These are banana cupcakes, but upgraded. Soft banana cake, filled with homemade dulce de leche, and topped with pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream that’s smooth and not overly sweet. It’s sweet, nutty, caramel heavy, and honestly way too easy to eat.

What are Russian piping tips?

Russian piping tips are large, specialty frosting tips that create a full flower shape in one squeeze. Instead of piping petals one by one, the tip has multiple cutouts inside so when you press the piping bag you get a complete tulip, rose, or starburst style bloom instantly. They’re perfect when you want cupcakes to look extra without spending an hour on detailed piping; you just hold the bag straight up, squeeze, stop, and lift. They’re the cheat code for dramatic buttercream flowers.

How to make banana cupcakes with pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream?

Make dulce de leche by bringing water to boil in a medium pot. Remove the label on the sweetened condensed milk can and submerge the can in the boiling water. Boil it for 1 hour and then set on a wire rack to cool. Meanwhile make the banana cupcakes. Preheat oven to 350f. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. In a large bowl cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar and brown sugar. Once fluffy, add the 2 eggs, vanilla and Greek yogurt. Then the mashed bananas. Next mix in half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, and rest of the flour. Once fully combined, fill 18 cupcake liners 3/4 way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes and cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are room temperature make the pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream. Bring 1” of water to boil in a small pot. In a large bowl, whisk egg whites and 1 1/2 cups of sugar together. Place the bowl over the boiling water and whisk rapidly until it reaches 165f. Remove from heat and keep whisking until the meringue is room temperature. Then using the paddle attachment, add in 2 cups of butter 1 tbsp at a time. Once the buttercream is smooth, add in 2-3 tbsp pistachio powder and food coloring. Cut a hole in the middle of each cupcake and pipe in the dulce de leche until it is filled. Then frost the cupcakes with the pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream.

Tips

Use ripe bananas for this recipe. The riper the banana the sweeter the cupcakes will be.
When making the Swiss meringue and heating the sugar - you can tell it’s proper temperature when the sugar is no longer grainy. If the sugar gets grainy and clumpy it got too hot.
If the buttercream looks weird at first when adding the butter just keep mixing it - it will come together!