American Vanilla Cupcakes

Hello,
I cannot believe we are already into week 6 of the new year.
Here is this weeks recipe which is again from the book Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache.

Ingredients
Makes 12 (180 calories and 1.1g saturated fat per cake)
Cakes:
2 medium eggs
160g caster sugar
300g topped, tailed, peeled and finely grated courgette
180g white rice flour
2tsp baking powder
quarter tsp salt
1tsp vanilla extract
Icing:
1 vanilla pod, split sideways with seeds scraped out (I used vanilla extract instead of the seeds though, as it's cheaper!)
170g icing sugar
2 tblsp water
quarter tsp cream of tartar
1 medium egg **white only**
pinch salt

Method
Cakes:
1. Preheat oven to gas mark 4 or 180c. Put paper cases in muffin tray.

2. Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and light, at least 5 minutes.


3. Whisk the courgette into the mixture.


4. Sprinkle in half the flour along with the baking powder and salt and whisk for another 20 seconds. Add the remaining flour and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.


5. Ladle the mixture into the paper cases until they are four fifths full. The mixture will be runnier than a normal cake mixture.


6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.


Icing:
1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and stir for exactly 2 minutes to dissolve the sugar.


2. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat with a hand-held electric whisk for 9 minutes.


3. The mixture is ready when it forms peaks.


4. When the cakes are cool, ice the cakes as soon as possible before the icing sets.

Voila!



VERDICT: As I was making these I was unsure how they would turn out with courgette in them. I thought they may have a greenish tinge or there would be noticeable bits of courgette in them and taste of courgette but they didn't (see pic at the end of this post which shows one cake sliced in half). I found the texture of the cake much heavier than the usual cakes I bake. I don't think I whisked the icing for long enough (and yes I did time 9 minutes and had soft peaks!). I felt it wasn't set properly and still a little squidgy. The cakes seemed to stick to the cake cases. Now I don't know if this is becuase they don't contain fat but it was a nuisance having to peel bits of paper off them. Again I omitted to tell my family that they contained a vegetable! Their verdict was that they were okay but not as good as my usual recipe. I'm afraid I must agree with them. They are okay but nothing special so I will not be baking them again. I even threw 2 of them away and believe me leftover cake is not something that EVER happens in our household!
I was unsure if I should post this recipe but felt I should post both my successes and failures. It could even be something I've done incorrectly and if any of you try them I would love to know what you think.