A Step Back: Olaf Cupcake Cake

It’s been an eventful year. To say the least.

I have used baking as a method of self preservation when things get very, very messy.

But when things got the messiest, I curled up, ugly cried, and soothed my soul in a myriad of ways before going back to baking.

I spend time writing, knitting, walking, running, driving, crying, sleeping, eating, dieting, and so many other attempts at soothing my soul that I enjoyed and learned from. What I learned, mostly through walking and running, is that bettering my being will better others.  When I’m happy, I can make other people happy. And what makes me happy is sharing things I love. I love to teach people things and show them things I like. So I’ve decided to try this again.

I learned how to make a cupcake cake. When my first attempt didn’t fail (with zucchini spiced cupcakes and cream cheese frosting, recipe past the break), I decided to do a few more things. My first cake was for my mother, who during the messiest part of this past year immediately came to my aide and held me.

And she wanted this silly cake.  So I made it.

I know from working on myself that I do best with structure… a lot of structure. I am NOT a spontaneous person and excluding a few mistakes (with names) along the way, I tend to think long and hard about things before making decisions.

I’ve decided to significantly continue this blog to work on myself. I miss writing, but it hurts my hand. I miss being creative, but I don’t have much time. This allows me to do some critical thinking (what does one write about when they have this self-doubt that they can’t stop?) and be creative AND bake. 

I went back to a recipe I’ve already made once. My sister likes to think that hobbies don’t take time, and once she realizes they do, she frequently considers herself “hobby-less” and thinks that it doesn’t take time (I love her all the same,  I understand what she means).  Baking is a test of patience and endurance and those are both related to time. And I have those, but I don’t have time. So she asked for chocolate and yellow cupcakes for Milo’s second birthday. I didn’t have the time or patience to bust out two kinds of cake. (I am working two jobs again) So I just mixed them together like I did in 2012. And made my favorite frosting. And made this for a boy who loves Frozen. And carrots. And sweets. 

Zucchini (it has an h! Goshdarnit I never remember until the red squiggle) Spiced Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

·         1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1 cup packed (dark-)brown sugar *I used light and dark, it's just what I had

·         2 teaspoons baking powder

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         (1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts *I almost exclusively refuse to add nuts to recipes...)

·         1 zucchini (10 ounces), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups) *I used a "curvy" zucchini from my sister's farm, which was nice to say it was an "organic zucchini"

·         1/3 cup vegetable oil

·         2 large eggs, lightly beaten

·         1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

1. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. And nuts if you're crazy like that. 

2. Mix zucchini that zucchini you slaved over your grater for with oil, eggs, and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture until they're just combined, making sure not to overmix. This is great because you're exhausted from fighting your grater and you might be lazy (you might not be, but I am). But hopefully you've already preheated the oven to 350* because I always forget that. 

3. Fill 12 liners with cupcake mix evenly. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick/instrument of your choosing comes out clean. 

Martha's Cream Cheese Frosting (aka the easiest way to ever get a compliment...)

8oz cream cheese (I usually do 6 regular, 2 neufchatel) (room temp)

1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Literally, mix them with a beater until smooth. That's it. And try to not get confectioners' sugar everywhere.