The Story:
Every year my elementary school had a huge family fair. There were games and booths set up across the entire length of the school and the festivities even spilled over into the tennis courts. There was basketball shooting, dart throwing, 3 legged races, bouncy houses, face painting and even the classic ping pong ball toss into fish bowl to win a gold fish. But being the rather chunky child that I was, I spent all my time outside the Kindergarten classroom, because that’s where the cake walk was.
Chocolate Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Banana Cake:
- 1 box Devil's Food cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C. oil
- 3 bananas mashed
- 1/2 C. milk or buttermilk
- 1/4 C. sour cream or plain yogurt optional
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Chocolate Buttercream:
- 1 C. butter softened
- 1/2 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp. milk
- 3-4 C. powdered sugar
Banana Cream Filling:
- 1 small pkg. banana cream instant pudding mix jello mix
- 2 C. heavy whipping cream
Instructions
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with cupcake liners.
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2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.
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3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, bananas, milk, sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
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4. Stir in cake mix until smooth.
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5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 16-22 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
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5. Chocolate Buttercream: Beat butter until smooth. Add cocoa, vanilla and milk and beat again. Slowly add in powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
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6. Filling: Using a whisk attachment on your Kitchen Aid or hand mixer, whip cream and pudding mix until stiff peaks form.
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7. To Assemble: Pipe a ring of chocolate buttercream around the edge of the cooled cupcakes. Then use a food scoop or a spoon to place the filling in the middle.
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8. Ta-Dah! These are amazing, so go give them out before you take a bite of one, or else you'll eat them ALL.
I love frosting cupcakes with my cookie scoops!
These look delicious!!!! Can’t wait to give them a try!
I’m going to make some this weekend. My kids will love these!
Once again, you’ve nailed it. I love how you decorated it. I’ve never thought of doing that!
Those look so fantastic!! Love it! 🙂
Beautiful! Love the way you decorated these…you are so clever and creative!
What a fun twist! Bet these were fabulous 🙂
Oh man OH MAN I love chocolate and bananas! That is the best combination ever!
So cute! Look perfectly delicious!
Hello Lizzy! This cake looks so beautiful, can’t wait to try it, thanks Lizzy.
Hi, I am wondering, does the banana filling hold in room temperature?
Thank you.
It does!!! That’s why I love it so much! The gelatin from the pudding helps to keep it firm
Izzy, I made these and took them to work. They were a huge hit! Love all your recipes and ideas. Thanks for the cupcake inspiration!
Oh good! They were were fabulous when I made them, all of my friends were instantly obsessed.
The cake mixes that you use in your recipes . Do they have pudding in it ? I think Duncan Hines brand still doesn’t have pudding in it. Thanks
I always and ONLY use Pillsbury mixes
I love all your cupcake ideas, I have made several with rave reviews 🙂 I was wondering how long these can sit out at room temperature. I see above that you said the gelatin in the pudding helps to keep it firm…so does that mean 24 hours give or take? Thank you for your posts I look forward to getting my email saying there is a new one!
I would keep the filling in the refrigerator if you want to serve them the next day and then the day of, scoop out the filling onto the cakes just to be safe!
Made these tonight for a volunteer appreciation night and they were a hit!! Thanks!
Hi Lizzy,
Great website and great recipes. You have a real talent for food photography & creative combinations for your food! Thanks for sharing.
I did want to ask you a question in regards to your cake base: do you have a particular reason why you use oil instead of melted butter for your cake base? I know the box indicates oil, but I’ve always found the taste of melted butter to be a bit yummier. Since you are definitely a more experienced baker than I, I just wanted to get your feedback on it.
Thanks!
Oh! And I also noticed that sometimes you use melted butter (but cooled) and sometimes you use oil. Just wanted to get your insight! 🙂
Yeah, it just depends on the texture you want for the cake. You can also use applesauce if you are watching calories
Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy! What can I say, except you’re amazing. I made these and they are fabulous. Held up really well at room temperature. I only used 1 cup powdered sugar for the chocolate butter cream because the family doesn’t like too-sweet frosting.
After having this cupcake, it inspired me to make Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes. Different cake, same idea.
Thank you!!
E
Hi Lizzy! I stumbled upon your website through pinterest, and now I’m hooked! I made these cupcakes for my coworkers and they were a huge hit! There are usually scuffles for whatever I bring in and these were no different 😉 I just wanted to pass along the rave reviews, since it’s your recipe! I’m definitely going to make them again.
xoxo,
megs
Oh good! This is one of my favorite recipes too
How do you get your choc frosting so dark in this pic ?
It depends on your brand of cocoa sometimes and also it will darken with some time. But if you want a more chocolatey or a dark color, just add more cocoa!
Here in the UK I could only found Angel Delight instant pudding. Only seconds after I mixed it with the double cream I got a very gluey texture… Is this ok or shall I try to find a better product?
Hmm… the texture should be like a VERY thick whipped cream. Not gluey…
Hey Lizzy!
I was wanting to make this recipe for my dad’s birthday (he LOVES chocolate and banana cream) but I was thinking of putting the filling actually inside the cake; is it too thick for that?
it will be great for that! Just make sure to cut out a big hole in the cupcake because you will LOVE this filling, so you’ll want tons of it in each cupcake!
I just wanted to say thank you for the easy banana cream filling recipe. My best friend just got diagnosed with a gluten allergy so she was so sad she couldn’t get here chocolate cupcakes with banana filling. So I took my gluten free devils cake, and cut out the middle and filled it with your delicious filling and topped it off with that too and put a banana piece on each cupcake and she loved it. I wanted to say thanks because I looked for about 2 weeks until I found your recipe and she loved it. Keeper for work, thanks again. I am going to look at more from you and see what else I can do, but of course Gluten free!
So great to hear that Patty! That’s a reason I love working with cake mixes because gluten free people can so easily adapt them to their needs!
Will this recipe make 12 or 24 cupcakes?
20-24 cupcakes!
Hi!! Question for you: If I make these the night before I need them and place them in the fridge, will they be okay? Or should I scoop the filling on top the next day? I don’t think I’ll have time to do it in the AM. Thanks!! Can’t wait to try these!! 🙂
I would scoop the filling the day of. But if you have to do it the night before, put them in the freezer (the fridge dries cake out) and then give them some time to thaw!
Thanks!! 🙂 Appreciate the advice. Maybe I’ll bring the container to work and do it right before the kids eat them.
:O These look divine! They’re so pretty too! Can’t wait to give these a go 🙂
Lizzy, your site ROCKS! I’ve loved every recipe I’ve made from here so far and can’t wait to try these. I noticed you’ve frosted cupcakes similar to this in other recipes, so my question is, which tip do you use? I love the way they look!
I’m no in my kitchen right now but I believe it’s the wilton 2C tip, I commented on the other pages (german chocolate cupcakes) exactly which tip it was! So check that out but I’m fairly sure it’ the Wilton 2C
I made these for my daughter bday party back in November and they were a hit. I did reg frosting on those but this will be my first time trying to do the frosting for these. They were very yummy
Hi Lizzy! Out of all of your cupcakes these are my favorite! Now I made these a while back but I clearly remember the one major drawback and I was hoping you might be able to help me out before I attempt to do them again. For the banana cream filling, when I made it I froze it but the next day or any time I froze and used it, it kept melting onto the cupcake. I used 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and the pudding as the directions told me too and I was clueless to know what happen. I remember I made it the day of an event. Oh and when I unfroze them I couldn’t scoop them at all it just melted like I said before. Do you perhaps got any idea of what I should do instead?
Also off topic do you perhaps have a carrot cupcake -white chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe or an eggnog cupcake one (just eggnog I might add)?
I do have eggnog cupcakes, just search for it on my site 🙂 As for the melting… that’s so weird!! I would just make the filling the day of serving! It’s so quick, you might as well just not bother freezing it.
Found the eggnog cupcakes and boy do they look scrumptious! Hmm, I apologize but I believe you may have misinterpreted what I wrote than again I may have not been clear. The mixture itself was liquid all the time and it didn’t condense together as it should; so I put it in the freezer – it did condense – and then started to melt. It is weird! >..<
Ohhhh! That is strange. Did you use INSTANT pudding mix? And whip it and the whipping cream with a whisk? The Whipping cream should stiffen up as it normally would and the instant pudding mix should make it ever stiffer.
Lizzy,
Made these over the weekend and it is now one of my favorites! Wow, I just love how that instant pudding mixes with the heavy cream….so good! It really made my mind wander about other cupcake/pudding combinations like that. Just love your recipes and your books! I use them every week and they have to be the best investment for my baking hobby! Thank you Lizzy for pursuing your dreams and affecting others in the process. What a gift you have been blessed with!
Thank you so much for your support Nancy!
i know this post has been up forever, but I’ve made these a few times now and my husband told me the last time that from now in this isnall he wants for his Birthday for the rest of forever! These are a huge hit at our house and we especially love that they have actual banana in them. Thanks for all the great recipes!
So at first I wasn’t so sure about the banana pudding. I made these to take to work and let’s just say my coworkers are extremely hard to please. But omg they were a hit. Most were gone in the first 15 minutes. I had people from different departments coming in to try and get some. This is definitely one of my favorite recipes.
Made these for Valentine’s Day 2014. Must say, these were the moistest cupcakes I’d ever eaten. I sprinkled a little chopped walnuts on the tops and made cupcakes picks with picture of this crazy monkey and added “I’m nuts for you”; and others that said “Bananas over you!”
I keep looking, but have never been able to find Banana instant pudding in stores in Canada. I’ve used the non-instant version a couple of times, but I don’t think it gives the same flavor. Any suggestions? Thanks!
What size scoop do you use for the filling in the center please?
Thanks!!
These are the moistest cupcakes I have ever had. They melt in your mouth. I made these for Valentine’s Day using these crazy monkey cupcake liners and then my own cupcake picks that said “l’m nuts for you!” I topped the icing with a sprinkling of chopped nuts. I’d lost the recipe and have been looking for it online for two years and finally found it today. I can hardly wait to bake these again! And the simple act of adding a pudding mix to heavy whipping cream just opens up a whole world of possibilities for other combinations of flavors.
Thanks so much for coming back and sharing! Yes, that pudding mix idea does open a lot of new doors in the baking world! I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day!