Banana Pecan & Maple Syrup Cupcakes to make you smile

This recipe was created during a family barbecue. We were making baked sweet potatoes (Americans call them yams???) in the barbecue and I had found a recipe for cinnamon & maple syrup butter to go with them. When I tasted it, I knew it would make a great topping for a cupcake. So, when I found some overripe bananas that needed to be used, I decided on Banana Pecan & Maple Syrup cupcakes, where the maple Syrup replaced the sugar you'd normally use. That would taste just great with Cinnamon & Maple Syrup Buttercream I had in mind. It also meant that these cupcakes can be eaten by people who have to eat sugar free (although they would have to skip the buttercream).

The color of the buttercream would be a bit brownish and boring, so the kids and I used chocolate sunflowers to decorate the cupcakes. And this is how it turned out. 

A little bit of sunshine on a sunny day

This recipe makes about 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes

• 225 grams (8 oz) of gluten-free all purpose flour.  You can use gluten-free rice flour as well.
• 225 grams (8 oz) of over ripe bananas
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) of maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of butter (softened)
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of roughly chopped  pecans
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of salt

For the buttercream:

• 200 grams (7 oz) of soft butter
• 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of powdered sugar /icing sugar
• a pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade /350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Place paper cups in your cupcake tray.
3. Put the bananas with the eggs and the maple syrup in a blender and blitz till it's frothy and combined. Pour it in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the soft butter, the pecans, the gluten-free flour, the cream of tartar, the xanthan gum and salt and mix it all together to a airy batter. 
5. Scoop the batter into the paper cups and place the cupcake trays into the warm oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes till the cupcakes are all risen and golden. 
6. Let them cool in the tin first, before you transfer them to a wire rack to let them cool completely.
7. Make the buttercream by mixing all the ingredients together and put it in a piping bag. Pipe it on top of the cooled cupcakes and decorate with whatever you want! 

Enjoy!