bake off | Illustraight

It was my little sisters birthday last week. She is studying to be a chef.

So, my other sister decided it would be a brilliant idea to have a BAKE OFF for her birthday cake!

Who has a bake off for someone who wants to be be a pastry chef!

So, I took on the challenge! I was going to win! I decided to combine my (minimal) baking skills with my creativity and create something that would blow her away!

I started by going to the designer kitchen ware shop to get inspiration… and I got these gorgeous patty pans.

When searching for cupcake recipes, I wanted something that WOWed! There were your usual chocolate, blueberry, vanilla ones… but I wanted something that would win the bake off and turn heads… That was when I stumbled across a ZUCCHINI cupcake recipe! As with many children growing up, my little sister did not like this vegetable, especially after my grandma once over boiled it and made her eat it! So, I thought for her birthday, this would be the perfect way for her to overcome this fear!

Thank you to Martha Stewart for the awesome recipe… I did adapt parts and made it my own though! (I put in choc chips and didn’t have walnuts!)

Ingredients

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

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

1 zucchini (10 ounces), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

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, and salt. Mix in nuts.

In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, 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. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread frosting on cupcakes. The frosted cupcakes are best eaten within 1 day.