chocolate – Welcome to my backyard city homestead

I don’t know who had the bright idea of making zucchini into a cake, but they must have had a few get away from them. I think we can all relate, and I’m sure everyone has their favourite recipe. This one may have become my favourite this year, this month, this week! It is rich and delectably CHOCOLATE; light (from the eggs and leavening) and moist (from the zucchini). The perfect combination of everything.

You don’t have to be a visionary to know that THIS

can be THIS:

but it does require a little bit of previous experience because they don’t look like they should belong together. *Don’t waste small zucchini by making them into dessert, eat those fresh out of hand, in a salad or grilled with a little bit of parmesan on them. Baking is reserved for the ones that get too big.

Double Rich Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Begin by peeling your (too big) zucchini, then cut into manageable pieces and shred. Measure out 4 cups shredded zucchini and set aside. If you only have 3 cups go for it anyway, but don’t use more than 4 cups – there’s such thing as too much of a good thing.
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Lightly butter a 9×13 pan or two loaf pans. I also add a sheet of parchment paper to the bottom.

Sift together in a large mixing bowl the following:
2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa (I know it seems like a lot, trust me – its okay)
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Ensure all are thoroughly blended.

In another bowl, beat together:
5 eggs
Add 1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar and mix well.
Add 1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Mix well.

Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. And mix by hand to make sure all flour is moistened. Add shredded zucchini and stir to combine.

Add 1 + 1/2 cup REAL chocolate chips and stir in.
I also add sunflower seeds (I can’t help it).

Pour into your prepared pans. I use a 9×13 glass baking dish.
* optional: Sprinkle another 1/2 cup REAL chocolate chips over top.

Place on the middle rack of your oven.
Set the timer for 20 minutes, then turn your cake or loaf pans around and bake for another 20 minutes. Check again and gently touch the middle of your cake. If it feels firm and bounces back a little, then test with a toothpick for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean then remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a rack. Don’t rush it. Let it bake for a little longer if needed. Check every five minutes. The loaf pans will take longer because they’re deeper. Don’t under cook, but don’t over cook either. Once its firm to the touch, be sure to test with a toothpick.

Good Ol’ Fashioned Zucchini Cake with Raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Sift together and set aside:
2 cups flour
1T cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

beat 3 large eggs
add 1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
mix well.

Add 2 cups shredded zucchini and mix to thoroughly combine
Add sifted dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Fold in 1/2 cup raisins

Pour batter into buttered 9×13 baking pan and place in middle of hot oven. Bake 40-45 minutes or until centre bounces back when lightly pressed. Insert toothpick as a final check. When it comes out clean, cake is done.
Remove from heat and allow to cool in pan.

If you decide to frost it, make a wonderful cream cheese icing with
8 ounces cream cheese – beat till smooth with hand mixer
slowly add 2 cups icing sugar beating all along to avoid lumps.
Add a tablespoon of yogurt, sour cream or milk if needed to keep the icing from being too dry.
Spread over cake after its fully cooled.
Serve in cake pan.

Enjoy!

Which one is better? I am partial to the plain zucchini cake with raisins; it tastes like Sunday dinner dessert should. But the chocolate is extra special, so you have to have both in your life for different times.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

Over our married life there have been many discussions about Hallowe’en. We haven’t always seen eye to eye on it, but we manage to get through unscathed. We’ve noted that candy hits the grocery store shelves a lot earlier than it used to; in fact some of it never leaves, it just increases in volume for two or three months.

I’ve never been big on having candy in the house on a regular basis. My kids pretty much all agree that that was one of the bigger mistakes I made as a mom, and they went into adulthood with those scars. I conceded (with limitations) at Hallowe’en, Christmas and Easter. Some things haven’t changed very much. I can’t help it. I simply cannot be the one who gives children ‘candy’. One day my 5 year old grandson Braeden said “I have a healthy gramma and a candy gramma.”
Oh oh, I knew exactly where this one was gonna go, but I opened the door anyway.
“Which one do you like best?” I asked.
With absolutely no hesitation – he had already made his decision “The candy Gramma.” LOL

I chuckled when I mentioned it to my daughter-in-law later, and she was mortified assuring me he didn’t mean it. But he did mean it, and that was 100% okay with me; I wasn’t offended then and I’m not offended now. It was funny to me, and it still is. He spoke from the immediate perspective of an innocent – focused on instant gratification, and the facts. The most important fact at the moment was that he.liked.candy. That’s okay. The truth is, I also like candy. If we’re talking only about the ‘taste’ of milk chocolate, I like it as much as anybody else – possibly more than many. And if that was the only consideration, we’d eat it for dinner at my house. But sugar and I have had a tumultuous relationship over the years.

I have a lotta dental work that can attest to how much candy I ate as a child, combined with poor training on personal dental care. And I have struggled my whole life with weight issues. It didn’t make any sense to me to allow candy a place of honour in the home I raised my children in. The jury’s still out on what the best parenting choices regarding sweets might be, but suffice it to say that most parents make the best choice they know how. Certainly I did. But eventually the kids grew up, gained more autonomy over their candy choices, and in their turn made the best parenting choices they could.

In the meantime, I still like chocolate and I still live in a 1st world country which pretty much worships it. I may have a lotta personal strengths, but willpower has never been one of them. Case in point is this dialogue below – which is absolutely true in every word, with varying degrees of repetitiveness over the years.

Sept 1, Dan says: “I saw Halloween candy over at Sobeys. Guess we better get some eh?”
me: “Why? We don’t need a bunch of chocolate bars taking up residence in this house – two months before they have to.”
he: “Well we don’t want to wait so long that they run out.”
me: “Oh come on! The last time a store ran out of Halloween candy was the Halloween day that I was 10 years old. (a childhood memory)
he: “I just thought it would be good to get it over with. Then we won’t have to worry about it.”
me: “Do you lose sleep worrying about possibly forgetting to pick up Hallowe’en candy? We both know that if that stuff comes into this house we’ll eat it all up, and then have to buy some more. And so do the stores know that. Which is why its on the shelves on Labour Day.”
he: “Well we might eat ‘some’ but that’s okay.”
me: “No its not Dan. Because unlike you, I don’t eat ‘some’. It will haunt me and I’ll be into it everyday till its gone. I can’t have that kinda temptation around. I’m sorry you married such a weak person.”
he: “I’ll hide it. You’ll be fine.”
me: “I won’t be fine. I’ll rip the house apart till I find it.”
he: “I’ll keep it in the garage.”
me: “You don’t think I know how to find your little stashes in the garage?”
he: “I’ll put it in the freezer.”
me: “I love frozen chocolate.”
he: “I’ll keep it over at the store.” Oh that’s a good one. We owned a family bookstore (Generations LDS Bookstore) at the time – where I might add, I spent the biggest part of each day.
me: “Oh THAT sounds like a brilliant plan!”
he: “I’ll keep it in the trunk of the car I drive. When I’m not home, it won’t be here.”

. . . . . . . let’s face it, to some of life’s issues there are just no perfect solutions, and that’s okay. We’ll get through them and keep things in perspective. Life is full of compromises.