Day 1: Decadent Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Yesterday morning David discovered 11 ready to eat zucchini's in our garden. We both love zucchini, but that is a lot of zucchini! So he took six of them to work to give away (which was easy to do) and left the rest for us to eat. Knowing that we'll have about the same amount again in a few days I set out to find some different ways of eating it all. I think I will post 10 days of zucchini, this being day 1!

As a kid my family often had the problem of too many zucchini in the garden. I remember my mom often making a zucchini chocolate cake to 1. use it up 2. to disguise the zucchini to make us eat it. Well, this chocolate cake does indeed disguise the zucchini (not that I was trying to do that). However, it has got to be one of the best chocolate cakes I have had in a long time. I pulled a few recipes off the internet to try, but after eating this one I know I won't be trying any other recipes anytime soon. What would be the point? This one is just too good. Decadent, rich, chocolatey, moist.



Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe


·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/ margarine
· 2 cups sugar
· 3 eggs
· 2 teaspoons vanilla
· 2 teaspoons grated orange peel (I didn't have any oranges in the house so I used a little orange extract)
· 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.