Sunday, September 19, 2010

Diablo Wrap Attempt, Grilled Plantains, And Banana Cupcakes

This afternoon, I had to cancel our plans to have friends over for dinner because Jacob woke up sick from his nap.  But, since I already had all the food, we went ahead and made the full menu for just the three of us: Diablo wraps, grilled plantains, and banana cupcakes with Nutella/peanut butter frosting.

Recently, Art mentioned his desire to recreate the Diablo wrap, a favorite dish of his served at Cafe Eclectic.  I knew it involved a wrap, chicken, cream cheese, and a spicy sauce.  I thought the Jamaican Style Grilled Chicken recipe I tried about a month ago would be a pretty good base for our attempt at the Diablo.  The distinctly flavored grilled chicken and the unique sauce seemed to be great candidates.   And, the grilled plantains would make an excellent side.

But, my version didn't turn out like the original Diablo wrap.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the recipe, so the chicken was a bit drier than I would have liked.  And, since I used all the marinade on the chicken, I didn't have any extra sauce left for the wraps.  So, it was a lot less packed with flavor than the original.

I do hope to make the Jamaican Style chicken again, just not with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  It is an awesome recipe.  I might even use it in another attempt at the Diablo wrap.  Until then, Art will just have to go to Cafe Eclectic.

The banana cupcakes were excellent.  Basically, they were little banana bread loaves shaped like cupcakes with frosting- a delicious frosting that transformed the bread shaped cupcakes into treats worth of dessert status.  Yumo!

Cupcakes:
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 very ripe large bananas, peeled
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk

Frosting:
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground) (I used 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup Nutella.)
  • Chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts (optional)



For cupcakes: 
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Mash bananas with fork in another medium bowl until smooth. Mix sour cream and vanilla into bananas.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with banana-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (generous 1/4 cup for each).
Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.
For frosting: 
Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes, dividing equally. Sprinkle lightly with chopped peanuts, if desired. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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