Chocolate zucchini cupcakes

125g butter, softened

1 ½ cups sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

¾ cup milk

2 ½ cups self raising flour

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups grated zucchini

This made about 22 decent sized cupcakes. It could also make one big cake, just adjust the cooking time to about an hour and reduce the temperature to 180C.

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C.

Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl.

Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Continue beating in vanilla.

Mix the flour, cocoa, cinnamon and salt in another bowl, and mix this into the butter-sugar bowl in three batches, alternating with the milk.

Using a large spoon, gently mix in the zucchini.

Spoon the mixture into the patty tins.

Cook for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cupcakes comes out clean.

Decorations:

I made a simple butter cream icing with cocoa and choclettes, but you could also just sift some icing sugar on the top for a lighter dessert. 

The easiest chocolate cake

I'm not lying. This cake is easy. And it's pretty good. 

You can either make it as one bg cake, or as a batch of about 20 cupcakes. 

Ingredients: 

125g butter, softened

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract/vanialla essence

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups self raising four

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. 

Grease and line one 22cm cake tin with baking paper, or about 20 patty tins.

Beat the first four ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Then add the last three. Mix to combine.

If cooking one cake, bake for about one hour. For cupcakes, about 20 minutes, but keep an eye on them. 

Basic icing: 

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbspn butter

2 tbspn milk

2 tbspn cocoa powder

Beat well in a bowl. 

Ganache icing

1/2 cup or 125ml cream

200g dark eating chocolate

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth. Stand for at least 10 minutes before smoothing over cake/s. If it's still too runny, pop it in the fridge for a little while but be careful as it gets very thick and hard quite quickly. 

Butter cream frosting (yes, frosting. I'm not American obviously, but this is definitely frosting)
185g butter, softened
2.5 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons water or milk
any food colouring - add this at the end, not at the start

Beat it all together in a large bowl until it has lightened in colour slightly and is thick, but still spreadable. About two or three minutes. Add more icing sugar or liquid to adjust if necessary. 
Add 2-3 drops food colouring, mix and add more as desired.