Zucchini Spice Cupcakes

I was determined to get this month's recipe completed well in advance of the deadline. Mission accomplished...

These were a little more labor-intensive than I anticipated. It may be because I made them immediately upon waking and I wasn't yet in the mindset for shredding zucchini.

However, all prep work was forgotten when I smelled them baking. Martha should start a line of candles and home fragrances based on her cupcakes. Imagine...this spicy scent and last month's caramel and chocolate...heaven!

Anyway, back to the cupcakes. When my husband and I sampled them fresh out of the oven, he commented that they tasted more like muffins than cupcakes. I thought they were more cake-like.

I was headed out and planning on icing later when I saw that our township was doing construction on my road. So the first plate of "muffins" went to the workers.

One went to my coworker who was melting in her office with inadequate air conditioning.

Later, I iced the remaining cupcakes (with some help from my niece, who was a big fan of the cream cheese frosting). One went to my husband, two to my parents, and the rest were wrapped up to take to my book club meeting.

Overall, they were a hit. My mother said they were tasty (especially the icing) but she wasn't sure whether they were zucchini, carrot, or something else. She did taste the spice. My book club comrades said they were great, no specific feedback beyond that. I snagged the one leftover cupcake and I'd give them a 9 out of 10. They were spicy, moist, and the cream cheese frosting had a nice tang to it that was a good contrast to the cake. (I also think they were pretty good as muffins!). I'll invite my husband to post with his own comments about his tasting experience.

I am looking forward to our next assignment!

Done!: Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes

I woke up this morning to a clean and fruit-fly-free kitchen but didn't muster the energy to bake until early evening.

Nevertheless, I finished a couple hours under the wire...

Ta-da! Martha's Chocolate Salted-Caramel Cupcakes.

The verdict from the two tasters so far (husband and me) is that they are very good. Very rich so as someone else commented, the minis may be the way to go (I made standard cupcakes). I had about two while in the process of baking/decorating and now feel pretty gross. And from someone who can usually down a staggering amount of sweets, that's saying something.

Deviating from the minis, I had to keep spooning caramel into the cakes before it seemed it was actually filling the holes created for the caramel.

I did have some extra caramel and since I was losing steam, I made a chocolate ganache icing and put some of the extra caramel in the middles to "level" the tops off.

Overall, I would make again. I could see this being a nice fall/winter cupcake. My favorite part was the caramel, so maybe I can just make a big batch of that? :-)

Roadblock #1

A cupcake a month should be simple. It seems simple when a month stretches ahead of you and your planner is empty. And then things pop up in your schedule. And your kitchen becomes infested with fruit flies because you hoard fresh fruit and vegetables with the best intentions of eating them. I've good intentions for many things. I'm just not so good at the follow-through.

So here's hoping I wake up to find scores of fruit fly carcasses floating in their liquid graves of apple cider vinegar.

And then I can get to baking...first cupcake is due on the 15th!

Ready, Set, Bake...

So I belong to an eco club, a sorority alum club, a book club, and have three jobs...so why not throw in another club? Well, it is about cupcakes. My weakness. A little piece of heaven. So I accept the challenge and will bake a Martha recipe once monthly. Bring it!