Zoo-Key-Nee

Normally I have the cupcake of the week planned out by the time I go to the grocery store on Sunday. This week, that was not the case. By Wednesday morning, I had no clue what I was going to do. During the day I finally decided to put some of the zucchini that my aunt gave me to sweet use.
On Thursday I woke up and hit the kitchen. When my husband called during his lunch break I told him I'd made the cupcake of the week. He asked me what kind and I said "zucchini." He instantly proceeded to ask me "Why?" I said "Why not?" I could tell he was a bit weirded out by the idea, and reluctant to tell me that it sounded like a delicious idea. Boy, did his tune change when he took a bite!!
I think that zucchini's are underestimated. When I mention zucchini bread to people, many of them immediately think that it's going to be gross. When I say that I'm incorporating zucchini in dinner, I see weirded out faces all around. It's time for everyone to realize what a universally delicious ingredient this is! Not only can you  make a yummy breakfast loaf out of it, you can saute it up and serve it with your favorite protein, AND create a delish dessert out of it, too! I hope that this cupcake helped make people think twice about avoiding this yummy veggie.

Spiced Zucchini Cupcake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting:
Inspired by Heather Christo Cooks

For the cupcake:
1 c vegetable oil
2 1/4 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
3 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 c zucchini, shredded

For the frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 c unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tsp water
2 tsp cinnamon
4 c confectioners' sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and coat insides of cupcake pans with shortening, or a baking spray. Set aside.
In the bowl of your mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar. Mix for 2 minutes, or until nice and creamy. Add your eggs, one at a time, ensuring that they are properly blended in. Mix for another 2 minutes until it looks like pudding. While this is mixing, combine all of your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Once the oil mixture is pudding-esque, reduce mixer to low and begin adding flour mixture slowly. Batter will begin to get very thick, but keep going. Once all of the flour has been added and combined in mixture, turn off mixer and remove bowl. Give batter a few stirs to make sure flour is incorporated. Add your zucchini and mix well.

Grab your trusty scoop and scoop batter into prepared baking pans, filling about 2/3 full. Bake these for 17-19 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Leave in pans to cool for only about 5 minutes, then carefully remove them from your pan. I served these right-side up, like a normal cupcake, but my husband thought they would be successfully served upside-down, too....like the picture. I think when I make them again, they will be upside-down. If you are serving in this manner, cool them upside down on the rack.

While these cool, toss your cream cheese and butter in a clean mixing bowl. Using whisk attachment, whip until nice and creamy, then add vanilla and about 1 tsp water. When combined, add cinnamon and  confectioners' sugar. Whip until light and fluffy. Add additional water until desired consistency is reached.

Spread or pipe onto cupcakes, and enjoy!

Lookie at my Cookie and Creme that reign Supreme

My husband and I went grocery shopping last weekend. While cruisin' down the aisles I noticed that the store was doing one of those "Buy 10 items off this list and everything is a few cents cheaper" deals. I'm a sucker for those, especially when the items aren't necessarily things I NEED just things that taste good. Well we had 9 qualifying items and needed just one more. Lucky for us, Oreos were on the list. What better item to finish our grocery trip up with, right?

I'm not exactly sure how we didn't eat them all that night, but we didn't. By the time Sunday rolled around I had no idea what this week's cupcake would be. I was at work, having a nervous breakdown about it when a coworker and I tossed a few ideas around. Cookies & Creme came up and instantly I knew that this was the cupcake. What a GREAT idea! The frosting was smooth and creamy, the cake moist and flavorful....then the surprise Oreo in the bottom took people over the TOP! I thought my coworkers were going to freak out when they found that in the bottom! These were a hit!


Cookies & Creme Cupcake
Inspired by Annie's Eats

For the cupcakes:
24 Oreo halves, the creme filling side
2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 c sugar
3 large eggs whites, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c whole milk
1-1/2 c chopped oreos

For the frosting:
8 oz cream cheese
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp heavy cream

For the garnish:
Oreo cookie pieces and crumbs



Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with paper cups. Separate your Oreos and place the creme side in the bottom of the liner, with creme side up. Some will break, but THAT'S OK! Don't just eat them now....save them, because we'll be using them in a few minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Take your broken Oreo pieces and chop them up, and set aside.
In your mixer bowl, beat butter for about 1 minute, then begin adding sugar, about 1/3 c at a time. Beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down your bowl, then add egg whites, one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds after each addition. Add vanilla. Decrease your mixer to low and slowly add 1/3 of your flour mixture. Add half of your milk, followed by another 1/3 of flour, then the rest of your milk. Add the last 1/3 of flour and mix until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer and take a spatula and give batter one last mix, to ensure everything is properly combined. Dump your cookie pieces on top of batter and fold them in, gently.

Scoop batter ontop of cookie halves, and fill 3/4 full. Bake these for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 7 minutes in pan, then finish cooling on wire rack. While these cool, prep your frosting!

Place cream cheese and butter in mixer and begin to beat at medium speed. Scrape down bowl, add vanilla, then beat at medium speed again, until creamy. Reduce mixer speed to low and start adding confectioners' sugar, about 1/2 c at a time. Increase mixer to medium and beat for 1 minute, then add cream. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and whip for about 4 minutes to get frosting really light and fluffy. Spread or pipe over cooled cupcakes, then garnish with Oreo pieces and crumbs.

Grab your tall glass of milk and take a bite! Yum!!

Cherry Poppin' Cupcakes

This week was my birthday (Happy birthday to me!) I turned 30…eeek! Actually, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I don’t feel 30 so I’m not having a mid-life crisis or anything. Anyway, since this was my birthday cupcake, I decided to bake with one of my favorite flavors: Cherry! I love cherry flavored anything, really. Cherry coke, cherry limeade, cherry slushies, cherry pie…I could go on and on, but I won’t. I’ve really been looking forward to this cupcake, and it was definitely worth the wait. Last time I made a cherry-ish cupcake I was unhappy with the lack of cherry flavor in the frosting, which made me a little nervous about this one. Surprisingly, this one turned out much better than my last cherry cupcake (Cherry Limeade) I don’t know why, so I guess I’ll have to go back and assess my previous recipe. Perhaps the cherry flavor was boosted by the actual cherry pieces in the cupcake, this time? Either way, they were delish. They were light and flavorful, and I think someone even described them as “dreamy”

That, my friends, is a compliment that I will TAKE!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!!

Cherry Chip Cupcakes

adapted from The Nonpareil Baker

For cupcakes:

2 c + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, divided

1 Tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp kosher salt

¼ c milk

½ c maraschino cherry juice

2 tsp almond extract

½ c unsalted butter

1 ¼ c granulated sugar

10 oz maraschino cherries, finely chopped

4 egg whites

For frosting:

¾ c unsalted butter

3 ½ c confectioners’ sugar

¼ tsp salt

2-3 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice

Preheat oven to 340 degrees and prep your cupcake trays with liners.

Put egg whites in mixer bowl and beat at medium speed until foamy (about a minute) then increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form (about 3-4 minutes.) Pour your egg-cloud into a clean bowl, and set aside. Wash out your bowl.

Dump your cherries into a mini chopper, if you have one. If you don’t, I’d suggest using a food processor, rather than manually chopping these into little bits. Give them a few pulses and you’ll chop your cherries into nice itty-bitty pieces. If you have to do it manually, I'm sorry. Set these aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, and baking powder. In large liquid measuring cup, combine your milk, cherry juice, and almond extract. Set aside.

Put your butter in your mixer bowl and beat for 1 minute at medium speed. Scrape the bowl down, then set to medium speed and begin adding your sugar, about ¼ c at a time. Beat for about 1 minute, until light and fluffy. Decrease mixer to low and slowly alternate adding your flour mixture and your liquid mixture, starting and ending with flour. Mix this only until thoroughly combined. Remove bowl from mixer, and scrape the bowl down.

Sprinkle your 2 Tbsp of flour over cherries, and mix until flour disappears. Stir cherries into batter. Grab your egg white cloud and plop in onto your batter. Your batter will be really thick, so CAREFULLY fold your cloud into the batter. I say carefully because if you over mix, your cloud will deflate, thus leaving your batter looking puny. If you’ve done it correctly, your batter will have grown. Growing is good!

Grab your trusty scooper and scoop batter about 2/3 full into your cups. Bake these for 20 minutes, or until they bounce back when the tops are touched. Cool cupcakes in pan for 5-7 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

While these cool, prep your frosting. Put butter, 2 Tbsp juice, and extract in mixer and beat until smooth. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar, about ¼ c at a time. Beat until smooth. Add more juice until frosting reaches your desired consistency, which for me resulted in a total of 3 Tbsp cherry juice.

Pipe or spread on your cupcakes, then garnish with a cherry.

Enjoy!!

Who spilled Chocolate all over my Peanut Butter?

Happy 4th of July....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING HUSBAND!

How cool is it to have your birthday on a National holiday? Seriously, you can always tell yourself that the entire country is celebrating YOU! I guess, when my husband was a kid he always thought that everyone was shooting off fireworks for him. Surprise surprise, when he was old enough to know better he realized that the 4th of July was Independence Day. Whoops. Until this year he has never EVER missed 4th of July fireworks. Sadly, this year much of our state is under a firework ban due to the crazy dry weather. There are a couple of towns still shooting some off, but they're pretty far away. Besides, it's crazy hot outside and we are not big fans of taking our 11 month old baby outside in the blazing heat unless absolutely necessary. In hopes of cheering him up, and making up for the lack of fireworks, I chose to make him cupcakes (and a cake) that resembled his favorite candy in the world: Reese Cups. Oh yeah! You know this is going to be good when peanut butter and chocolate are involved. I can tell you over & over again that these taste exactly like Reese cups, but until you try them, you won't really grasp the reality of the statement. The frosting for these babies is so rich and creamy you kinda want to just melt after the first bite. To give these an extra kick, I stuck a mini Reese cup inside some of the cupcakes. *sigh* It was like eating a piece of chocolaty heaven. Did we see fireworks outside? Sadly, no. Did our mouths explode from the deliciousness? Oh yeah!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcake
Inspired by Good Heavens Baking

For the Cupcake:
2 c all-purpose flour
2 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c dutch processed cocoa (Valrhona for me!)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 c vegetable oil
1 c sour cream
1 1/2 c water
2 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp Mexican vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Mini Reese Cups (optional)

For the Frosting:
10 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
5 c confectioners' sugar
2/3 c smooth peanut butter

For the ganache:
4 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/2 c half-and-half

For garnish (optional):
Mini Reese cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep your cupcake trays with liners.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until well blended. Attach to mixer, then mix oil and sour cream in, using paddle attachment. Beat in water at low speed, followed by vinegar and vanilla. Lastly, add eggs, one at a time, until they are completely incorporated.

Grab your trusty scoop and fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. If desired, unwrap your Reese cups and push one in each cupcake, right-side up. Pop trays into oven and bake 17-19 minutes, or until tops pop back up when lightly pressed. These are going to be very soft, so let them sit in your cupcake pans for about 10 minutes before tipping them out, onto your cooling racks. If you try to pull them out, you might smoosh them.

While these cool, prep your frosting. Toss your butter and cream cheese into mixer bowl and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down your bowl, then beat for one more minute until it is nice and creamy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar, about 1 c at a time. Beat this for about 3 minutes, until beautifully light and fluffy. Last, add your peanut butter, mixing for another minute. The color will seem very light, and you might not think that it is peanut buttery enough. Trust me, it is. You don't want to go overboard, or these cupcake will be even more intense than they already are. Go ahead and pipe frosting onto cupcakes, once they are COMPLETELY cool.

For the ganache, put your chopped chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup into a double boiler (or a glass bowl, over a saucepan, as I did) Whisk constantly, until smooth. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in half-and-half. Working quickly, pool ganache over frosting. It should be nice smooth, so it will drip down the side of your frosting, making them look BEAUTIFUL. If desired, garnish these with unwrapped mini Reese Cups.

Grab yourself a tall glass of milk (trust me) and take a bite. You will never regret trying this recipe. I know I won't!

Confessions of a Hazelnut Mocha-holic...

Up until June 27, 2012 I had never had Nutella. Yeah...I KNOW! I had no idea what I was missing. I knew I liked hazelnut, but didn't realize how delish this Nutella stuff would actually be! I came across a frosting recipe that used Nutella in it, so decided that I should put together a cupcake that also incorporated Nutella, to add some hazelnutty-ness. The result was wonderful. My husband confessed that this cupcake was probably his favorite so far....as did many of my tasters.

This recipe is a keeper!!

Hazelnut Mocha Cupcake

For the cupcake: 

2 c all purpose flour

2 c sugar

3/4 c dutch processed cocoa (I used Valrhona)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 8oz. cup coffee (I combined 2 packets Starbucks VIA 'House Blend' with 8oz hot water)

1 c whole milk, room temperature

1/2 c unsalted butter

1/2 c Nutella

1 Tbsp Mexican vanilla

For the frosting:

1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c Nutella

5 c confectioners sugar

1 Starbucks Via packet, dissolved in 1 1/2 tsp water

1-2 tsp water

For the garnish (optional):

Ferrero Rocher chocolates

Prepare your cup of coffee and set aside to cool. While that sits, place your butter and Nutella in a small saucepan. Set heat to low and melt these together until almost smooth. Remove from heat, and allow to cool.

Preheat your oven and prepare your cupcake pans. 

In a large bowl, combine your flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together your milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add cooled coffee.

Make a well in your dry ingredients, and pour your coffee mixture in it. Use a spatula and begin stirring coffee mixture into your dry's. While stirring, add melted butter mixture. Mix together until batter is thin and resembles liquid oreos! 

Using your scoop, carefully fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake these for about 17 minutes, or until they bounce back when you touch the tops. Cool in their pans for 5 minutes, them remove to cooling rack and cool completely.

While those cool, prep your frosting. Put butter and Nutella in mixer and mix at medium speed. Do so for 1 minute, scrape down your bowl, and mix for another 1-2 minutes, until completely smooth. Add your coffee/water combination and mix at medium speed for 30 seconds, then reduce speed and start SLOWLY adding confectioners' sugar to bowl. Mix in completely, adding more water until frosting is your desired consistency. (I added about 1 1/2 tsp plain water)

Spread or pipe onto your cupcakes, then garnish with candies, if desired. Enjoy!