Spiced Courgette Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Use up some of that end-of-summer courgette glut with these light and fluffy spiced courgette cupcakes featuring the superior taste of Kerrygold butter. This post has been sponsored by Kerrygold. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

Spiced courgette cupcakes – rainy day baking

With these shorter, colder days and the return of the seasonal rain and gales, I’m all about the comfort food again. After a glorious summer spent playing outdoors I now feel like making cakes and desserts. Give me the carbohydrates! Combine this with the abundance of courgettes appearing in my veg box and I bring you the inspiration behind these spiced courgette cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Think carrot cake, but without the raisins and nuts, and grated courgettes instead of carrot. It works, honestly. Trust me. 

These cupcakes are not at all heavy as you might expect. They are light, airy, warmly spiced cupcakes with a tower of delicious buttery cream cheese frosting. A delicious Autumnal treat, if I do say so myself! They’re perfect for sharing over a cuppa with a neighbour before the kids get back from school (thanks Shona, for the much-needed girl-chat!) or even as a lazy second breakfast on a Saturday morning with an espresso.  

After-school snack verdict from The Teenager: “These cupcakes were really good, Mum. They didn’t taste like courgettes at all!”

Kerrygold butter – wholesome, natural, great-tasting

When it comes to making a delicious, buttery cream cheese frosting you want butter that tastes great.

What’s special about Kerrygold butter is that it comes from Irish, grass-fed cows. Living on small, family-run farms in the beautiful Irish countryside, Kerrygold cattle are fed for the majority of the year on lush green grass. As a result, their cows produce milk that makes a distinctive golden yellowy butter, that is creamy and superior in taste.

It’s this superior taste that makes a difference to the final flavour of your recipe. Kerrygold butter may cost a little extra than a generic supermarket brand, but the difference in flavour makes it worth it. Look out for it in the butter aisle of your nearest supermarket. 

Ingredients for the spiced courgette cupcakes

• 2 medium courgettes 
• 100 grams Kerrygold butter, room temperature
• 90 grams light brown soft sugar
• 90 grams caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 200 grams plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 80 ml buttermilk

Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting

• 115 grams Kerrygold butter, room temperature
• 300 grams full fat cream cheese, cold
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 300 grams icing sugar (see notes)
• chopped nuts to decorate (optional)

How to make spiced courgette cupcakes

1. Cream together Kerrygold butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add the eggs, one a time, with a spoonful of flour, and beat well.
3. Sift over the dry ingredients.
4. Add the buttermilk and vanilla, and mix well.
5. Fold in the grated courgettes.
6. Spoon into 12 cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated 350°F/180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 oven.

How to make the cream cheese frosting

1. Cream room temperature Kerrygold butter until whipped.
2. Mix in the cold cream cheese.
3. Add the vanilla bean paste.
4. Sift over the icing sugar and gently fold in.
5. Add more icing sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.
6. Chill until needed.

Baking with courgettes

• Courgettes can be quite watery when baking, so the trick is to drain the excess water from the grated vegetable before adding them to your bake. Grate the vegetable onto a clean dish towel or paper towel, top with another one and leave to drain while you prepare your cake batter. 
• The smaller the courgette the better the flavour.
• Keep the skins on for gorgeous little flecks of green in the finished bake, but if you want to hide the vegetable away from fussy eaters, peel them first. 

Tips for making cream cheese frosting

• Make sure your butter is room temperature
• Ensure the cream cheese you use is cold
• Cream the butter first, then stir in the cream cheese
• Do not overmix!
• Sift over the icing sugar and fold in gently
• If it’s lumpy, push it through a sieve and no one will be any the wiser
• If it’s too runny, refrigerate for an hour or so to solidify it
• Failing that, add in some more icing sugar, a little at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency

Try for 50% off – Shopmium cashback campaign

Have you heard of Shopmium? It’s a free app that enables you to access exclusive offers on everyday brands found in the supermarket – like trying Kerrygold butter for 50% off so you can make these courgette cupcakes! As a user, you simply buy the featured product from your nearest store, take a picture of your receipt and get cashback paid directly into your PayPal or bank account!

Offers in the app change weekly as Shopmium works with over 500 of the biggest supermarket product manufacturers who are featuring different products and providing Shopmium users with an exclusive offer to buy that product. More than 5 million people in the UK and France are already experiencing Shopmium. When will you try it?

Spiced Courgette Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Use up some of that end-of-summer courgette glut with these light and fluffy spiced courgette cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting.

4.88 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Calories: 453kcal

Author: Elizabeth

Ingredients

Metric - US Cup Measures

For the spiced courgette cupcakes

• ▢ 160 grams courgettes grated & drained weight
• ▢ 100 grams Kerrygold butter softened
• ▢ 90 grams soft brown sugar
• ▢ 90 grams caster sugar
• ▢ 2 large free-range eggs
• ▢ 200 grams plain flour
• ▢ 1 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ▢ 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• ▢ 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• ▢ 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• ▢ 80 ml buttermilk

for the cream cheese frosting

• ▢ 115 grams Kerrygold butter softened
• ▢ 300 grams cream cheese
• ▢ 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• ▢ 300 grams icing sugar see notes

To decorate (optional)

• ▢ pistachio nuts chopped
• ▢ walnuts chopped

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Affiliate Links

This recipe card may contain affiliate ingredient and equipment links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment

mixing bowl

12-hole muffin tin

green cupcake cases

star-shaped icing nozzle

Instructions 

To make the spiced courgette cupcakes

• Preheat oven to preheated 350°F/180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole cupcake tin with paper cupcake cases.
• Cream together the Kerrygold butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  
• Add the eggs, one at a time, along with a spoonful of flour, beating well.
  
• Sift over the dry ingredients.
  
• Add the vanilla and the buttermilk and mix well.
  
• Fold in the grated, drained courgettes.
  
• Spoon into the prepared cupcake cases.
  
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and springy to the touch.
  
• Cool completely on a wire rack.
  

To make the cream cheese frosting

• Beat the Kerrygold butter until smooth and creamy.
  
• Add the cream cheese and vanilla bean paste and mix well.
  
• Sift over the the icing sugar.
  
• Mix gently until combined. Do not overmix.
  

to decorate

• Frost the cupcakes using a large star shaped nozzle and decorate with chopped nuts, if desired.
  

Video

Notes

How to make thick, pipeable cream cheese frosting

The cream cheese frosting recipe quantities listed in this recipe make a thinner cream cheese frosting, the kind you would find on the top of a carrot cake. If you want to make a thicker, pipeable frosting, reduce the butter and cream cheese quantities by half but use the full amount of icing sugar. You may need to add a little extra icing sugar to get the desired consistency, depending on the time of year/humidity. 

Just keep adding the icing sugar. It'll work eventually!

Tips for baking with courgettes 

Courgettes can be quite watery when baking, so the trick is to drain the excess water from the grated vegetable before adding them to your bake.

Grate the vegetable onto a clean dish towel or paper towel, top with another one and leave to drain while you prepare your cake batter. 

 

Nutrition

Sodium: 318mg | Calcium: 69mg | Vitamin C: 2mg | Vitamin A: 1059IU | Sugar: 41g | Fiber: 1g | Potassium: 159mg | Cholesterol: 59mg | Calories: 453kcal | Saturated Fat: 8g | Fat: 24g | Protein: 5g | Carbohydrates: 55g | Iron: 1mg

Environmental Information

Tried this recipe?Mention @TangoRaindrop or tag #elizabethskitchendiary - we'd love to see what you've been making!

Other courgette recipes you might like

Dark Chocolate Chunk Banana Courgette Bread

A super tasty way to use up a glut of courgettes! Great for packed lunches, an after school snack or just with an afternoon cuppa and a novel.

Get Recipe

Chocolate Courgette Loaf

A moist, dense, chocolate courgette cake ideal for using up a glut of courgettes!

Get Recipe

Courgette & Poppy Seed Muffins

A not-too-sweet almost savoury muffin with grated courgette, lemon infused olive oil and poppy seeds. Ideal with a morning coffee!

Get Recipe

Pin this courgette cupcakes recipe for later

This is a sponsored courgette cupcakes recipe post in collaboration with Kerrygold butter, although all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipes.