Banana Cupcakes

Tasty, moist little cakes, much lighter than a traditional banana bread or muffin. Makes a great sponge for a birthday cake.

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a muffin tin with 8 - 10 paper cases.
   In a mixer, or with an electric hand-whisk, beat the butter and both sugars together until pale and creamy, then beat in the egg and vanilla, if using.
   Peel the banana(s) and mash with the yogurt (you can do this by hand with a fork, or use a stick-blender to puree), then add to the bowl and beat well.
   Sift in half the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and ground cinnamon, beat to combine, then sift in the rest and beat again until smooth.
   Spoon the cake mixture into the paper cases and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre.
   Leave to cool in the tins for a couple of minutes, then remove from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack (or sneak one while it is still warm! - particularly good with a dusting of icing sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup!). Because these are really moist little cakes, they will keep really well in a tin for up to 4 days and you can make them the day before icing, if you want to.