not-so-guilty pleasure / zucchini cupcakes

Is this the healthiest recipe in the book?  I don't know, but I do feel a lot better about eating Zucchini Cupcakes (page 73) than, say, a butter cake with chocolate ganache.  Not to mention, these little zucchini breads taste amazing, low-fat or not.  I did use whole eggs and brown sugar, but omitted the raisins.  I grated three medium sized zucchinis, which was more than ample for two recipes worth (weight-based).  I used the food processor with the shredding disk to grate the zucchini, and it worked great.  Bake time was on the low end of the range (20 minutes).  The resulting cupcakes are super moist, with great flavor, and they keep well, too.  I will definitely make these again.

 

Ratings:

Overall - 9

Crumb - 8 / very moist, with a slight chew

Flavor - 9 / just the right amount of sweetness

Appearance - 7 / the surface is a little rough and a bit on the brown side, but the zucchini pieces add nice color

Ease of baking - 6 / grating the zucchini is an extra step, but quick and easy with a food processor

 

Details:

Bakeware - Muffin tin (makes more than 12--I poured the excess into a ramekin)

Oven temperature - 350 degrees

Bake time - 20 minutes

Notes - I think the cupcakes are a great way to bake this--better and faster than a traditional loaf pan for zucchini bread.

it begins / sour cream coffee cake

So, I have already been baking out of The Cake Bible (as well as Rose's Heavenly Cakes) for a couple of months now, but I haven't been totally diligent about documenting, so we'll start over for the most part.  I'll begin with the sour cream coffee cake (page 90).

This is an egg yolk-only recipe, and uses sour cream as the liquid base.  Generally, I have been a big fan of Rose's sour cream recipes, as it gives the cakes a nice, moist, silky texture.  The cake is simple to prepare, but does require a food processor or mini-prep to make the streusel topping and filling.  My feelings toward coffee cake had been rather lukewarm, but this recipe is definitely a hit.  The crumb is soft and not too dense, the sweetness is just right, and the streusel provides a great crunch.

Ratings:
Overall - 8
Crumb - 8 / moist and light
Flavor - 8 / not too sweet
Appearance - 7 / edges came out a little lumpy and it could have used more streusel topping
Ease of baking - 6 / the streusel takes some extra prep time, but the cake itself couldn't be easier

 

Details:

Bakeware - 9"x2" black/glass springform pan

Oven temperature - 325 degrees

Bake time - 75 minutes

Cool time - 10 minutes in pan on rack

Notes - Cake pan covered with foil at 45 minutes to prevent overbrowning.  For future reference, I would make more streusel topping, in order to cover the whole top and avoid the lumpy edges.  Also, I might try adding apple slices as suggested in the book.