Our garden sucks big time this year. And oh, you better believe that I mean sucks, in the suckiest, sucking way possible. We’ve had possibly a dozen tiny little cherry tomatoes, a handful of snap peas, and two gigantic, mammoth, monster size zucchinis that were left on the vine way too long. There are also two rather healthy basil plants lying in wait out there, however, with no fresh garden tomatoes to make homemade sauce with, I’m really not sure what to do with that much basil. At some point maybe I’ll cave in and buy canned tomatoes to make “Cheater Sauce,” but until then I’m more content to just sit back and watch those basil plants grow, because hey, at least something is growing besides my animosity towards very expensive non-producing tomato plants.
When zucchini grow way too big for their britches, there’s really only one thing you can do with them. Make zucchini bread, or in my case, a hybrid zucchini bread that looks like a cake, has all of the ingredients of a bread, but in reality is somewhat closer to a brownie in texture. Right about now, I’m sure you’re all thinking to yourselves that this cake, bread, brownie-like thing pictured here doesn’t look all that appealing. Well y’all, it’s brown. Brown things that come out of the oven do usually tend to look like shit. Literally. Get over it. You have no idea what you’re missing. And speaking of missing, if you need to find me in the next few weeks, I’ll be back in our pathetic garden, staring down the tomato plants in hopes of shaming them into producing at least one decent sized tomato sometime this century.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups Grated Zucchini
- 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Espresso Powder
- 1 Cup Miniature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 Cup Milk
- 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup Salted Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Trace the outline of a cake pan onto a piece of parchment paper. With a pair of scissors, cut the traced circle slightly smaller than the outline; set aside.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a cake pan with vegetable shortening, add the parchment paper circle, and then grease the parchment paper; set aside.
- Place the grated zucchini between a few paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and chocolate chips.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, canola oil, sugar, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Add the grated zucchini and pumpkin seeds; stir until just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread it out evenly with a silicone spatula.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before attempting to take it out of the pan.
Suggestions:
- I discarded the seeds from the zucchini before shredding it. There’s really no reason to include them.
- I use Penzeys’ Natural High Fat Cocoa
in all of my baking; I think it really makes a difference in taste. I don’t suggest using Dutch Process Cocoa.
- Make sure that you use salted pumpkin seeds without their shell for this recipe, otherwise known as pepitas.
- You can bake this recipe in a bread pan if you choose, however, the baking time will need to be adjusted. Make sure to check on the bread every 5 minutes after the initial 40 minute baking time.
Improvements:
- Add chopped walnuts or pecans in place of the salted pumpkin seeds if you are lucky enough to live in a household where there are no nut allergies.
- Use an OXO Good Grips Box Grater
to grate the zucchini needed for this recipe. It allows you to grate and measure at the same time.
- Adding a little Espresso Powder
to anything containing chocolate helps to bring out the chocolate flavor.
- Serve this cake with vanilla ice cream for a sweet dessert or with a sliced banana for a breakfast treat.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups Grated Zucchini
- 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 3/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Espresso Powder
- 1 Cup Miniature Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 Cup Milk
- 1/4 Cup Canola Oil
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Cup Salted Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Trace the outline of a cake pan onto a piece of parchment paper. With a pair of scissors, cut the traced circle slightly smaller than the outline; set aside.
- Grease the bottom and sides of a cake pan with vegetable shortening, add the parchment paper circle, and then grease the parchment paper; set aside.
- Place the grated zucchini between a few paper towels to absorb some of the excess moisture.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and chocolate chips.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, canola oil, sugar, and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Add the grated zucchini and pumpkin seeds; stir until just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread it out evenly with a silicone spatula.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before attempting to take it out of the pan.
*Some affiliate links can be found in this post.
I’ll be joining the Fiesta Friday Link Party (Hosts – Sarah’s Little Kitchen and Caramel Tinted Life) and the Weekend Potluck today. Head on over to see what everyone else is bringing to the celebration.
Don’t let this recipe slip away. How often do you find a recipe intriguing, yet forget where to find it when you finally get the hankering to make it? Instead of digging through old posts or wandering aimlessly around on the internet, why not Pin this recipe to Pinterest where you can find it when you eventually need it? Simply Pin the image above and you’ll have it when that time comes.
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