Food in Disguise

A sweet treat for brunch

We disguise food all of the time. According to pop culture, frog, snake and alligator taste like chicken. There are forty thousand chicken recipes to make chicken taste like something else. There is garlic chicken, lemon chicken, butter chicken, etc.  But it is still chicken (or maybe it is alligator)! As we prepare for the fall festivals, holidays and all of those rich feasts I have a somewhat healthy and absolutely divine treat for you. 

Trick or Treat!

I love Halloween and this is a perfect and slightly healthy costume for your zucchini.  Green vegetables and protein costumed by butter cream. The perfect muffin, healthy and delicious but transformed by the addition of a luscious butter cream. Is this a trick or a treat?

Zucchini Spice Cupcakes with a Cinnamon Cream Cheese Butter Cream

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

1 large Zucchini, I had 1 3/4 cup with 2 medium zucchinis
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs, if you double this add 1 additional egg for a total of 5 eggs for extra protein
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350˚F

Prepare the muffin tins with cooking spray or cupcake liners and set aside. I love  these wonderful unbleached chlorine-free cupcake liners. 

Grate zucchini with skin on for the wonderful green color, but if you are hiding the healthiness of this muffin, you can remove the green peal before grating the zucchini. Using a box grater, grate the zucchini in the larger holes and set aside.  In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the sugars, oil, vanilla and almond extracts and eggs.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder, and spices. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix well. Add in the zucchini. 

Pour batter into the prepared cupcake liners or muffin pans. I used between 1/4 and 1/3 cup batter for each cupcake. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a rack and frost when total cool, at least 1 hour.

Perfect for a fall picnic

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Butter Cream

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

4 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

4 Tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1/8 teaspoon meringue powder, optional

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, optional

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups powdered sugar

In a mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese and sour cream, cream together. Add in the vanilla extract and spices and stir to mix. Add powdered sugar and beat on high for 1-2 minutes until the butter cream becomes light and fluffy.  Pipe the butter cream onto the completely cooled cupcakes. Dust the cupcakes with cinnamon or a pinch of nutmeg. I piped the butter cream with a closed star.

No alligators were harmed in the making of the recipe!