Mary Ann's Blog
Let Them Eat (Zucchini) Cake!
August 10, 2018
Hot, humid and hazy. Al the conditions necessary for zucchini to do more than thrive, like divide and conquer the garden. Granted their itchy deep green leaves and pumpkin yellow flowers are gorgeous but this sprawling veggie is out of control, pushing everything out of the way and seemingly growing overnight to enormous sizes if you are not watching. I have given away my fair share of them to sheepish looking neighbors who have seen me before, like the day before. I suppose I should be happy that when mother nature hands you zucchini, you do something with it. I have turned it into zucchini stew, fritters, fries, marinated salads, soup, muffins, crepes, pancakes, bread, stir fry, added them shredded to meatloaf mixtures, and as a desperate last resort, added them to chocolate cake.
My son, who thinks all vegetables (except broccoli) are the work of the devil, did not leave a crumb on his plate when I served him a piece. I have to admit, the cake was very moist and no one would ever guess that zucchini was the reason why. And it really needs no fancy embellishment like frosting or even Confectioners sugar unless you want to gussy it up. It is just darn good in its naked state.
Chocolate Zucchini Olive Oil Cake
Serves 8
Preheat oven to 350F
Spray a 9 x 2 inch round cake pan and set aside.
3/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup semi sweet chocolate, chopped
In a large bowl beat together the olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the olive oil mixture and combine well. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate.
Pour into baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a cake skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.
Cool on rack. Unmold and slice or dust with confectioners sugar or confectioners sugar glaze.
More From the Blog
Mary Ann's Blog
Apple Cake
Mary Ann's Blog
The Perfect Spatchcocked Chicken
