Monday, September 16, 2013

Chocolate Zucchini Cake



Rebecca had us over yesterday for BBQ.  Her house is looking great and we had a nice time.  It was drizzling rain (which NEVER happens) and a nice breeze was blowing through her windows.  Ahhhh!  

Doug barbecued the burgers, brats, and hotdogs.  He also got out the fish fryer and made some of Rebecca's favorite fries (which are nothing more than frozen, crinkle-cut fries, but when fried outside seem to be something super special). Rebecca made her famous RANCH DIP (recipe coming soon) and I brought this Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

Yea... yea...you can tell in the picture that I kind of like Real Whipped Cream!  LOL.  This is one of my favorite cakes to serve unfrosted.  My mom started making this cake when we moved to Missouri.  We had never had zucchini squash in any form until we moved here.  I'm not sure where she got the recipe but I remember eating this cake often during summers in Missouri.  We only ate yellow summer squash in Florida and we served those as Stewed Squash. We were missing out because there are some great desserts to be made with zucchini (like Zucchini Cobbler, zucchini cake, zucchini bread).  

This cake was a great, not-too-heavy dessert, and used up some of the fabulous zucchini that my sister-in-law shared with me (since I can't seem to get any squash from my garden thanks to the deer, the groundhog, and the turtle).

Here's how I made Chocolate Zucchini Cake AT HOME MY WAY - it seems like lots of ingredients but... it's so worth it:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter/margarine (softened)
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk (or combination of 1 teaspoon lemon juice + milk to equal 1/2 cup)
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking SODA
  • 4 Tablespoons cocoa
  • 3 (6-inch) zucchini (grated) (peeling on)
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup nuts
Cream sugar, butter & oil in large bowl (I use a mixer).  Add eggs, vanilla & buttermilk.  Blend well with a mixer.  Add allspice, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, cocoa.  Blend well.  Add flour.  Blend well.  With a spoon, stir in the zucchini.  Then stir in the nuts.

Pour into a sprayed (or greased/floured) 9 x 13 pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

NOTE:  I baked one-half of this recipe (using two eggs) in a square 8 X 8 pan since there are only a few of us who eat dessert.


Adding the zucchini.  The batter should look nice and creamy before you add the zucchini.

Here is the cake I baked.  Nothing fancy, but DELICIOUS!