Chocolate Zucchini Cake
By: diane padoven
Published: Sunday, August 22, 2010 - 10:24pm

Ingredients




3 cups organic unbleached flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup best quality unsweetened premium cocoa powder (i like scharffen berger)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups cold water
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pure balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini (i use a box grater)

Preparation

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2 Grease a bundt cake pan using extra virgin olive oil. add the first 6 ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. 3 Stir with a wooden spoon to mix. add rest of ingredients and stir, using the paddle attachment, until just incorporated. 4 Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake 45 min to 1 hour. 5 Test for doneness by sticking a skewer, chopstick or knife into center of cake. 6 If your tester is clean when you remove, the cake is ready. 7 Rest on a rack for 30 minutes. 8 Invert onto cake plate and allow to cool completely. 9 Dust with powdered sugar and serve. 10 This is also delicious with a chocolate glaze drizzled over the cake and served with ice cream or fresh fruit.)

About


 i thought i would share my chocolate zucchini cake...made with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. moist, chocolaty, delicious...a favorite in my house when zucchini gets to be a bit too much. i might hear "oh no!..no more stir fry with zucchini...no more grilled zucchini...no more stuffed zucchini" (you get the idea)...but i never, ever hear "oh no!...no more chocolate cake!" the recipe is inspired by a cake in the moosewood restaurant book-desserts. their version first introduced me to the concept of using vinegar in a cake. thank you moosewood! this cake is also delicious without the zucchini ...a bit lighter and more "cakey". the zucchini makes it dense, most and really fudgy...so you have options depending on what type of cake you want...try both versions(exact same recipe...just leave out the zucchini)