Chocolate Zucchini Cake

My quest to use zucchini has continued. I have used it in pasta sauces, omelets, pizzas and any other place I could think of to shove some zucchini it into. Meanwhile, my dear husband has taken great pride in "inflicting" zucchini on his co-workers, family and friends.

Today, we ran out of zucchini. No, you did not misread that last sentence. I actually had two zucchini filled recipes planned for today, but did not have enough zucchini. In a urgent search through the garden I did find some other squashes (no idea what specifically they are), but was only able to find one additional green zucchini. Needless to say, you only get one zucchini recipe today. Good thing it is delicious.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, soft
• 1/2 cup olive oil (may substitute oil of your choice)
• 1 cup brown sugar (check-out person at Trader Joe's suggested using brown sugar because his family's recipe uses brown sugar.
• 1/2 cup sugar (mostly because I finished off my bag of brown sugar)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (should have been vanilla, but I didn't have any and I have overheard co-workers saying they always use almond extract in place of vanilla)
• 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or whatever all purpose four you have lying around)
  
• 2 tablespoons of high quality baking cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
  
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds (or nuts of choice), optional
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350

2. Shred zucchini.

3. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter oil and sugar.


4. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; mix well.

5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add to other mixture.




6. Stir in zucchini.


7. Spread into a greased 13-9 inch baking pan.

8. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. I only sprinkles nuts over 2/3 of the pan because not everyone love nuts.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove carefully because the chocolate chips are hot. I got some melted chocolate chip on one of my hot pads and then touched it by mistake. Ouch! On the same note, make sure to let it cool before eating.



Hope you enjoy this recipe! It was relatively easy to make, even with the constant interruption of tornado sirens. Brutus (my bulldog) and I spent sometime in the basement between steps of this recipe. It turned out moist and delicious with a light chocolate flavor that will keep you coming back for more. It is fabulous served warm with a cool glass of milk.

Orange Almond Zucchini Bundt Cake

Be prepared for the yummiest way to use the excess zucchini in your garden. This cake is moist and has an excellent flavor.

Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
Orange Icing

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix flour, baking powder, soda, salt cinnamon and cloves.
Shred zucchini with a food processor. I chose yellow zucchini because yellow seemed more cake like to me.



In second bowl, beat eggs, whisk in oil, sugar, juice, extract and zucchini. Mix well.



Add to flour mixture, stirring just to moisten. Pour into greased bundt pan.



Bake 55-60 minutes: cool on rack 10 minutes. I was very excited to use the new silicon bundt I received as a wedding gift. The original recipe said to invert. When I tried to invert, the cake promptly slid right out of the pan. I do not recommend inverting for this recipe.




Orange Icing:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Sliced almonds (I bought slivered almonds and regretted not get pretty sliced ones)


In small bowl beat together butter, confectioners' sugar, orange juice and lemon juice until well blended.


Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake and allow it to drip down the sides.


If you want to wrap the finished cake with sliced almonds.





You may want to use another type of pan. Here are the baking times I found:
one 13 x 9 x2-inch baking pan - bake 35-40 minutes.
two 9-inch square pans - bake about 35 minutes
two 8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pans - bake about 45 minutes
24 cupcakes - bake 20-25 minutes