Something a little different.......

After a LONG and very stressful week I was dying for a cupcake and a cup of coffee to help me relax. I'd seen this recipe and was a little doubtful but, nevertheless was itching to try it out. It has definitely moved onto my top 5 list!

100g grated courgette
100g cake flour
100g ground almond
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
100g flaked almond
1 egg
160ml double cream

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees (celsius)

I couldn't find ground almond at the grocery stor and so I ground them myself in a coffee grinder.

Mix together the dry ingredients and courgette in 1 bowl. In another bowl mix together the egg, cream and flaked almonds. Fold the egg / cream mixture into the dry ingredients until well mixed.

Pour into cupcake papers and place in oven for 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean. I've found that it's best to make the cupcake papers about 3/4 full.

I found these cute cupcake papers at the dollar store equivalent in Taichung (Taiwan). You can't see the bottom but each has a girl's face and stars around the sides.

For the frosting beat together 1 egg white (already beaten until stiff), 120g cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla essence and icing sugar. Add the icing sugar gradually until the mixture is stiff. I ran out of icing sugar and learnt a really nifty tip from my mom - place normal sugar in a blender or coffee grinder and mix until it is the same consistency as icing sugar.

The beauty about this recipe is that the almonds can be replaced with almost any nut, but I'd suggest a slightly oilier nut, like pine nuts.

Happy Baking!