Zucchini Bread with Salted Caramel Frosting

I hate summer. Even as a kid I hated it. I hate the heat, humidity, bugs, sweating....I could go on and on. And since I didn't grow up with a pool, going to the pool isn't something I really care to do at all. I am perfectly happy sitting in my air-conditioned 67 degrees cool house, sipping iced coffee and doing non-summer things. Baking. Cooking. Reading. Shopping. The usual things I enjoy. And most people are like, "Oh, I just love working out in the summer outside!" I hate those people. They either can tolerate the heat or they're full of shit. I prefer working out indoors, preferably in an air-conditioned environment. Since this is pretty much the hottest summer I can remember in a long time, I also have no tan. Ryan thinks it's ridiculous because the last two years when I worked as a nanny, I spent pretty much every day at the pool with the kids (which I hated. I spend all that money on highlights and then the sun and chlorine strip my hair. No thanks.) I also figured since I spend a small fortune on anti-aging products, it doesn't make sense to slather amino peptides on my face each night and wear moisturizers with at least 15 SPF then bake my face in the sun. So I've been avoiding it like the plague. 

Fortunately, that gives me lots of time to do stuff inside I really enjoy doing. Like making Salted Caramel Frosting and icing yummy things with it licking it off my fingers and eating it by the spoonful. Fortunately for you, my dear friends, I'm going to post the recipe! I'm not gonna lie. This stuff is amazing. If you make it, it will be gone. It was so tempting just not to eat the caramel by itself.

One of the few, few, few things I like about summer is the bountiful zucchini. I have zucchini coming out my ears. And I LOVE it. We have been eating zucchini about 43 different ways in the past three weeks. One of my favorite ways is just straight sauteed with some garlic. Ryan and I also love zucchini bread, and I made two loaves of it the other day. I had some salted caramel frosting left over from a cake and slapped some on top. Oh baby. I now need to make more zucchini bread and frosting. If you make this, be prepared to need to make about a batch a week. It's a bit time consuming but so worth it. Enjoy!

Salted Caramel

(adapted from Life on Blackberry Farm)

1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons corn syrup (light Karo worked great)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the sugar, water, and the corn syrup in a large saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
 

Cover the saucepan and let it cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
 

After 3 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
 

*Do not stir from this point on, but instead swirl the liquid around the pan so that the caramel doesn’t burn.* (This is the tricky part. Use an oven mitt to hold the handle of one side of the saucepan)
 

Continue to cook until the caramel turns an amber color then remove from the heat and let stand for about 30 seconds. It honestly took forever. I was wondering if I was doing something wrong. Just keep swirling. It will get there.
 

Pour 1/2 cup heavy cream into the mixture. The mixture will bubble up significantly and is very hot.
 

Stir the mixture.Add the butter, lemon juice, and salt. Stir until combined.

There's your salted caramel. Let it cool and it is amazing, especially over ice cream.

Salted Caramel Frosting

Set aside 1 cup of the salted caramel. 

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachement, combine 2 sticks of butter and 8 ounces of cream cheese (both softened). 

Beat until creamy. Add 3-4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar. Do this slowly and without the mixer running or you will have a mess. Add just a bit at a time. 

Once combined, add the 1 cup of salted caramel. 

Add more confectioner's sugar to get the right consistency. I feel like I had to add A LOT of powdered sugar. Next time I will let my salted caramel cool more, but I couldn't wait!

It was about 97 when I made this frosting last week, and I used it to make a 4 layer chocolate cake. The humidity and heat killed my icing and it wouldn't stay stiff, so I didn't take any pictures. However, I did snap a shot of the icing on zucchini bread that I was eating for breakfast a few mornings ago!