Zucchini Chocolate Cupcakes with Sweet Potato Frosting - Recipe Fail!

A couple of weeks ago we harvested another LARGE zucchini and I thought that I would try to spice things up from my normal zucchini bread recipes and try a cupcake. Even better, a cupcake with sweet potato frosting. Sounds strangely delicious, right? I thought so too. Key word, thought.

I got super excited to make these for everyone at work and got to making these right away so they would be fresh to bring on Friday morning. I used my kitchen aid attachment to grate the huge zucchini and can you guess how many cups this big boy yielded?

Five cups! This guy is definitely not suitable for your every day cooking, but is great for baking. I followed the recipe perfectly, but when it came time to test them for doneness, they were still super moist and gooey. Strange. So, I put them back in the oven and checked them every three minutes until the tester came out clean. After the recommended 45 minutes of baking, they were still not done. After an hour, still not done. Something didn't seem right. I checked the recipe and ingredients again and didn't miss a thing. Figuring I did something wrong regardless of the recipe, I started all over again. Shoot, I had enough zucchini to try it. I double checked every ingredient and went super slow. As I put them in the oven I did a little cupcake prayer in hopes that the first round was baker error. 45 minutes later I went to check them and the same thing happened again. GOOEY AND NOT COOKED.

Let me tell you, I was super frustrated. I may have even cried a little bit inside, but I didn't tell you that. This was the first time in a long time that I have not had something turn out. Guess you can't win them all. As the captain stays, you win some, you lose some. I will be trying this again, but not anytime soon. Maybe you will have better luck with them? They sound so good, so I hope someone will have success with these.

ingredients.

swirling cocoa powder.

pre-baked. I was so mad when these didn't turn out, I gave up taking photos. Oops.

Zucchini Chocolate Cupcakes with Sweet Potato Frosting  (www.nearsightedowl.com)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
(use less/more for taste with even amount of milk)
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 regular-sized zucchinis, coarsely grated (about two cups)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard (12-cup) muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cocoa, and salt. In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix). Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes out, right side up, and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make frosting.

1/2 pound cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 small sweet potato, cooked and scooped out of skin
Whole pecans for garnish

Microwave the sweet potato for a few minutes or until soft. Do this part ahead of time and cool in fridge or put in a bowl with ice to quickly cool down. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, sweet potato and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy. Fill ziplock back with frosting, cut corner and use as a pastry bag to squeeze frosting on cool cupcakes. Top with one whole pecan per cupcake.

Maybe in a couple of months I will be willing to try this one again. In the meantime, I have been working on putting together a list of all the cupcakes I have made to date and the flavors of other ones I want to make. Boy has the list gotten long. Can't wait to share with you all my up's and down's of experimenting with cupcake flavors. Next up on the list - Guinness chocolate cupcake with a vanilla bean buttercream and crushed chocolate covered pretzels for decoration. Totally awesome right? If this one turns out, I might call it the Captains Cupcake. The captain loves Guinness and chocolate and this one sounds right up his alley.