Method (cupcakes)

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC  fan and line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake cases.
2. Mash 2 small bananas with fork in a bowl and weigh out 120g. You’ll want 60g for the cupcakes, and 60g for the buttercream.
3. In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. This creates a vegan buttermilk.
4. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
5. Add the oil to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
6. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.
7. Fold in 60g of banana puree.
8. Fill the cases 3/4 full with the batter. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
9. Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer down the centre of the cakes and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.
10. Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting and decorating.

Method (buttercream)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and whip until creamy, then add in the 60g of banana puree. I use a stand mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work great too.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whip for 5 minutes on high speed until the buttercream becomes pale and fluffy in texture. If it’s too runny, add in a few more chunks of butter to get it to the right consistency.
3. Transfer the buttercream in to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip nozzle.
4. When the cupcakes are cool, core the cupcakes with a apple corer.
5. Add some caramel into a piping bag and fill the cupcakes with caramel sauce.
6. Pipe a swirl of buttercream on top of each cupcake.
7. Decorate with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a fresh slice of banana. TIP: If you’re serving the cakes with fresh banana, add it just before you serve the cakes as banana can turn brown in colour when it’s been exposed to the air for too long. Alternatively, you can use dried banana.