Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing {Veggie Desserts + Cakes by Kate Hackworthy}

This week Kate Hackworthy had her very first book published Veggie Desserts + Cakes: Carrot Cake and Beyond! After having followed her blog for a few years and interacting with her on social media I was delighted to have the opportunity to check out her book!

There are no illusions that sugar and flour and all the things you need to bake exist in her recipes. In my review (in previous post) I mentioned in that Kate didn't write her book to hide vegetables away in baked goods, but to show how they can shine!

There were so many recipes to choose from and this one, even though it has more of an autumn feel, stood out to me. I love pumpkin and the spices used with it! I was unnecessarily weary of the avocado icing - I thought "this is never going to work."

It did.

It turned out beautifully. The avocado I had might have been on the small side and I did need extra icing sugar to get in into a spreadable consistency. It was when I could coat my spatula in the icing and turn it around without it dripping that I felt I had it right. 

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Avocado Icing 

125g unsalted butter, softened 

125g granulated sugar

2 large eggs

150g pumpkin puree (canned or puree cooked pumpkin or butternut squash)

2 tsp vanilla extract

175g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp salt 

100ml milk

Avocado Icing

1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled

250g icing sugar 

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake pan with paper cases.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and beating each one in well, then beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.

Alternating, add one-third of the flour to the egg mixture and stir to combine, then one-third of the milk. Repeat until all the ingredients are combined.

Spoon the batter (I like using my medium ice cream scoop) into the cupcake cases until nearly full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

To make the avocado icing -
Puree the avocado with a hand blender until smooth and creamy, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice and beat with an electric mixer until thick. You may need to add more icing sugar, depending on the size of your avocado, to get a thick piping consistency. Spoon into a piping bag and frost the completely cooled cupcakes as desired. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

*as I said above I needed to add more icing sugar - I didn't feel the need to pipe the icing I just used a palette knife to apply and smooth out the icing!

These cupcakes turned out great for me! The cake is nice and soft and has a great taste with all those great spices and pumpkin! The icing, as I mentioned above, I was weary of, but it turned out well! The avocado acting as the butter for the icing gave it an interesting flavor that complimented the pumpkin cake well!

Visit Kate's blog Veggie Desserts or see more of her delicious recipes on one of social media channels - Facebook or Instagram or Twitter! 

Check out how these other bloggers got on trying out Kate's recipes:

Chocolate Cauliflower Ice Lollies - on Recipes from a Pantry
Cavolo Nero and Orange Cupcakes - on The Hedge Combers
Beetroot and Vanilla Sorbet - on Natural Kitchen Adventures
Carrot Gingerbread - on Farmersgirl Kitchen
Carrot Gingerbread - also on Ren Behan
Avocado Lime Tarts - on The Veg Space (check out this post to win a copy of Kate's book!!)
Pea and Vanilla Cake with Lemon Icing - on Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
Kale Apple Cake - on Tin & Thyme
Courgette Poppyseed Loaf - on Family Friends Food
Courgette Poppyseed Loaf - also on Baking Queen 74
Strawberry and Spinach Swiss Roll - on Foodie Quine
Pea and Mint Cupcakes with Rose Water Buttercream - on Kavey Eats

Most Expensive Brownies Ever {aka Amazing Brownies}

With a title like that you may be thinking that these brownies are made with gold or silver. Close, but no they are made with raw coconut oil, coconut sugar, ground almonds, and avocado.

All those ingredients are a little on the pricey side. Now before I made these I had a few questions.

First, do I spend the extra money on trying them out? Second, will they be as good as promised therefore making them worth the effort and the money? And third, what the heck is coconut oil?

The answers? Clearly I decided that I would dish out the cash to try them out and yes they are as good as promised and worth the effort and money. And coconut oil is a substance that has many uses. You can eat it, but it’s also a great way to keep your hair and skin healthy. Apparently. Who knew, right?

The brownies are expensive to make therefore I wouldn't be making these everyday however for a special almost healthy treat I would totally make these again. They are also a great way for those who gluten intolerant. To make it dairy free use dairy free dark chocolate!

Expensive Brownies:

100g coconut oil

300g dark chocolate

290g coconut sugar/nectar

100g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

1 avocado, smooshed

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

Heat the oven to 180C and line an 8 in/20 cm square pan with greaseproof paper. Melt the coconut oil and chocolate together in a large saucepan. Take it off the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding in the rest of the ingredients. It does make it easier if you gently beat the eggs and vanilla together before adding in. Fold it all together until just combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 26-30 minutes. The less you cook them the gooeier they are and the more you cook them the more cake like they are. These need to be cooked for a minimum of 26 minutes. The top should have a nice shine, but it will be a bit wobbly if shook. If you cook it for a little longer then it won’t be noticeably wobbly. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving up! You could top with yogurt, fruit, ice cream, crème fraiche, whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce?

notes: recipe adapted from Love, Tanya by Tanya Burr. Please see previous post for the book review! I am complaining about the cost, it's just not every day I fork out 6 GBP for 1 ingredient (coconut oil) and the other ingredients aren't necessarily cheap either. Therefore these are the most expensive brownies I have every made!