Chocolate Zucchini???
Feast or famine!Some summers my garden is overtaken by squash borers and refuses to produce a single zucchini (zucchino??). That's not the case this year - I've got zucchini coming out my ears!
I sent out a plea on facebook for recipes and got some fantastic suggestions and links to recipe sites. Grilled zucchini, zucchini lasagna, stuffed zucchini, zucchini bread, zucchini frittata...
By far the most unusual -- and tasty -- recipe is Chocolate Zucchini Cake. This cake was so moist and yummy! My two teenage sons, who would not be caught dead eating zucchini on its on, practically inhaled it. I found it here
I omitted the cinnamon and the nuts. I didn't make the icing glaze, but just used cream cheese icing from a can. 45 minutes cooking time was plenty for my oven - I think 50 minutes would have dried the cake out a bit too much. I suspect this cake would be great with coconut, but since the kids don't like coconut, I didn't try it. If you do, let me know how it turns out!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
* 2 1/2 cups regular all-purpose flour, unsifted
* 1/2 cup cocoa
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 3/4 cup soft butter
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
* 2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
* Glaze (directions follow)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
1 Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
2 With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.
3 Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
4 Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.
5 Drizzle glaze over cake.
Glaze: Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Cut in thin slices to serve. Makes 10-12 servings.
I dare you to TRY to eat just one piece. It can't be done!!!
Joy Nash
www.joynash.com
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Labels: chocolate zucchini cake, gardening, joy nash, recipes
posted by Joy Nash | 6:00 AM
4 Comments:
I loved your book by the way. As for the chocolate zucchini cake, I'll pass; I don't bake much anymore since I seem to be the only one who will eat the cake and I need to lose weight not put more on. It does sound like a good recipe though
I hear you, Diane! Luckily I always have a lot of teenagers around to eat me out of house and home, so there's no danger of me getting too much cake or too many cookies when I bake. I have to hide my secret dark chocolate stash if I ever hope to have it around when I need it, lol!
Started cooking with this overly prolific squash about 30 years ago. The chocolate cake was always a favorite. We have zucchini bar recipe. By far the favorite were zucchini cookies which is basically a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. The zucchini makes them moist and wonderful. Sent them to a a reception for new students in my husband's crew training squadron. The commander was eating them as fast as he could. When his wife and I got there, he came over insisting she try them because they were so good. When he found out they had zucchini in them, he put down a half eaten one and refused to eat another one. His wife just shook her head, he wouldn't eat vegetables.
I think my sister's done chocolate zucchini cake, usually she's does the zuchhini bread which I love. Will have to send her this recipe and see if it's different than hers. I like coconut, that's an idea.
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