chocolate zucchini cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese icing

chocolate zucchini cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese icing

10 Aug 2026

As the 10 year old birthday girl has simple tastes I decided to make cupcakes for her bithday celebration. I took a tried and tested chocolate cake recipe from Clare Scrine and turned it into cupcakes. To reduce the ingredient quantity to suit the tin size I had to reverse engineer the process so out came the calculator, a pen and paper. 

The batter needed 1½ eggs but I didn't feel like cracking a second egg so I added a little more sour cream to the batter. I wasn't sure about the bake time either, so I started with 15 minutes and the cupcakes weren't quite ready so I added another 5 minutes and they were done.

Here's the recipe for you which makes 6 cupcakes, adapted from a Clare Scrine recipe. The icing recipe is generous so you may have some leftover. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced, you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate zucchini cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese icing

Cake
1 egg
75g sour cream
100ml/90g vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
50ml black coffee, cooled or water
1 tsp vanilla extract 
110g finely grated zucchini
135g brown sugar
scant ½ tsp sea salt flakes
120g self-raising flour
scant ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 
35g  Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Chocolate cream cheese icing
125g cream cheese, at room temperature
125g unsalted butter, at room temperature 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
Pinch sea salt flakes 
140g icing sugar
25g dutched cocoa powder 

60g melted dark chocolate, cooled

To top
Dark chocolate flakes or sprinkles

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional. Grease a 6 hole Texas muffin tin and dust with flour or cocoa. If you like you can place a small piece of baking paper into the base of each hole.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, vegetable oil, cooled coffee/water and vanilla until well combined and a little frothy. Add the zucchini and stir well to combine. 

In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, salt, flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined, ensuring you scrape right to the bottom of the bowl to mix well. 

Distribute the mixture evenly between the muffin holes (about 110g/hole), then transfer to the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out mostly clean. It’s important not to overcook the cakes, so keep a close eye on them. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Carefully loosen each cake with an offset spatula before unmoulding and placing on a cooling rack.

Chocolate cream-cheese icing
Place the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and salt flakes into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa on top. Beat with the paddle attachment for 10 minutes on speed 4 until fluffy. Stir through the cooled melted chocolate. Store covered in the fridge until needed. If the cream cheese icing is too firm, zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to rewarm.

Just before serving, top each cake with a generous dollop of the cream cheese icing and some chocolate flakes. 

The cupcakes were a hit and were described as the 'most delicious chocolate pillows' and best of all, the non fruit eating birthday girl didn't notice the zucchini in the cake. Even this non chocolate believer thought they weren't too bad.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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chocolate praline layer cake

chocolate praline layer cake

5 Jun 2023

I've been wanting to make this Ottolenghi Devil's food cake with hazelnut praline for ages and with a birthday on the horizon (mine) the time had come. However, as my work mates have already declared the Clare Scrine chocolate zucchini cake as the best chocolate cake ever, I used that as my base and adapted the Ottolenghi filling and topping.

The cake recipe is pretty much foolproof but I was tired and used the wrong version. If you're wondering why the cake is so tall and handsome it's because I made the batter for a 20 cm cake but baked it in a 17 cm tin. I only realised my mistake after it was in the oven. 

I had all kinds of trouble with the praline filling though. The recipe didn't yield enough praline to both layer and swirl as per the original recipe so I didn't. Maybe it had something to do with my praline but I would have needed double the quantity but I'd run out of hazelnuts. The praline took way longer to process than the 5 minutes stated in the recipe - a good 10 minutes in my mini food processor and perhaps the end product wasn't loose enough. With insufficient praline I simplified the filling and the assembly process and thankfully, it all worked out in the end.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17 cm layer cake. If you'd like to make a 23cm cake, refer to the link for quantities. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate praline layer cake - makes a 17 cm layer cake
Cake
2 eggs
75g sour cream
125ml (½ cup) vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
60ml black coffee, cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract 
135g finely grated zucchini (from 1-2 zucchini) 
165g brown sugar
pinch salt
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda 
45g (⅓ cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Hazelnut praline
150g blanched hazelnuts
135g caster sugar 
pinch salt

Mascarpone cream
225 mls cream
75g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
25g icing sugar
Tiny pinch of salt

Cake
Preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional. Grease and line the base of a deep 17cm tin baking paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, the cooled coffee and the vanilla until well combined and a little frothy. Add the zucchini and stir well to combine. In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, salt, flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined, ensuring you scrape right to the bottom of the bowl to mix well. Pour the batter into the tin and then bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out mostly clean. It’s important not to overcook the cake, so keep a close eye on it. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, then snap off the sides of the tin and leave to cool completely. 

Praline
With the still on oven, spread the hazelnuts onto a baking paper-lined medium baking tray and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until deeply golden, shaking the pan halfway through baking. Set aside, keeping the tray and baking paper. You’ll use them again later.

Place a large saucepan over a medium high heat and, once quite hot, sprinkle in 1/3 of the caster sugar to cover the base. It should immediately start to melt at the sides but not brown too quickly. Swirl the sugar in the pan a little, then add another 1/3 of the sugar, allowing it to melt a little before adding the remaining 1/3. Turn the heat down to medium and cook until the sugar is an amber caramel, stirring with a spatula just a couple times (but not much more). Add the hazelnuts and a pinch of salt, stirring to coat, then quickly transfer the mixture to your baking paper-lined tray and leave to cool completely.

Once cool, roughly break apart the praline then measure out 55g of the mixture. Place the remaining praline into a food processor. Blitz the remaining mixture in the food processor for about 5 minutes or until it turns into the consistency of a smooth nut butter, stopping to scrape the inside of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Transfer this to a separate bowl.

Mascarpone Cream

Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 1 and 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until you have medium peaks. Refrigerate if not assembling right away (you want it nice and cold). 

Assembly
Halve the cake horizontally, then place one of the layers on a serving stand or plate. Top the cake with 2 tbs of the praline then half the cream mixture. Top with another 2 tbs of the praline and gently swirl it through the cream with your spatula. Carefully invert the other cake on top now. Top with 2 tbs of smooth praline, the remaining cream and repeat the same process with the smooth praline then decorate with the praline shards. 

Serve right away or refrigerate overnight to firm up the cream, but top with the praline just before serving. 

Despite all the trials and tribulations, the cake was absolutely delicious but a little extra praline would have made it even better.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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chocolate zucchini layer cake

chocolate zucchini layer cake

21 Nov 2022

Many years ago I lived in Perth while I was studying Sports Physiotherapy. One day a fellow student brought in a chocolate zucchini cake, which was absolutely delicious. In all these years I've never tried recreating the cake until this recipe appeared in a recent Delicious magazine. I just had to try it out though I did make a few changes.

My favourite twinnies just turned 3 so I decided to make a 2 layer chocolate zucchini cake for their birthday celebration. Because we had many mouths to feed I made the cake in a 20cm tin but I think a higher cake would look more impressive. Next time I would make a 2 layer 17cm cake but it might take an extra 10 minutes or so to bake. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 2 layer 20cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate & zucchini layer cake – adapted from a Clare Scrine recipe
Cake
2 eggs
75g sour cream
125 ml vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
60 ml black coffee, cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract
135g finely grated zucchini 
165g brown sugar
½ tsp salt
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
¼ tsp bicarb soda
45g (scant ½ cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Chocolate Sour Cream Icing 
90g roughly chopped dark chocolate
125 ml sour cream, at room temperature
2 tsp maple syrup

To fill & top
150 ml thickened cream, whipped
200g mixed berries

Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional. Grease and line the base of a 20cm tin with baking paper and dust with cocoa.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, cooled coffee and vanilla until well combined and a little frothy. Add the zucchini and stir well to combine. In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar, salt, flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined, ensuring you scrape right to the bottom of the bowl to mix well. Pour into the prepared tin then transfer to the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out mostly clean. 

It’s important not to overcook the cake, so keep a close eye on it. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, then snap off the side of the tin and leave to cool completely.

Icing 
Melt the chocolate (in a microwave-safe bowl) in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between each increment. Remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream and maple syrup. The icing should be smooth and silky. Refrigerate the icing until the cake has cooled (about an hour or so). The icing will thicken as it cools.

Halve the cake then place one of the layers on a serving stand or plate. Top with a thin layer of icing, using the back of a spoon or a knife to spread and swirl the icing so that it’s flat and evenly distributed. Spread the cream over the top, then arrange about half the berries over that. Place the second layer on top of the berries, pressing gently to ensure it sits flat. Top the cake generously with the remaining icing, spreading it over the top of the cake. Top the cake with the remaining berries before serving.

The cake was really easy to make and was quite a hit with the girls, especially the icing. I think the girls ended up wearing as much of the chocolate cake as they ate.

I've been knee deep in Christmas so next week I'll be sharing with you the first bake for Xmas month 2022.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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