Drunk Monkey Cupcakes

Banana Rum Chocolate Chip Cupcake filled with Rum Caramel & topped with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramel Drizzle
Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

You know that Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, Chunky Monkey?  Well these cupcakes are kind of like that... minus the walnuts, plus rum!  And caramel!  I'm not usually the biggest fan of rum.  Perhaps there were just too many Captain Morgan nights in college, but a rum drink usually is not something I order.  However, when I was vacationing in Tahoe earlier this month, I had forgotten how good rum can be with tropical flavors.  

When I got home I decided that I would make a dessert with rum in it.  And for some reason, I was hooked on banana.  I really like these cupcakes.  Sometimes banana cupcakes can be tricky because they often end up tasting too much like a muffin, but I think the caramel filling and the extra rum flavor definitely made these taste like cupcakes!  Eating a Drunk Monkey cupcake on a hot day is the perfect way to say goodbye to summer!  I can't believe how quickly summer went, and I can't wait to get back into backing some delicious fall treats!  But for now, enjoy these cupcakes with the last few summer sunsets!  :)

[ INGREDIENTS ]*
Makes about 18 cupcakes 

Rum Caramel
1/8 cup water
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
2 ounces of dark rum (I used Meyer's)

Banana Rum Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 large bananas, mashed 
2 tablespoons dark rum (I used Meyer's) + more for brushing the cupcakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli)

*I prefer to use all organic & local ingredients whenever possible.

[ DIRECTIONS ]
Rum Caramel

1. In a small saucepan, mix together the water and granulated sugar over high heat, bringing it to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling until the mixture turns a light caramel color, stirring every one to two minutes.  Note: this make take up to 15 minutes depending on your stove.
3. As soon as the syrup turns amber, remove the pot from heat and immediately stir in heavy cream, butter, and brown sugar until incorporated.  The sugar will clump up when you add it, but continue stirring as best as you can for about 30 seconds.
4. Place the pot back over medium heat and bring to a boil.  
5. Stir the mixture until the sugar chunk dissolves and it begins to smooth out.
6. Slowly add the rum while stirring constantly.
7. Simmer for an additional 3-5 minutes until slightly thickened.
8. Cool completely.

Banana Rum Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Mix in the mashed bananas and rum and beat for about 1 minute.
4. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, basking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the butter and banana mixture. Alternate between the dry ingredients (3 additions) and the buttermilk (2 additions), starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until combined.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Divide the batter between muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full.
8. Bake 16-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let cool.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth a creamy.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
3. Slowly add the sugar and cocoa mixture to the butter and beat until smooth.

Put it all together

1. After the cupcakes have cooled, use a cupcake corer or the back of a pastry tip to remove the center of each cupcake.
   
2. Brush the cupcakes with rum using a pastry brush.
3. Using a pastry bag, fill each hole with the rum caramel.
   
4. Using a pastry bag, pipe on the chocolate cream cheese frosting.
   
5. Use any remaining caramel to drizzle over to top and add any chocolate decorations you wish. I used some chocolate buttons I had.
6. Enjoy!