Oh, wait, I remember, that's from the whole 8.99 months pregnant thing. How easily I forget about those extra 30 pregnancy pounds around my belly. And hips. And boobs.
This has been the longest winter ever. Even though we're in the last week of March, Mama Nature decided to dump a blizzard on us. For the first time this year, I didn't make it to work today due to weather. Even after our dear neighbor got his snowblower out in the early morning hours and cleared our driveway, the streets were still packed full of snow and I just wasn't going to chance it.
Let's play Spot The Snowblowing Neighbor. See him?
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Yes, we are very lucky to live in a neighborhood with such kind-hearted people.
So when it snows, I bake. And when I have spring fever, I start digging in the freezer for a bite of last season's garden produce. A-ha! The last bag of shredded zucchini. My precious...
Chocolate zucchini cake is about as Dakotan a dessert as you can get. Why do we adore this cake? Let us count the ways:
1. No mixer needed, just grab your favorite bowl and a wooden spoon.
2. It includes zucchini and lots of it, a locally abundant vegetable that happens to be nutritious.
3. It includes chocolate and lots of it, which also happens to be nutritious according to WebMD. And we all know that WebMD wouldn't lead us astray, right?
BTW - I can't end this post without mentioning the lovely French food blog Chocolate and Zucchini. I've never been to the Eiffel Tower, but after clicking through a few photos in the C&Z picture gallery, I can close my eyes and imagine myself at a Parisienne sidewalk cafe, hearing coffee cups clink against saucers while the scent of fresh baguette wafts through the air.
I'm all about cheap thrills.
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Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
6 oz. melted dark chocolate
3 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the flours, sugars, cocoa, coffee granules, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, oil, applesauce and melted chocolate; mix well. Place zucchini in a colander and squeeze out some of the moisture with a paper towel. Fold zucchini into batter along with nuts until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely. Chocolate frosting optional.
I think we just about had the same day...I decided to stay in yesterday too. I am due in 4 weeks with our second little bundle of joy and I spent the morning baking pumpkin scones.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that you can still see your feet is amazing. I gave that up at about 7 months along! Thankfully I found them again shortly after giving birth :)
ReplyDeleteLove it. I'm totally trying out your recipe in the next week. Might be a chocolate squash and zucchini cake, so I'll let you know if that turns out to be a disaster. (Actually, the guys at the bike shop will be the guinea pigs, heheh.) Any ideas on ways to sweeten without so much sugar? Applesauce, maybe?
ReplyDeleteBTW, I just heard about Zucchini and Chocolate from my cousin a couple of weeks ago. Very chic.
Hi..I just found your blog...I love it! I love to cook, but not to bake, so if you want to bring what seems to be a replica of my grandma's zucchini cake over, I'll throw some coffee on!
ReplyDeleteWhat does a nerdy biking foodie do on a Saturday night in the nation's capital, you ask? Bake. I just pulled a crazy variation on your amazing sounding chocolate zucchini cake out of my oven. I forgot to pick up stuff to make frosting, but it smells so divine I may have to dig into a little bit of it tonight. Luckily I baked it in two cake pans, so at least one will be publicly presentable (no obvious slices missing, heheh) once I get some frosting on it tomorrow. I can fill you in on a few of the substitutions I made and send along some pics if you like.... Right, I need to get out more. :)
ReplyDeleteThe verdict is in: delicious!
ReplyDeleteI made a few modifications to the cake recipe, though:
1) Instead of all-purpose + wheat mix: 2 cups of whole wheat flour, sifted
2) Instead of 1 1/2 cups sugar: 1/2 cup brown sugar + 1 TBSP maple syrup + 3 pears peeled, cored, and pureed
3) No nuts (I didn't have any -- I know, ridiculous!)
4) Instead of one giant cake: butter and flour 2 round (9") cake pans, split batter, and bake for about 50 minutes
5) Note: I used a mix of yellow squash and zucchini.
For frosting, since there was no recipe, I used what I had in the kitchen: equal parts softened butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa. And I splashed in cream (whipping, but not whipped) to make it creamy. So good.
Oho! It's zucchini season again, and I had to pull out your great recipe again. This time I was an egg short and so we'll see how the substitution of a bit of olive oil and a few spoonfuls extra of applesauce works out. I'll know after tonight's dinner party....
ReplyDeleteHope all is well in ND! :)