save the bananas!

my friend, lovelola, has this joke that i like to "save bananas." it's true.

there's only short threshold when i think a banana is good to eat fresh (basically, just past green-- otherwise, it's too mushy). in an effort to not throw perfectly edible food in the trash, i have been queen of the banana bread, asking people for mushy bananas and making baked goods in return.

i've had a handful of people to thank for volunteering for the red cross waterfront festival and since i've been obsessed with cupcakes (see here, here, here, and here), and i just happened to have 4 bananas just past their prime, i decided to try out martha's banana cupcakes.

originally, i was going to make what i started calling banana splits - banana cupcakes w/ a chocolate ganache topped w/ a maraschino cherry - a theory that chrys at P4D and i had while at work last week.

banana bread + chocolate ganache glaze = FAIL (pretty! but not so yummy)

so i opted for a regular buttercream with a drizzle of caramel topping instead of going through the trouble of martha's caramel buttercream recipe that requires a candy thermometer.

sorry martha, as jessie spano said "there's never any time!"

operation save bananas + thank the volunteers = mission accomplished!