Oh yes. I went there. Spinach cupakes. But wait. Before you gag, just let me share this.
1. Eric ate one.
2. Then, he immediately ate another.
3. He said they were one of the best cupcakes he’s ever had.
And I agree. And so does this little guy.
In keeping with our “Green” and St. Patrick’s Day theme this week, I wanted to give this a try. I pinned it a few weeks ago, and even got some facebook comments on the pin as “eww”. But you seriously don’t taste the spinach at all. At all. It tastes like a very moist, sweet cake. Downright delicious. You can find the original recipe here, but I made some tweaks and made cupcakes instead of cake, so I’m rewriting it.
Spinach Cupcakes
What you will need:
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 3/4–1 cup pureed spinach (about 6oz of fresh spinach leaves)
- 3/4 cup of canola oil
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cups flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
Remove stems from spinach if too thick or long. This takes awhile, so plan for that.
Puree spinach in food processor or blender (I used a blender–add 1/8 ish c of water to the spinach) (great pictures of the consistency on the original post)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Beat eggs and sugar till light and creamy. Add oil, lemon juice, vanilla, spinach and applesauce.
In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt (I use a whisk and blend in a bowl) and blend into spinach mixture for 1 minute.
Fill liners 3/4 full of mixture.
Bake for 16-18 minutes.
Makes 18-24 standard size cupcakes (depending on how full you actually fill them).
I made two different types of frosting–one for Matty and I, and one for Eric (just a basic sugar and butter mixture). Eric puts his foot down on coconut milk “whipped cream” frosting.
Coconut Milk Whipped Frosting
I’ve made this original recipe quite a few times, mostly at Thanksgiving to go with pie. You can taste the coconut, but again, I tweak it a bit, add a tad of sugar, and it really comes out nice. It’s really a personal taste thing, so “play away”. This time, I added a bit of almond extract and a spoonful of leftover spinach puree for color (because Matty is notorious for only eating the icing).
What you will need:
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk (most comments seem to be agreement that you need Thai Kitchen brand)
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (more if you’d like)
- 1/4 c sugar (more if you’d like) I used cane sugar, but powder sugar would probably work, too.
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract (vanilla works, too)
- 1 tbsp. spinach puree (optional, could also do strawberries, blueberries…)
Directions:
Refrigerate can of coconut milk for 8-10 hours (this solidifies most of the milk)
Scoop out the solidified milk and put in mixing bowl (some milk will be left, use it in a smoothie!)
Add other ingredients and mix with whisk. It will be more difficult at first, but will quickly become the consistency of whipped cream.
Makes enough to top 18-24 cupcakes
NOTE: THIS IS A TODDLER APPROVED ACTIVITY! 🙂
This Girl's Canon 