Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

So Friday we had a baby shower for one of my co-workers and I decided to try my hand at making cupcakes. Now - truth is - I've never made cupcakes from scratch before. The closest I've ever come is making Soda Pop Cupcakes back in the day. So this is my attempt. There are a few things I would do differently next time - but I've left the recipe exactly how I made it - and I'll put in parenthesis what I'd do differently next time. The original recipe for the cake was from postpunkkitchen. Of course I altered it...

2 1/2 cups grated, peeled, fresh zuchini

2 ripe bananas, mashed well

1 cup canola oil (next time I would do half oil and half applesauce plus 1 tsp. cherry flavoring)

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

3 or 4 tbsp. chocolate powder

1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I wouldn't put this in next time...too rich)

1 cup chopped cherries

In medium sized mixing bowl, combine zuchini, bananas, oil, and vanilla. Stir well or beat with electric mixer if you want to be fancy. In large bowl, combine all remaining ingredients except chocolate. Add wet mixture to dry, mix well and add chocolate chips. Pour into lightly greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, until toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean. Let cool upright 15 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack. Allow to cool 30 minutes before tasting. Enjoy!

Strawberry Frosting

1/2 c. Earth Balance or butter, softened

1/3 c. almond milk or any sort of nut milk

3 c. powdered sugar

1 c. freeze dried strawberrries

1/2 tbsp. coconut oil

Put freeze dried strawberries in food processor along with powdered sugar and blend until the strawberries are pulverized in to a powder. Meanwhile cream together the Earth Balance, coconut oil and milk until it's combined (next time I'd double the amount of Earth Balance and milk to make the frosting less sweet) Add the powdered sugar and strawberry mixture little by little until it's the right consistency and flavor. I used a piping bag to frost the cupcakes. Enjoy!