"Frankenstein Brain" Cupcakes

In the spirit of Halloween and my love of baking, I decided to enter the "Booo-tiful Halloween Cupcake Contest" hosted by a blog I like howtoeatacupcake.net. My friend Angie was hosting a Halloween party, to which she suggested we bring goodies, so I figured it was a good excuse! I wanted to create something unique with fall flavorings, so I started pondering all my favorite fall foods and I came up with the following:

"Frankenstein Brain" Cupcakes
(AKA Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting)



Cupcakes:
1/2 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. sour milk or buttermilk
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. finely grated zucchini
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  
• In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add oil, eggs, vanilla and sour milk; beat well.
  
• In another bowl combine cinnamon, cloves, flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda.
  
• Slowly add dry mix to liquid mixture.
  
• Add zucchini and chocolate chips. Mix well.
  
• Pour into muffin tins.
  
• Bake for 10-15 minutes.
  

* NOTE:Since the recipe was for a cake, I added an extra 1/4 cup of milk to make the batter a little less thick.

Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 3/4-6 1/4 cups powdered sugar
sifted 1/2 cup butter, softened, not margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla

• Beat together cream cheese, butter, cinnamon and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy.
  
• Add about half the powdered sugar and beat until mixed well.
  
• Gradually add the remaining powdered sugar until you reach a spreading consistency.
  

* NOTE: I added extra cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg because I like the flavors. I also dyed the frosting green for fun!

The final product:

I am very happy about the way they turned out! A few people (AKA Brad) were a little afraid of zucchini, but for the most part I got really great reactions! Even if I don't win the contest it was really fun to be creative! Not to mention enjoy a sweet treat!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

After hearing about Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from several blogs I like, I decided they were a must try. The recipe can be found here.



I really wish I had thought to take a picture of the whole tray before I cut it though, it was really beautiful!

Unfortunately, I must have done something wrong (or missed a step?) because the batter wa pretty think. When I split into the two sections into the bowl for pumpkin mix and chocolate mix I admit I was tempted to scratch the whole thing. I am really glad I didn't, though my perfectionist side WAS a bit disappointed that they didn't come out quite the right consistancy. When I mixed the oil into the pumpkin side the consistancy turned out perfectly, but there was nothing to help out the chocolate half. Oh well. Perhaps next time I'd add oil to the chocolate half too.

The brownies came out so pretty and my co-workers raved. I con't know if I'd necessarily make these again, but the pumpkin half was excellent and would make for a great pumpkin bread all on it's own. That would definitely be worth a try!