Banana-Walnut Upside Down Cupcakes

Ripe bananas in our kitchen usually end up in a delicious banana bread or when I am trying to be 'healthier' low-fat banana bread. But this time round the three ripe bananas brought about  the making of these cupcakes. A recipe in Bon Appétit and my mothers fool-proof eggless sponge cake recipe, inspired these cupcakes.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Makes 12-15 cupcakes

Ingredients
For the topping
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 large ripe bananas
3 tablespoons maple syrup 

For the cupcakes
1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
7-oz condensed milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
4-oz water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C.
2. Grease a muffin pan with butter.
3. Melt butter and sugar over low-heat. Chop walnuts. Slice bananas into 1/4-inch slices.
4. Mix together all the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
5. Pour 1 tablespoon of the butter-sugar mixture onto the base. Pour 1/4-inch tablespoon maple syrup over the sugar mixture. Top with an even sprinkle of nuts. Place 3 slices of banana, overlapping slightly and covering bottom.
6. Spoon cake batter over the bananas. 
7. Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cook for 10 minutes before removing cupcakes.