Summertime means sun, heat and ... zucchini. Anyone who has a garden knows that it seems like you pick all the zucchini in the garden one evening and the next evening there's twenty more. My parent's refrigerator is full of zucchini, some the size of a baseball bat.
I didn't want to make your typical spiced zucchini bread, though I do love it. I wanted to disguise my zucchini a little bit more because after all, zucchini is a vegetable and as far as I'm concerned, veggies have no place in my desserts (this goes for fruit as well, though I do make some exceptions).
Moist, dark chocolatey cupcakes bursting with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Topped with a dark chocolate chambord ganache, these cupcakes are the perfect way to eat your veggies. They've even been approved by my one year old twin sisters, who for once ate more of the cupcakes than they smeared all over their faces.
Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Chambord Ganache
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Makes 24 cupcakes
1 stick butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10" zucchini)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs, baking powder, salt and baking soda until combined. Alternately add the sour cream and flour and mix until combined. Add the cocoa powder and mix until combined. Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips using a spatula.
Fill the cupcake pans 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are springy. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack.
For the Ganache:
8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon chambord
In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the cream. Place the chopped chocolate in a glass bowl and pour the warmed cream over the chocolate. Whisk the chocolate until melted. Add the chambord. Continue whisking the ganache until it cools and thickens. Spoon onto the cupcakes.
