together 🙂
Ta-dah! How gorgeous are those? And they’re SO EASY. Everyone will think you’re a professional baker if you show up with these.
I’l assuming you measure the frozen srtawberries after they are crushed?
They are not frozen they are freeze-dried! You really can add as much or as little as you want, depending on how strong you want the flavor to be. But it’s NOT frozen berries. Freeze-dried berries have all the color and flavor of the berry with NO liquid, so it’s perfect for buttercreams. You can get a ton more natural flavor using them 🙂
what section would you find them in Lizzy? Dried fruit?
It totally depends, but usually yes!
These are great for a cupcake pan with dividers my friend gave me. I’ll have to do just your vanilla buttercream though, no one here likes strawberries.
Thanks.
E
These look so good Lizzy!
Such fun looking cupcakes!! I wanna make these for the girls at my work (we make actual banana splits all the time).
Lizzy, Where did you find freeze dried strawberries. If unable to find could I use fresh or frozen. Thanks
I get mine from Trader Joes! I think Target started selling them too! Fresh would be fine, but you really get a lot less flavor and color using fresh. But you can add a few teaspoons of strawberry flavored gelatin (jello) to get extra color and flavor!
If you aren’t using the freeze dried strawberries, would you use both fresh strawberries and a few teaspoons of strawberry flavored gelatin (jello) or just the strawberry flavored gelatin (jello)??
I’ve made frosting with fresh strawberries and strawberry extract. It was delicious, but you do need the extract to boost the flavor. If you are unable to find the freeze dried, I suggest looking for frosting recipes that call for fresh strawberries and extract and swap it out! These are so stinking cute! I will be making something similar for an order for a b-day party soon and used this as inspiration when I created by recipe! I just use my from scratch chocolate cake recipe and I do use a fresh strawberry frosting. I have not tried it with the freeze dried, so I think I will try it this time around! I just love the color of it!!
Those look fabulous! I love the “split” cupcake, it’s so fun!
Oh my gosh— I have NEVER thought to use freese-dried fruit in a buttercream!!! You. are. a. genius. Seriously. You should do a post on just that! (or did you already and I just missed it??) Either way. Genius. Pinned 🙂
Every time I post with freeze fried fruit I think that… I just need to do it! Now that EFY’s over maybe I’ll have some time to do it!
I can;t wait to try these.
I love your blog keep blogging.
Just gotta ask…. how do you get your sprinkles SOOO perfectly on your chocolate topping?? 😀
And NOT on the buttercream, is that what you mean by perfect? I frost all my cupcakes and then drizzle on the chocolate and sprinkles. This way,the buttercream has had a little time to sit and the outside gets a little dry and sprinkles won’t stick anymore. I hope that helps!
Yes…. that’s exactly what I meant! And thank you… that helped a lot, and makes perfect sense!! 🙂
Lizzy,
Do you use melted chocolate chips?
You can, yes! Or you can make a ganache 🙂
Lizzy
To split the recipe in half…how many eggs would I use?
I’m thinking 2 . Your cupcakes look beautiful.
Thank you
Yes 2! A little extra egg won’t hurt the recipe 🙂
Can extra cupcakes be frozen, then thawed and frosted at a later date??
Yes they can!
nice
Hi!
Which size of scoop did you use to place cake batter in side of the pan?
Do you have a brand of mix that you like best?
I just bought your books and tomorrow will try the lemon berry cake recipe. I looks delicious!
This recipe looks fantastic! I am wondering what my baking time would be for the jumbo cupcake liners?
Thanks,
Jamie
I usually use 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. for my jumbo cupcakes. I just made these in the jumbo liners and they were perfect at that length of time.
I just made these cupcakes but my frosting isn’t nearly as thick as yours or as pink. What do I need to do to make the frosting thicker and less fluffy? And what kind of chocolate did you use for the pics?
Made these and was very pleased with the results. I feel as if the banana flavor is overpowering, and will use 2:1 ratio when filling the cupcake liners next time so I can taste the chocolate cupcake a little more. Thanks!
Just wondering if I can substitute something else for the sour cream? Maybe Greek yogurt? Thanks!
How did you get the sprinkles to land only on the chocolate without a single stray on the buttercream? That part looks tedious…but beautiful!
Hi! Cupcakes look gorgeous…I was wondering what frosting tip you used?
I made these and they are awesome! They look great and taste great. Getting the “split” look was easier than I expected. The only thing I will say is keep an eye on them in the oven. I set my first batch for 15 minutes and they overcooked. I also used overripe bananas (black) like you would use for banana bread. The recipe doesn’t really specify. It just says ripe. Would definitely recommend using overripe black bananas.
Fantastic recipe! Have made three times, yet still struggle making the frosting just right. Caved in this last time and bought a can of strawberry frosting. Refuse to completely give up. I will conquer and succeed!
This didn’t work. The batter wasn’t thick enough. I followed the recipe EXACTLY. I even used the recommend Betty Crocker cake mix.
Just made these, delicious! I did alter the recipe a tad. I added a small box of pudding to each chocolate and vanilla batter. I had to add about 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup for more moist on the chocolate side. It only made 36 cupcakes and I was short on frosting. I only had to use 6 cups of powdered sugar and I used more of the strawberries than 1/4 cup. They look great, every ingredient individually tastes amazing! Thank you!
You can also use Strawberry puree. I think having the puree will make it look like an acutal strawberry.
Liked the idea of the jello. Thinking about using both. Would it work for taste and color or shuld i only use jello?
I was thinking about putting pineapple in as a filling, has anyone tried that? All the toppings are being used except pineapple. I thought use it as a filling or maybe a little as a drizzle on the frosting. I’m hoping someone will respond. TYIA
What if I don’t like using boxed cake mixers?
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