Zucchini Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I could’ve baked my usual No Fuss Fudge Cake and added grated zucchini, but I felt like doing something different. I looked in my Country Women’s Association (CWA) cookbook, “Country Classics” and found the recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake. It was quite a thick batter but a lovely dense, moist chocolate cake. I guess, when it comes to adding vegetables to cakes, you could practically use any recipe and just add either grated or pureed vegetables. I’ve been doing it for the last four years for my fussy daughter and she’s none the wiser except when it comes to zucchini. She spots the green bits on the grated zucchini so I peel it. I wonder if she’ll give me grief over this cake. Too bad. She’ll just have to miss out.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake
(from Lesley Cowan, Ballarat, Vic from “Country Classics” by the CWA)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1 cup grated zucchini

Cream Cheese icing:
125g light cream cheese, softened
2 tbs icing sugar mixture
150ml whipped cream
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C and grease and line a ring tin (or any other cake tin you like).
2. Sift bicarb soda, flour, salt, cinnamon and cocoa and set aside.
3. Place butter, oil, sugar, orange rind and vanilla together and mix well.
4. Add egg, then mix in zucchini until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients.
6. Pour into tin and bake for 30 mins.
7. For cream cheese icing, beat all ingredients until combined and ice cake once cooled.

Mini Caramel Mudcake Cupcakes with Caramel Icing

What a day! You’d think the lead up to Mother’s Day would be pretty low key. No, not in this house. It started off with helping out in my daughter’s classroom, calling into the shops and electronic banking was down with my bank so a trip to the bank and a queue 20 deep. Then it was home to make some cupcakes for my daughter’s Girl Guides “Mother’s Day” afternoon tea and to attack the stench that was in my daughter’s room (refer previous post). Then it was back up to my daughter’s school church for a Mother’s Day Liturgy, a snake slithering past me while I waited to pick her up, ice the cupcakes, Guide’s afternoon tea and then a Mother’s Day craft evening at the local hardware store (Bunnings for the Aussies) and then home. Kids were asleep in about 5 minutes and I won’t be far behind them.

I don’t know why I went down the ‘caramel’ road. Maybe it had something to do with a friend of mine mentioning a caramel icing recipe she found. I get these thoughts in my mind and I can think of nothing else. (Don’t mention peanut butter to me. Oh damn it! Now I’ll have to have some.)

I found this recipe here for Caramel Mudcake Cupcakes and it was so damn easy. Just melt the butter, sugar, white chocolate etc etc. Mix into the flour and that was it.

The caramel icing was just as easy and the recipe is here. They went like ‘hotcakes’ at the Guide meeting and everyone raved about them. I think this might be a new favourite recipe and it is inevitable that it will no doubt be turned into a chocolate version (or peanut butter).

Caramel Mudcake Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting

3.5 oz (100g) white chocolate buttons
4.5 oz (125g) butter, chopped
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup
2/3 cup milk
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup self raising flour
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 170 deg C. Combine the chocolate, butter, sugar, syrup and milk in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until melted and combined. Allow to cool for about 15 mins. Sift the flours. Mix flours into the caramel mixture. Stir in the egg. Bake for 30 mins.

Caramel Icing:
125g butter, chopped
1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1½ cups (240g) icing sugar mixture

Melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in brown sugar and milk; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3 minutes, cool. Gradually stir in icing sugar until frosting is of spreadable consistency.

Note: I nearly always make mini sized cupcakes for kids as they usually only eat the icing and leave the cake.