Thursday, August 30, 2007

La Festa al Fresco Submission: Honeyed Zucchini Muffins (or Cupcakes?) with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting


Once again, Lis from La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice have teamed up to host La Festa al Fresco. The event is a celebration of fresh, seasonal (and preferably local) ingredients. Such a good idea, no?

So, armed with plenty of zucchini from my neighbors' garden plus 2 lbs of fresh, raw honey from the Rochester Public Market, I set out to find a recipe that combined the two for a tasty sweet treat. And I found it!

Now here's the thing: without the frosting, these delicious little guys are in muffin territory. With the scrumptious frosting, they cross over into cupcake land with their close cousins, the carrot cakes.

Mupcakes? Cuppins? However you decide to think of 'em, they're yummy.

Thank you to Lis & Ivonne for hosting!

Honeyed Zucchini Muffins/Cupcakes? with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted)

For cakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Chinese 5-Spice powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (2 medium)
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1/2 cup oil
1 cup honey, preferably of a medium to deep color/flavor
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla


For frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest

Cakes: Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (You may wind up with extra batter for about 3 more cupcakes. so you may want to prep another tin.)



In a large bowl, combine flour, 5-spice powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk together zucchini, orange zest, oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla, then pour into flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely, 1 hour.
--
Frosting:
Beat together frosting ingredients with an electric mixer at high speed until well-combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Frost tops of cooled cupcakes.

7 comments:

Deborah said...

I think you should call them cuppins! What a fun word!

Peabody said...

Oh, those look tasty!

Everything4sweets said...

This is nice, Zucchini muffin,nice picture , making me hungry :)

Lis said...

HAR! Mupcakes! Cuppins! Too funny!

But on a serious note.. holy hell those look SO GOOD. They would have been PERFECT for my breakfast today, but as per usual, you didn't show up at my door this morning. Thanks. :P

hee!

Thanks again for joining in on the Festa again.. you so rock, my friend. =)

xoxo

Anonymous said...

Laura Rebecca,

You rock! These muffins/cupucakes are gorgeous and I can't wait to lick off the frosting!

Thanks for coming to the party!

Laura Rebecca said...

Thank you everyone! And Lis & Ivonne, thank you again for hosting. I can't wait to see what everyone has brought to the table. (Mmmm, the mere thought is making me hungry.)

Helene said...

I guess it is the last stronghold of French in me but I have nto done zucchini in cakes yet...I know, I know, I am missing something good...!