Candy and Magic: Banana Cupcakes with Caramel Filling and Bourbon Buttercream Frosting WHAT

It was like magic.

I didn't even know what was going to happen.

I've never made cupcakes from scratch before, so I wasn't sure how things were going to turn out.

A comment on these cupcakes from a taste tester: "Damn!"

That's what I was aiming for, and I didn't even know it.

The magic recipe for Jan's Banana Cupcakes with Caramel Filling and Bourbon Buttercream Frosting (Drunk Monkeys, perhaps?):

I used this recipe for the banana cupcakes. Magnificent and easy, thank you a million cupcakes, howtoeatacupcake.net. I came out with 24 mini cupcakes and 11 regular size.

Then I made the buttercream like this:

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 cups of powdered sugar

4 tsp bourbon

2 tsp vanilla (the good stuff)

2 tbsp milk

pinch of salt

I creamed the room temperature butter, added the powdered sugar (I started with 1 1/2 cups but had to add more later). I added the liquids and beat the heck out of it. I put some bourbon in my tea and continued on my adventure with a spring in my step.

Once my cupcakes were cooled off on the rack, I had the wild and crazy idea to use some of the some kind of brand of caramel ice cream topping I have in the fridge for making coffee drinks to fill the cupcakes. Because go big or don't go at all, right? P.S. The store bought caramel sauce is the only component of these bad boys that is fat free WORD.

The caramel is in a squeeze bottle, which I believe made my life (or just filling these cupcakes with caramel) easier.

I cut little cones out of the tops of the minis with a paring knife, leveled off the cut-out piece to just a lid, filled the cakes up most of the way with the caramel sauce, and popped the lid back on. Easy!

Then I tried it with the bigger guys - still easy!

I loaded the buttercream up into a ziplock, cut a hole in the corner and went to town. The icing didn't turn out pretty on every cake - I definitely need to figure out a better consistency for my own liking, but I couldn't find a recipe for bourbon frosting that didn't have cream cheese or wasn't a glaze. I did not want or have cream cheese. I did not want a glaze. Necessity being the mother of invention, I just spread those mothers out when they didn't pipe right. Excellent!

Here is photographic evidence that all of this happened: