Food Network Magazine - (02)February 2020

hirteen-year-old Trevin Alford

learned how to bake by watching

chefs on TV, so when he competed

on Kids Baking Championship last year,

he felt right at home. Although he had

some ups and downs on the show, he wowed

judges Valerie Bertinelli and Duff Goldman

with a peanut butter poke cake he made in

episode five. “It was a tricky challenge, but

peanut butter and banana are an unbeatable

combination,” says the Indiana native, who

flavored his cake with peanut butter chips,

then filled it with banana pudding. These easy

cupcakes are a fun twist on the same flavor

combo. Try them at home!

fun

cooking

1.Make the pudding: Whisk the sugar,

cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan.

Whisk in the milk until combined. Place

the pan over medium-high heat and bring

to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the

mashed bananas and reduce the heat to

medium. Cook, stirring, until thickened,

about 2 minutes.

2.Remove the pan from the heat and stir

in the butter and vanilla. Strain the pudding

through a medium-mesh sieve into a

medium bowl, pressing the pudding through

with a rubber spatula. Whisk in a few drops

of the yellow food coloring, if desired (the

pudding may be grayish without it). Place

plastic wrap directly on the surface of the

pudding to prevent a skin from forming.

Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.

3. Meanwhile, make the cupcakes: Preheat
   the oven to 350 ̊. Line two 12-cup muffin pans
   with paper liners. Whisk the flour, baking
   powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl.

4.Beat the butter and sugar in a separate

large bowl with a mixer on medium-high

speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce

the speed to medium and beat in the eggs,

one at a time, then beat in the vanilla.

Reduce the speed to low and beat in half

the flour mixture, then the buttermilk,

then the remaining flour mixture until

combined. Beat in the peanut butter chips.

5.Divide the batter among the prepared

muffin cups, filling them about three-

quarters of the way. Bake until lightly

browned and a toothpick inserted into the

centers comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let cool 10 minutes in the pans, then transfer

the cupcakes to racks to cool completely.

6. Whisk the pudding vigorously to loosen.
   Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a ¼-inch
   round tip. Insert the tip into the center of
   each cupcake and fill with pudding, then
   pipe more of the pudding on top. Top with
   banana chips.

TREVIN’S PEANUT BUTTER

CUPCAKES WITH BANANA PUDDING

ACTIVE: 1 hr I TOTAL: 2½ hr I MAKES: 24

Catch the

new season

of Kids Baking

Championship,

starting January 6

at 9 p.m. ET.

How do you take the top prize

on Kids Baking Championship?

With a winning flavor combo:

peanut butter and banana.

This Cupcake is

FOR THE PUDDING

½ cup sugar

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

2½ cups whole milk

¾ cup mashed bananas (from 2 bananas)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Yellow food coloring (optional)

FOR THE CUPCAKES

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1½ cups peanut butter chips

Banana chips, for topping

50 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

CUPCAKE PHOTO: RALPH SMITH; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON.

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