Banana bread cupcakes with chocolate chips and walnuts swirl and chocolate-coffee frosting

Cupcakes recipe based on this: https://www.mako.co.il/food-cooking_magazine/oogio-net/Recipe-f1cb751be854141006.htm

You can skip the chocolate-coffee frosting and keep these as banana bread muffins, but... why would you? :)

Yields: 16-20 standard size cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes mix:

• 2 eggs (Large)
• 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
• 2/3 cup (150 grams) neutral oil
• 4 bananas (the riper, the better), peeled and mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Swirl mix:

• 75 grams chocolate chips
• 75 grams walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp (or a few good shakes of) ground cinnamon

Frosting:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided (1/2 cup should be kept very cold in the refrigerator until step 5 below)
• 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped (I'm using half of Ghirardelli's Semi-Sweet Chocolate 4oz Baking Bar)
• 1 heaping tbsp vanilla pudding powder
• 1 heaping tbsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 espresso shot, cooled down

How to make

1. Frosting pre-prep:
1. Make chocolate ganache: Melt semi-sweet chocolate with 1/2 cup heavy cream over a double-boiler, or in 30-seconds bursts in the microwave (in a microwave-safe bowl), stirring in between, until ganache is smooth and glossy. 
2. Let ganache cool down in room temperature for about 30 min. 
3. Cover ganache bowl tightly (in plastic wrap or similar) and refrigerate for 60-90 minutes. 
2. Cupcakes mix (prepare while ganache is cooling):
1. Pre-heat oven to 355F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, oil, bananas, vanilla extract and salt. 
3. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together flour and baking powder. 
4. Add flower mixture to the large bowl and mix together just until combined (try to not over-mix, to prevent dense cupcakes).
3. Swirl mix: In a small bowl, mix together chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and cinnamon. 
4. Assembly and baking:
1. Line cupcake pan(s) with paper liners.
2. Into each cavity:
1. Fill ~1 tbsp of the cupcake mix - about 1/3 of the cavity height (aim to use about half of the cupcake mix total for this phase).
2. Cover the cupcake mix with ~1 tsp of the swirl mix (aim to use about half of the swirl mix total for this phase). 
3. Fill another tbsp of the cupcake mix. 
4. Cover the second layer of cupcake mix with the remainder of the swirl mix - cavity should be almost full. 
3. Bake 15-20 minutes.
4. Remove pan(s) from oven and let cool in room temperature.
5. [While cupcakes are cooling down: Another frosting pre-prep step: prepare the 1/2 espresso shot and let it cool down]
6. After the cupcakes cooled down it is recommended to transfer them to the container in which you plan to store them, or to the platter on which you plan to serve them. 
5. Frosting:
1. Place ganache, 1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream, vanilla pudding powder, powdered sugar and espresso in a stand mixer bowl. 
2. Using the mixer's whipping balloon attachment, whip everything together until a firm frosting forms; if needed - stop the mixer mid-way and scrape the bowl bottom and sides to ensure all the frosting ingredients are getting well mixed. 
3. Transfer frosting to a pastry bag with a star tip attached, and store in the refrigerator until ready to frost (at least 30 minutes) - during this time the pudding powder will further firm up the frosting, so it will pipe more "sharply". 
4. Frost the cupcakes (not too much frosting on each cupcake - a small amount goes a long way).
6. Enjoy! Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for a few days.