I've always been interested to work on the different kinds of wheat flour but for my baking, I have only used all-purpose. Yesterday, I thought of making some banana cupcakes using hard wheat flour.

The rule of thumb is to use hard wheat flour mainly for yeast breads while soft wheat flour is for light cakes, cookies and other pastries. My banana cupcakes are adapted from a cake recipe I've been using for sometime and do not contain any yeast, just Baking soda and baking powder, but I decided on using hard wheat flour, just for the sake of experimenting. Baking powder was omitted to make it a bit more bread-like.

I proceeded with my experiment, discarding my kitchen scales and just used the measuring cups. Instead of white sugar, I used the darkest grade of brown sugar I could find. I also omitted the spices and nuts, just to find out if the banana taste will come through using this new recipe.

The experiment turned out perfectly! As you can see from the picture, the cupcakes had a very nice caramelised finish that made for a crusty, slightly crunchy top. The cake is a bit denser, with compact but soft crumbs, half-way between a bread and a light cake. This cake didn't need any frosting, meaning less calories.

Here's the recipe:

Banana Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups bananas (overripe is good)
1 cup first class flour
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup butter
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mash the bananas, cream the butter then combine. Add the sugar, then beat the egg in a separate container and combine.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to around 300 degrees F.

In another container, mix the baking soda and salt with the flour well then blend with the banana mixture.

Spoon the mixture into muffin pans. Bake for around 20 minutes. They're done when an inserted knife or toothpick comes out dry.

Take out of the pans and cool. Refrigerate later if desired.

Makes 12 large cupcakes.

For me, banana bread is best eaten 24 hours after baking, after the flavours have melded and the banana aroma has permeated every crumb. Serve with your favourite tea and enjoy!