The day McCain idiotically selected Sarah Palin as his vice president, B and I swore that if they won the election, we would flee this failing nation. To where, you say? London, Paris, the Philippines, Costa Rica. Pretty much anywhere but here. But luckily some of those foolish red states from '04 finally got some sense knocked into them (thanks, Florida!) and OBAMA is now our President Elect!!!!!! It seems everyone has got the hots for Obama, whose name seems to be the definition of when hope meets change, including this amazingly patriotic "Yes We Can" sale at a store on Main Street in Santa Monica.
I, of course, expressed my love for the man through the oven with my "Bananas for Obama" cupcakes. The blue cupcakes have cream cheese frosting while the red cupcakes have vanilla frosting. Instead of just giving you the recipe in boring terms like "Mix this" and "Beat that", I added in some extra entertainment. Just for you. It's ok, really, it's no big deal.
"Bananas for Obama" Cupcake Recipe:
1 2/3 cup flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking poder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas
2 large eggs
1 stick softened, unsalted butter
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line your cupcake pan. One batch makes about 50 mini cupcakes, probably about 20 regular-sized cupcakes.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Mash buttermilk and banananers together. I know it's difficult to be aggressive when Obama just won, but just think about how Prop 8 passed. Your blood should be boiling by now.
4. Beat butter and sugar together for a couple minutes until light and fluffy, which is about the texture of Sarah Palin's sad excuse for a brain.
5. Add one egg at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, beating well after each egg.
6. On low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat til everything is just combined. Do the same with 1/2 of the banana mash. Then with another 1/3 of the flour. Then the rest of the banana. Then the rest of the flour. I know, it seems time consuming and useless, but it will keep your cupcakes from getting too tough. But if you really don't want to, I can't make you.
7. Fill up your cupcake pans with your preferred method. I like the "two-spoon" method. Those with OCD can fill up a plastic bag with the batter, snip off a corner, and pipe the batter into each cup. Whatever you do, make sure all the cups have about the same amount of batter. I like to fill them about 3/4 full.
8. The most important thing to remember is to not overbake them! They should be a light golden brown and when you push on one with your finger, it gives a little bit then spring back into the desired dome position. Bake them for about 15 to 20 minutes, until they pass the toothpick test*.
9. Take the cupcakes out of the hot metal and cool them on a cooling rack. Don't attempt to frost them until they are cool, or else you'll jump the gun like Dubya and it will be a sloppy mess.
10. Use food coloring to dye half your frosting blue and half red, and arrange your cupcakes into your favorite Obama pattern or American flag or Palin blouse.
*If you don't know the toothpick test, please ask your mother.
