Apple Zucchini Cake

My laptop isn't hooked up to my printer.

"What has that got to do with cake?", you ask.

Well, I often go Googling for recipes to use up ingredients that I have on hand. In this case I was looking up apple recipes and zucchini recipes.

When I find recipes that interest me I like to print them out and put them into a "I Might Make" pile for future reference. Except, of course, when I don't have a printer hooked up. Then I have to write them by hand on little scraps of paper that I can find laying about.

This time I was writing down several different recipes at a time and ended up accidently combining several recipes into one. It was a small piece of paper and I had too many windows open on my laptop.

Turns out it was a brilliant mistake.

I combined an apple cake with a zucchini bread and something else that I still don't know which recipe it came from, and came up with this Apple Zucchini Cake with Browned Butter Frosting.

If anyone asks - I did it on purpose.  

Apple Zucchini Cake with Browned Butter Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup apple, grated

1 cup zucchini, grated

1 cup coconut, shredded

3/4 cup pecans, toasted & chopped

Browned Butter Frosting

1 cup butter

4 - 5 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cinnamon, flour, and baking powder.

Stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.

Fold in apple, zucchini, coconut, and pecans. Do not overmix.

Spread into prepared 9 X 13 pan. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Toothpick inserted near center should come out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. When cool frost with Browned Butter Frosting.

Frosting:

Cook butter in heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 6 - 8 minutes or until butter begins to turn a golden brown. (It took me about 10 minutes)

Remove pan from heat immediately and pour butter into a small bowl. Cover and chill for about an hour or until butter starts to solidify.

Beat butter at medium speed, with an electric mixer, until fluffy. Gradually add icing sugar alternating with milk, beginning and ending with icing sugar. Beat at medium speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. (I did 4 additions of 1 cup of icing sugar but then had to add a bit more to get the right consistency)

 

I don't know about you but I like accidental recipes that turn out to be keepers. This is similar to our earlier blog about Apple Cake with Toasted Pecans and Browned Butter Frosting but is still different enough to warrant its own blog.

I actually borrowed the frosting recipe from that blog to put on this cake.

I made this in a 9 X 13 pan because I wasn't sure how evenly it would cook in the oven - I was worried it would be gummy - but now that I know it is okay, I think I would bake it in a 9 X 9 pan for a bit thicker cake. As is it could almost be served as a bar/square.