We're back with our second monthly bake-along for the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club and, lucky me, I had the good fortune to select the recipe! The book has a ton of good seasonal and holiday recipes but September was a bit of a tricky month - not quite fall, but definitely heading in that direction. I went with the zucchini spice cupcakes, which seemed like a good compromise to me. They say "summer" because they make use of the abundance of zucchini so many people find themselves dealing with right now (for the record, I'm not one of those lucky people) but they also scream "fall" with their use of warm spices - cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves! Plus, cupcakes with veggies in them are healthy so we can eat more of them, right? Isn't that how it works? :)
I hadn't noticed when I made my selection, but this recipe is super simple. It doesn't require a mixer and there's no butter to bring to room temperature. I didn't have any lemon zest so I threw in orange zest instead. I also skipped the walnuts because I'm not a huge fan. The batter seemed pretty thick when I was filling the tins, so I was a bit worried the cupcakes were going to be dense. Fortunately, that wasn't the case at all. The cupcakes were fluffy and moist and so fragrant from the combination of spices!
The cupcakes are topped with a simple cream cheese frosting and wow, does Martha ever know how to make a delicious cream cheese frosting!! I loved everything about it, especially the texture. It was the perfect consistency for piping! It's definitely my new go-to cream cheese frosting recipe - delicious and easy! I thought the cupcakes were great on their own, but slathered with some of the cream cheese frosting, they were perfection. I'm going to freeze some zucchini now so I can make these cupcakes again and again this fall and winter!
Thank you to our fearless leader, Betty, for all of her hard work to get this group up and running! I tend to be a bit of a cookbook slacker so I'm excited to know I will actually try all of the recipes in this book (so far, I'd say we're 2-for-2!). Another big thanks to everyone who baked along with me this week! I hope you all liked the cupcakes as much as I did. If you did enjoy these cupcakes and have more zucchini you want to incorporate into treats, I highly recommend this chocolate zucchini cake I made a few weeks ago. It's wonderful!
(*Betty has asked that we do not post the recipes from Martha's book on our blogs and I'm happy to comply with her request. If you'd like to try the recipe before picking up the book, it is available on a number of other internet sites.)
(**Today is also a TWD day and I do plan to post about this week's recipe - look for it later this afternoon!)
50 comments:
they look amazing! i love the cupcake cases too
I was worried about the thick batter too but they rose beautifully! Thanks for such a great pick :)
Katie xox
Tracey, thanks for choosing this great recipe. I was spicy and moist and great for both breakfast and dinner. Love your photos!
Thanks for picking this one! I love it. Yours look so pretty!!
I can see that I am going to end up wanting that MS cookbook and that I'm going to be craving cup cakes all day long!
What beautiful piping! I loved this choice. It really did make you feel like fall was close but also had a summery feeling. Glad to know that orange zest works too! They look delicious, Tracey!
ooh I love the pictures. These look wonderful! Great choice, we loved them!
I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE Zucchini cupcakes! LOVE LOVE LOVE. GREAT choice! Gorgeous photos!
you know, i've NEVER had zucchini. i was ALWAYS icked out by it. the texture of cooked zucchini just made me want to shove it off my plate.
but zucchini in baked goods? genius!! i have to try these. *runs to store*
I love the look and the sound of these cupcakes. I've got squeezed shredded zucchini frozen, and now I'll freeze some unsqueezed (yay! hate to squeeze zucchini dry) now for this recipe and the chocolate one.
Love the photos! Nice pick... i enojoyed these too.
Your cupcakes look wonderful - I love baking with zucchini! I never thought to freeze it for the winter... that's a fantastic idea!
Great pick this month, they were a big hit around here. It was fun baking these with you yesterday in our little twitter session...LOL. Yep, you fancied them all right, the swirl piping on these are great. Very impressive.
Your cupcakes look incredible. Love the swirl of frosting.
And yes, you can eat as many as you want - they have veggies.
They look delicious! I'll have to try these because I have a ton of zuchinni in my freezer now!!
This cupcake looks amazing. Great job with the piping! I was not able to bake along this month but I will be next month - so exicited to get started.
thanks so much for this pick--they were wonderful!
Thanks so much for making this selection! you're photos are beautiful and the cakes look so yummy. Ok, you're the 4th blog that mentions the super thick batter...Mine was very thin - apparently i did something wrong? perhaps because i grated the zucchini on a box grater? left the veg sort of 'wet' maybe thats why. here nor there, this was fun!
We must be on the same zucchini wave length because I am going to get more zucchini to make extra cupcakes to freeze for later.
Excellent choice, Tracey!
Your cupcakes look out of this world!! Great job! And I am soooo impressed with your piping. I have yet to master the art of piping. I bought all the tips and an instruction book, but somehow I can never get it to do what I want it to do!!! Thanks for a great pick this week!
Great pick. We really liked these. I made them twice. Your cupcakes are perfect.
Those cupcakes look nice and moist. I love the warm spices in carrot cake as well as zucchini cake. I love to use nutmeg, even if it's not in the recipe. And always, and I reiterate, always, use freshly grated nutmeg. It just doesn't compare to the pre-ground stuff you buy in jars. And if you have a microplane, it's a breeze. 5 seconds and you're done.
what piping tip do you use to make the big swirl??
Hello Miss Tracey!
Look at those fancy liners and beautiful piping!
A cupcake diva indeed!
Definitely a winning recipe with the group.
Thanks so so so so so much for your cupcake support and love!
You are truly fabulous.
Oh I can't take it!! I want to join this group :) I hope that Betty allows new members soon! In the mean time, I will have to bake along from the sidelines.
Those are some beautiful cupcakes picks! It was a great selection! My husband just loved them. He may now have a new favorite cupcake!
Beautiful pics and thanks for choosing this recipe! I have zucchini bread so this was perfect this month!
I didn't love the thick batter so I added milk... they came out a great consistency! Interesting recipe for sure, I liked eating mine.
Thanks for hosting! I love the pick and the cupcakes came out so beautifully in your pictures!
Great recipe pick! Yours look great, especially the frosting... yum!
Your cupcakes look great! Would you believe I've had my food processor for a year and a half, and I just opened the grating blade tonight to make this recipe?! I have been missing out! Great pick! I really enjoyed making and eating these.
This really is the perfect late summer/early fall pick! I've seen nothing but raves about these, and I can't wait to try them. I am just loving this MSC book! Your cupcakes are gorgeous!
Thanks for a choosing this months recipe. They were yummy. Love your cupcake liners!
Thanks so much for the pick! It was super simple but yielded amazing results. I'm glad you enjoyed yours just as much as I did!
beautiful photos! thanks for picking the zucchini cupcake! i'm ashamed of my initial skepticism! these turned out great!
These look so good all around bloggyland that I'm going to have to get that book!
Tracey, thanks so much for choosing this cupcake. It was a super easy yummy treat. My family loved them, as did I. I had two!
These look awesome! I have some zucchini in my refrigerator; I was going to make a zucchini bread I saw in Food & Wine, but I might have to make cupcakes instead.
No, thank you Tracey for making such a great choice! It really was a great kick off to the fall season! Love your piping, and your blog! It makes me think i need to practice. haha! Thanks again!
@Jennifer: I generally use my mechanical pastry bag from Williams-Sonoma to pipe. It comes with a few large tips and I used the star tip to pipe the big swirls! Here's a link to the pastry bag: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/b304/index.cfm?pkey=xsrd0m1%7C16%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7C%7Cmechanical%20pastry&cm%5Fsrc=SCH
I'm sure Michael's sells a similar, if not identical, tip you could use with a ziploc bag but I don't know what number it is.
These were delicious, I would have to agree about the yummy cream cheese frosting!
Such a great pick - and yours look amazing. Can't wait to make these again next summer.
Thanks for picking a great recipe for this month! I loved them! I also think that yours turned out beautiful! The piped icing looks amazing!
Our cupcakes look delicious!
Your cupcakes look great. I like the way you decorated them.
Great choice for selecting this recipe this month. Your cupcakes look amazing! I'm sure I will make these again, with chocolate chips next time.
i grated mine with a box grater! maybe that's why they came out so gooey. i guess i have to break down and buy a cuisinart!
thanks tracey.
Looks like you made a great pick! Cream cheese frosting is one of my favorites for piping. And I like the cupcake papers, too.
I missed this when you first posted, but they look AMAZING!
Blogs are so informative where we get lots of information on any topic. Nice job keep it up!!
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