Banana Cupcakes & Butter Frosting

I thought I'd share a favorite recipe I make quite often for my loves. They were requested for a Valentine's day treat, but the only real thing truely valentine about them are the heart sprinkles. They're so good cold with a tall glass of milk. I think they taste like banana ice cream, but you be the judge!

Both of the recipes are from and old (i'm talking 1970's here!) cookbook. Anyone else have a copy of that book? It's my favorite, by far, for classic recipes. The glazed ham? To die for. Anyhoo, here are the recipes:

Banana Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in pans.
Sift together:
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream:
1/2 cup shortning

Beat in:
1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar

Blend in, beating until light and fluffy:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Add sifted dry ingredients to creamed midture alternately with:
1 cup mashed ripe banana
3/4 cup of buttermilk

Make 3 dry and 2 liquid additions, combining lightly after each.
Turn into muffin liners. Bake in preheated oven for 28-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes and remove from pan. (makes 17 - every. single. time!)

Butter Frosting

Cream:
3 tbsp of soft butter

Beat in:
1/2 tsp vanilla
few grains of salt

Blend in:
2 cups of icing sugar

alternately with:
2 to 2 1/2 tbsp of warm cream or milk

Beat until smooth and of good sperading consistency. Add more sifted icing sugar or milk, if necessary. (A little note about the icing - I add a lot of icing sugar before I add the milk. If you add the milk too much at a time, it causes the frosting to seperate.)

Enjoy!
~Sara