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Sunday 25 September 2011

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Its birthday month. Both for We Should Cocoa, who turn one, and me who turns... errr, lets not get into that!

The challenge for this month was to come up with a birthday cake. For me, nothing screams birthday as much as a chocolate cake. As it turns out, I had the perfect cake recipe practically handed to me. My neighbour Vee, she of the Lemon Courgette Cookies fame had also passed on a recipe for a chocolate zucchini loaf. I've been waiting to try it out for a while, but like most good intentions, this one got side tracked by other things. You know what they say, the road to a diet is paved with chocolate cake recipes :-)

I finally got the chance to make it today, and hopefully in time for We Should Cocoa. I was a bit worried, as it was the first time I was making the recipe, so I scaled it down a bit. The zucchini came from my garden, as usual (sigh!) and I changed around a few bits as bobs (also as per usual for me :-))

This cake was just gorgeous! I used a good Lindt dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips, and the zucchini just kept it so moist, it was unbelievable. Instead of just serving it plain, I decided to then go all out and made a delicious dark chocolate cream sauce to go with it. After all its a birthday celebration!

Technically, this was supposed to be my birthday cake, and I had plans to freeze some of it, but sadly it didn't last out the day let alone keep the few more days. No matter, its the perfect excuse to bake another cake this week... and yes, I bake my own birthday cakes (another deep sigh!!)

A quick note - in my recipe I say to bake this cake in a loaf tin. For the pictures, I baked a small portion of the cake batter in a 4 inch springform tin, and baked the rest of the mixture in a loaf tin as the recipe instructs. Just wanted to clarify that, in case of any confusion.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

For the cake:

2 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup oil (I used a light olive oil, not extra virgin. Replace with canola or vegetable oil)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup buttermilk
1¼ cup plain flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda (bicarb of soda)
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cup grated courgette/ zucchini
¼ cup dark chocolate, chopped

For the sauce:

½ cup dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
2 - 3 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk, and whisk until well mixed.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, little by little, beating until well mixed. Stir in the grated courgette/ zucchini and the chopped dark chocolate.

Pour into a well greased loaf tin, and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until well risen and a cake skewer comes out clean.

To make the sauce, heat the cream until just under boiling point. Place the chopped dark chocolate and the sugar in a heatproof bowl. Add the hot cream and whisk into a smooth sauce. The sauce will thicken a bit upon cooling.

Serve the cake with the sauce poured over.


Chocolate Zucchini Cake

20 comments :

  1. Man! What a coincidence!! I've been so inspired by all the courgette related posts on ur blog that I actually picked up one just now..can u beat that it costs Rs.60 for 200gms? :( just brought one to make a zuchini loaf today, never worked with loaves of any kind before :) Ur cake looks so delectable that I have bookmarked it..next on my list to get the little fellow to eat his veggies :)

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  2. That looks delicious. I am not a great chocolate cake fan, but make one occasionally to keep the rest of the family happy.

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  3. Yum. How much can you taste the courgettes? Am preparing for the day in the distant future when my daughter decides she doesn't like them anymore...

    I love making cakes but every attempt at chocolate ones I have made have been major fails. I'll try this recipe this week, and let you know if I've finally cracked it!

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  4. Oh my goodness. That is one chocolatey chocolate cake. I am having cravings just looking at it. Oh my!

    Oh and happy birthday xxx

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  5. happy brithday... September is the best month eh?

    I love how you've served this!

    d

    x

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  6. Looks yum. Courgette is weird to put in a cake but then I love carrot cake so why not!!

    happy birthday to whoever and they were very lucky to have such a gorgeous cakey bun!!

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  7. This looks really delicious. Courgette in cakes keeps them wonderfully moist. I've been using trendy, extra-virgin rapeseed oil in courgette cakes lately (although I've not made a chocolate one) - it adds a sort of nutty note to the taste, if you see what I mean.

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  8. I am a HUGE fan of chocolate zucchini cake. They are so moist and perfect. And sort of healthy with the zucchini. right? Your sauce on top looks wonderful!

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  9. Many happy returns!! And I love how this cake was so good it barely lasted a day- that's a sure sign of an impressive, successful bake!

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  10. I'm absolutely going to try this - it looks SO good and with that chocolate sauce - well - YUM - can't wait.
    Mary

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  11. A sinful & delightfully chocolatey cake!!!! Cheers,
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

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  12. @MMM, yes it seems rather weird, but you actually can't taste it, unlike carrot cake. I believe beets can be used too, but I was pretty pleased at how this came out :-)

    @Phil, I've seen that oil in stores but not really tried it out. I used a very light olive oil for this cake, but I want to try out the one you mention. I can see it going pretty well with normal courgette cake, especially since I add nuts to it. Thanks for the tip!

    @Melissa, that's what I tell myself :-) But I was seriously surprised at how well this came out. The sauce was so simple to make, but actually turned the cake into a proper dessert.

    @Kate, thank you. I am fraid cakes never last in our house... I don't bake as much as I would like to, but when I do anything I make disappears pretty quickly :-)

    @Mary, brilliant. Let me know how it goes... and yes, I was very chuffed by how well that sauce worked. I think I may have got the recipe for it in a magazine, but its so simple to make that I use it as a standard sauce now, and it goes over everything!

    @Prats, thank you. I was glad when it came out so well for sure.

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  13. That looks so good! I love courgette cake, it's so moist. Happy Birthday!

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  14. Thanks Michelle for letting me know your space. You have beautiful cute blog which I like with good collection of recipes.

    Cheers,
    Uma

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  15. wow this looks so so good.
    Regards
    olga.

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  16. Chocolate courgette cake is delicious - I've tried a few different ones and they were all good. Your looks so good basking in decedent chocolate cream. Happy Birthday and thanks for coming along to the We Should Cocoa party :)

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  17. I've been meaning to try a chocolate courgette cake but still havent got round to it yet. You've definitely inspired me. Happy belated birthday, I'm a September baby too :)

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  18. Darn, I posted replies to all of you, but Blogger swallowed them :-)

    @Shireen, I can't believe you had to pay for courgettes, I wish I could parcel up the ten million from my garden :-)

    @Mme, this one is chocolatey, but not as intense as some of the fudgey ones. We really liked it.

    @LittleMe, you can't taste the courgette at all. What it adds to the cake is a very slight chewy texture and an incredible moistness. Good luck, and I hope this one is your lucky bake (durr).

    @Jac, lol, its supposed to be healthy for you too... somehow the taste belies it :-)

    @Dom, yes, aren't September babies the cutest ;-)

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  19. @Dilly, welcome to my blog and yes, courgette does really make the cake super moist. I couldn't believe how tender it was.

    @Uma, welcome too. Hope you enjoy browsing. I love your space as well.

    @Olguis, welcome to you as well. Thank you for the compliments. Are you Italian? Really like your blog, even if I don't understand the langauge :-)

    @Choclette, thanks. I've been a bit lax over the summer, but will pull up my socks, promise :-))

    @Baking Addict, I sure hope so. Its worth making it, it was so good. ANd we September babies rock :-)

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  20. Just found this and off to make it now. We have courgette jam, pickle and chutney to last a life time now I am into cakes. Wonder what Courgette Ice Cream would be like! LOL, it is very hot here at present!! Diane

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