Orders: Cupcake, po, prn, STAT!*

*(For the non-medically oriented people, po = by mouth and prn = as needed)

So I decided to enter in this little cupcake challenge thing-a-ma-bobber. It is my first one ever. And one of my first times majorly tinkering/creating a new recipe.

The theme is bananas. I for one, QUITE enjoy bananas. One of my favorite things is a peanut butter, nutella, and banana panini. DELICIOUSNESS, let me tell you!

But I decided that chocolate and bananas, peanut butter and bananas, all pretty over-done. I decided to branch out. While dozing off from a nephrology lecture, I started brainstorming cupcake combinations (kidneys = black box. I’ll need to fix that one day and actually learn their function…). One of the girls in my class suggested COCONUT and bananas! All so tropical! I approve!

So here they are. Pina colada cupcakes, with a banana pastry cream filling. There’s also banana in the cupcake itself (I used it in place of some eggs). I brought them as a treat to my shift in the Pediatric Emergency department today, and they were a big hit! One of the nurses loved them so much that he wrote my name on the whiteboard as *CHIEF MEDICAL STUDENT* (stars and all!). It was so cute. Especially since I’m the only medical student on today. And I’m certainly chief of nothing…not even myself. But I had a great day in peds emerg today…I did some suturing, some reduction of a subluxed elbow…I actually enjoyed working on a saturday! Cupcakes and medicine…ahhh…what could be better?

One little note…I’m ashamed to admit I used a box mix. I was a little short on time, in between all the shifts, so I cheated. If I make these again, I’ll be sure to actually find a vanilla cake recipe to make from scratch.

Pina Colada Cupcakes
(recipe adapted from Betty Crocker iPod application)
1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil(I used 1 tbsp oil, 1/4 cup applesauce)
3 eggs (I used 1 egg and 1 whole mashed banana)
2 teaspoons rum extract (I used 1 teaspoon of rum and 1 teaspoon of malibu. crunkcakes!)

Combine all the ingredients and bake for ~18 minutes.

Banana Pastry Cream
(recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)
* 2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 2 egg yolks
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup cornstarch
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 frozen banana (melted in the microwave)
1. In a heavy saucepan, stir together the milk and 1/4 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
2. Heat up frozen banana in the microwave until it’s a nice mushy consistency. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, egg, and banana. Stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch; then stir them into the egg until smooth. When the milk comes to a boil, drizzle it into the bowl in a thin stream while mixing so that you do not cook the eggs. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don’ t curdle or scorch on the bottom.
3. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla, mixing until the butter is completely blended in. Pour into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package cream cheese
1/4 cup margarine/butter
whipping cream
vanilla extract
icing sugar

I am very haphazard in making my frosting. I usually just beat the cream cheese and margarine together, and then add in a dash of whipping cream and vanilla extract…pretty much however much I feel like. Usually about a cap-ful of vanilla extract. Then I beat it some more, and start to add the icing sugar to taste. Some people like super-sweet frosting…I like mine with a mostly cream cheese taste and just sweetened enough.

Assembly:
Cut the tops off the cupcake in a cone, and then cut off the tip of the cone and fill with banana pastry cream. Replace the top of the cupcake back on. Frost. Sprinkle generously with coconut. ENJOY!!!

If I tinker with this recipe again, I’d probably choose a slightly drier vanilla cake recipe. With the box mix normally being pretty spongy to begin with, then adding all these moist ingredients (like applesauce and banana), they were a little hard to cut into to make the cones. I’d probably take out some of the water in the box mix. Or maybe even all of it. But practice makes perfect!