When Research and Development walks in the door, some days he doesn't get a "Hey, how are you honey?" He gets a "Come here, come here! I need you to eat this!" He doesn't even get to put his bag down.
He asks, "What is it?" But usually I don't tell him until AFTER he has a mouthful :)
On Pinterest I have all these insane things that I feel the need to make, but usually it never actually happens. So in a effort to change all that, yesterday I made Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting!
Instead of, HMMMM, I wonder how that is, I went straight to Wal-Mart and bought those zucchini's!
The last week or so has been pretty stressful week or so and as a result, I've looked at about 102394710597 baking recipes. Finally I just sucked it up, picked one and BAKED!
Right on!
So! Let's get started!
Preheat to 350
2 cups of sugar. (I should warn you that this recipe makes a TON of cupcakes. I made 15 and am freezing the rest of the batter. Freeze it in a gallon ziploc bag. When you defrost it you can just cut a corner and squirt it right into the cupcake pan!)
3/4 cup of applesauce
I hate to admit it, but this is the first time I've used applesauce to bake with. I know that it's pretty common, I've just never done it before.
Add your 3/4 cup of oil and blend on a low speed.
Slowly, one at a time add your eggs. Make sure each one is blended well before adding the next.
Then add your vanilla.
This is the only kind of vanilla flavoring that my grandma has ever used. Watkins is a Pampered Chef kind of company where you use a catalog and order through a consultant. I can always count on getting some sort of Watkins on every occasion. I found out a little while back that Cracker Barrel now sells it!
In a seperate bowl add your 2 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
Add 2 tsps baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Do a little whisking action here to incorporate everything and make sure you don't have any lumps!
Now, every chef you see on tv has a different way to do this. Some say add the wet to the dry and some say add the dry to the wet. It depends on who you're watching. I am a fan of adding the dry (slowly) to the wet. So, turn your mixer on and slowly add your dry to your wet.
Now, for the fun part!!
ZUCCHINI! IN.MY.CUPCAKE!
Peel the Zucchini and grate!
Aren't they pretty?!?!
It took me about 2 and a half good sized zucchini's to get 3 cups of grated zucchini.
The grated zucchini had wayyy more water than what I figured them to have.
Slowly add this to your batter! Make sure it gets mixed in really well!
Look! The batter looks so funny with the zucchini in it. I must confess that I tasted the batter. It.was.delicious!
Ice Cream Scoop. SOOOO easy with an ice cream scoop.
I spray my liners with a little Pam just to make sure they will let go!
Bake for 20-25 minutes!
While they are baking, let's make the buttercream. This is my first buttercream experiment. I've always made icing with the crisco and powdered sugar way.
While you're making the batter, go ahead and get the butter and cream cheese out. They both need to be softened.
Combine well!
Add 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2ish cups of powdered sugar
1/3 tbsp milk
Get your desired consitancy. If it's too thick add a little milk. Only about a teaspoon at a time. If it's not thick enough add more powdered sugar, tablespoon at a time.
Powdered sugar will explode in your mixer if you add it ALL at one time or if you turn the mixer up. Add slowly and on low!!
Look! I LOVE the colors of this buttercream. It's soo good too! It's super sweet!
This cupcake is outrageous!
It is so moist!
It is so moist!
I was scared that the consistency of the zucchini would remind me of that disqusting shaved coconut, but it cooked down and vanished!
There is absolutely NO WAY that anyone will be able to tell the zucchini is in there!
Cupcake success!!
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