Chocolate Zucchini Cake for Recovery Cafe
Sometimes I institute things with a big megaphone, then fall off the face of the earth.
Like, “Every third Tuesday I’m baking cakes for Recovery Cafe!”
Or, “Every Sunday is pizza night!”
Cake-baking is still happening, but the pizza night is history. Since Yancey started on shift at the station, we can’t do anything on a day-of-the-week basis. We’ve still been eating pizza (obviously) but in a more un-regimented way. I often fantasize that putting my life on some kind of grid would make everything better. Every couple months I make up a Dream Schedule for myself (each day includes mediation and exercise–ha!), and I feel fulfilled just looking at it. It often goes the way of Sunday Pizza Night, though. That’s how life is these days.
This month I made chocolate zucchini cake. My criteria for these once-a-month baking ventures is 1) They have to be sheet cakes 2) They must be easy to transport 3) They have to be something I can make with relative ease with kids afoot 4) Something most everyone would like. So I’ve done carrot cake, blueberry buttermilk cakes, and now this. If you’ve got a favorite cake that fits those categories, I’d sure love to know about it.
And wouldn’t you know, this bake-a-thon landed the same week as a big catering gig. Yancey thinks I’m nuts. For a minute, I agreed with him, but then I pictured all those precious folks at Recovery Cafe, working SO HARD to live clean and sober lives and support one another. The cakes are lit for belly button and sobriety birthday celebrations, and I can’t think of anything more worthy of some late-night, bone-tired baking. You know those nights? When you quadruple check whether the blurry print says “baking powder” or “baking soda?” I came ominously close to that mistake Monday night.
And since I was up anyway, I made a little one for us. Turns out my kids aren’t big chocolate freaks, so more for me. It’s moist even now, 3 days later.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
My blogging friend Beth puts espresso powder in her chocolate zucchini cake, so I added it to this recipe from Epicurious. I loved the little bit of complexity it gave the cake. It doesn’t end up tasting like coffee–it just tastes GOOD. And the zucchini was a HUGE bugger slipped into my bag at Deana’s house last weekend. It’s what prompted this cake. Watch out during zucchini season. I think it’s Garrison Keillor who says to lock your car this time of year. Everyone’s looking to unload.
2 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tb. instant espresso powder
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 1/2 medium)
1 6-ounce package (about 1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions each. Mix in grated zucchini. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts over.
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan.
Hi Sarah - I did not know that “Beth RV” was the Beth from Rhubarb and Venison fame! I LOVE her blog. Very funny. Just got in from a concert at the fair - we saw Foreigner. IT was GREAT. And I can’t sleep. All those old songs racing through my head. Have a HUGE zuch in the fridge - have been baking all week for a lunch I catered at work today…but it now looks like late night cake is calling my name.
I love that you’ve been baking in this god-awful weather. That’s “god” with a small ‘g’.
as a woman who does the same thing, I sympathize. Such big plans, so little time…
Looks scrumptious!
It’s not everyday a gal gets mentioned in her Most Favorite I-Think-You’re-So-Great-I-Check-Your-Site-Every-Single-Day Blog, you just made my day, thanks! (And props to Beth DeK – not only a fantastic name, but great taste in online reading material – the complete package, I dare say :))
YUM! I’ve never tried putting coffee in my cakes either, but I’m sure it would be delicious. Isn’t zucchini season fun? I’m struggling to figure out what else I can make with the darn things!
This cake looks really lovely … if it were me, I too would be happy that the kids weren’t chocolate fans! LOL!
K
Ah yes, as a Pastor’s Family in a small town we were generously given all kinds of overgrown zucchini as gifts. When they are really big, I’m thinking about 4″ in diameter, Mom would chunk of 1/2 inch “steaks”, bread them and fry’em up in a pan. As an adult, the first time I ordered some zucchini I was shocked and dismayed at the tiny little pieces!
I just noticed that instead of typing “each day includes meditation” you typed “each day included mediation!” That’s really funny, and not just a simply typo. I’m sure that between your business consulting clients and the kids, you never go a day without mediation. How close they are in spelling, how far apart they are in meaning…
“simply typo!” — perfect.
…………missed you, i,m back and ready to eat again. these withdrawals are hard on the stomach. just four more days till portland, can’t wait.
Zuchinni cake is the BEST. I’ve been talking about making one for weeks and need to get on it before the zuchinni goes bad.
Yeah! My zucchini made it into one of your recipes!!! (Well, half of the zucchini give to me by a coworker, that is.) I still have another one BIGGER than the one you received from Deana — half of it is still in my fridge, peering at me . . . waiting. Half of it went in to your Ratatouille, which was SO GOOD, and this half is definitely headed for something soon. Truly — so big I considered naming it.
Cannot wait to try your Bacon/Corn Chowder. It’d be sin to try to substitute something non-dairy, wouldn’t it?
My garden has brought me lots of squash, I’m tired of healthy ways to eat it, and I already made one chocolate zucchini cake this year (also from epicurious, so I mistakenly thought yours was the same recipe for a week or so). Anyways, when I realized they were different, I made this one (using half ww flour and half all purpose, including espresso powder, and mixing cocoas: half black onyx and half dutch process) and it was DELICIOUS! I served five college junior girls and they all had seconds. This recipe was much better than the other. Now I’m off to search for chocolate chip zucchini cookies
This was awesome! I love that so many of my Philadelphia friends are cooking your recipes and I get to try your stuff without making it. Sutter made this cake for our 5th of July bbq last night. It’s amazing! I just had a big piece with ice cream while the kids are napping. Ahhh. Now I’m going to print it out for my recipe collection. Thanks again!
Hi Jenny! Tell Sutter I said hello. Hope you had some peace and quiet during naptime