The Cupcakes

Last week I asked the girls what they wanted to do for Mother's Day on Sunday. Josie didn't have a preference. Mari wanted to cook something special together, so I let her pull some of my cookbooks off the shelf and search for the perfect thing. She found it - Dr. Pepper cupcakes from one of the Pioneer Woman's books.

Mari LOVES Dr. Pepper. She is only allowed to have it if we dine out, so I think part of the reason she chose the recipe was that a bottle of her favorite soda was in the list of ingredients. But as we sat down to make a shopping list, I started wondering how much she would really like these cupcakes. Prunes and dried cherries? Ginger, allspice, and cardamom?

Mari's mind was set, so off to Publix we went. Who knew a jar of Spice Islands Cardamom is $10 bucks? Island life. I set everything on the counter near my key lime green Kitchen Aid mixer to wait for our baking adventure.

At maybe 6:30 Sunday morning, Mari burst in my bedroom with 'HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY CAN WE MAKE THE DR PEPPER CUPCAKES NOW????" No, after some breakfast and church, sweetie.

To make a very long story short (or at least shorter) these cupcakes were one of the most labor intensive recipes I've made in a long while, and Mari took one bite of the finished product and suggested we share them 'with others.' John said he liked them, but I notice there are still 17 of the 18 made in the refrigerator. I thought they were fine....more like a British gingerbread or steamed pudding. Or something.

Maybe the whole situation was really a metaphor for life as a mother. We do a lot of things for the joy of our children, and that is what matters, even if we would like to be doing just about anything else at that moment. Baking (or cleaning or crafting or painting etc) with kids is so much messier than doing it yourself, but resisting the urge to say 'let me pour it' is worth getting the mop out later. And finally, it isn't about the end result. It's about the time spent doing something together. Which is what kids really want the most sometimes.

So. Who wants a Dr. Pepper cupcake? Only 17 left. :)

Lemony Zucchini Bread w/Recipe

I got four lovely zucchini in my weekly veggie share and I had a bag of lemons to use up, so I hit pinterest to find a quick bread recipe to use both. Several recipes called for buttermilk, which I don't have on hand today, but I found a good one.....a nice amount of zucchini and not too much sugar. I think that quick breads (ie, loaf breads made with baking soda and baking powder instead of yeast) which contain vegetables or fruit often work best with vegetable oil instead of butter. This applies to carrot, zucchini, banana, pumpkin and squash. I also find that grating the zucchini on the largest holes on a box grater works better than shredding it in the food processor. The grated version is dryer and somehow lighter, probably because it doesn't become weighted down with extra moisture. My 4 zukes made enough grated for three full size loaves with a bit left for freezing for my next batch of vegetable soup. This is the recipe I used:

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil

Using a mixer, blend to combine. Add the dry ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Grated zest from 2 small lemons

Pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Leave in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely. 

The loaves turned out great, with a lovely lemon flavor and aroma. I may add a lemon glaze. Just some confectioners sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, stir until smooth and drizzle over top. Enjoy!