Banoffee cupcakes

It was the Male Companion Person's birthday recently and so I thought he was due some sort of baked item. I'd had a tin of Carnation's dulce de leche sitting in the cupboard for a while, and this seemed the occasion to make use of it. Dulce de leche is the classic caramel component of banoffee pie, and so I decided on a cake version. I made little banana cupcakes, filled with caramel and topped with clotted cream. A final grating of chocolate and tah dah- they were done.

Recipe (enough for around 18 small cakes):

110g self-raising flour
110g margarine or soft butter
60g caster sugar
2 eggs
110g mashed ripe banana
1tsp vanilla extract
397g tin of Carnation caramel dulce du leche
Around 200g clotted cream
Small amount of plain or milk chocolate for grating

Beat together the margarine and eggs, until they're well combined and then add in the vanilla, flour and sugar. Continue to mix well (alternatively bung the whole lot in a food mixer). Finally add the mashed banana. Spoon the mix into cupcake cases and bake at gas mark 4 for around 25mins or until the cakes are cooked and a light golden brown on top. Once completely cooled, cut the cakes in half and spread with a generous amount of the caramel, with a thinner coating on top. And then put a dollop of cream on top of this and finish with a bit of grated chocolate. These cakes will be fine in the fridge for a couple of days if you don't finish them all at once.

These banoffee cakes are pretty rich, but they work really well as a cake for a special day. Using slightly less sugar than normal in the cake mix and the presence of banana, in combination with the caramel, make for a decadent dessert rather than one that is tooth-achingly sweet. And obviously clotted cream improves all things.

Carnation caramel dulce du leche
I rate it 9/10

Cost: Around £1.78