Epic Fail

I cannot fail.  It’s true.  Ask anyone.

A couple years ago, the word fail became a complete sentence.  And I cannot for the life of me figure out how to use it properly.  I tried and tried.  I guess I was a little too old, a little too English major, a little too…

Tonight, I learned.  Big time. 

Zucchini and Nutella loaf. 

Fail.

Today is my roommate’s birthday.  I had an amazing plan.  I was going to bake her a pie.  She wants a pie.  She has been talking about a pie since I made one for my dad one for Father’s Day.  A chocolate strawberry pie would be great for her birthday! 

I googled chocolate strawberry pie and found a good recipe.  I also found some other things I want to cook.  One thing, though, I couldn’t wait on.  Zucchini and Nutella muffins.  It just sounded amazing.  I will make it while the strawberries are cooling for two hours.  (Yes, that’s right, two hours.)

I’m a little nervous about muffins, they just seem so, I don’t know, small.  Too much room for error, for a mess.  The recipe said that it can be made as a loaf, as well.  My mom makes zucchini loaf.  Add a little Nutella, it could be heavenly!

So I made it.  Everything was going swimmingly!  (Maybe the fact that I can use swimmingly in a sentence is why I can’t use fail?)  I even swirled the Nutella beautifully!  I put it in the oven and began the clean up. 

The timer went off (I tend to start at the lowest recommended time and work up so it doesn’t burn) and I grabbed the toothpick.  Exciting! 

This is a mess...

Crisis.  It was dripping over the edge.  So much for the muffins being too small…  Not that big of deal, I’ll just put a cookie sheet under it. 

Five minutes later, it was all over the cookie sheet. 

Three minutes later, it had imploded! 

Zucchini Nutella Implosion

I called my mom, and she instructed me on how to clean the oven.  Salt.  Let it set.  Scrape it off when it’s cool.  No problem, right?

I pulled the racks out and started cleaning them.  I turned around to set them on the top of the oven, and there was a flame in the oven!  FIRE!

Happy birthday to Kelly…I’m burning your house down…

Fail.

Epic fail.

The house smells horrible.

But, on a good note, her pie came out beautiful.  Except for the crust, no oven involved.

The pie.  So pretty!

Zucchini Muffins with Nutella Swirl
Yield: 12 muffins
(Attempted June 26, 2011.  Ended up on the oven, not in my belly.  Will try again.)

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
1 extra large egg
1 cup grated zucchini
Zest of one lemon
½ cup Nutella

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, combine the flour salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Whisk well.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and add the egg; beat in.
Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture until just combined.
Stir in the zucchini and lemon zest.
Use a ¼ cup scoop to evenly distribute the batter between the muffin liners. They should be 2/3 full.
Dollop 1 teaspoon of Nutella on top of each scoop of batter and swirl with a toothpick.
Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes. Check the centers with a toothpick. The toothpick should come out clean before removing the muffins from the oven.
VariationsThis recipe can be made in two loaf pans. Bake for 35-50 minutes.
IF you do this...follow the part that says SPLIT...
(I got this recipe from A Spicy Perspective)