Zucchini...Cake?

Zucchini falls into a family of veggies that can be adapted to a variety of culinary services, along with eggplant and tofu (soybeans in secondary form). I'm not a particular fan of squashes, but do enjoy zucchini. Looking forward to dinner tonight - with strong seasonings in the burgers and greens, I knew a dessert would be appreciated. I've had zucchini bread many times, but never have made (or had to my knowledge) zucchini cake.


I found this recipe for Zucchini Orange Chocolate Cake amid several dozen similar versions online. 

The Method

2 1/2 C regular all-purpose flour, unsifted

2 C cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 C soft butter
2 C sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp grated orange peel
2 C coarsely shredded zucchini
1/2 C milk
1 C chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
3. With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended.
4. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.
6. Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
7. Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
8. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.
10. GLAZE: Mix together 2 C powdered sugar, 3 TBs milk, and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat until smooth.
11. Drizzle over cake.
12. Cut in thin slices to serve.

The Result

The cake was - as promised - not very sweet, extremely delicate, and moist. We ate it warm with a fresh glaze. Absolutely wonderful! (Is it wrong to feel like your eating your veggies while you're eating cake? We didn't feel the least bit guilty.)