Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake
When you’ve got a zucchini that looks like this:
It’s high time to make something that looks like this:
Happy Sunday! Are you having a good weekend? It's not often that I post on a Sunday but I have just been so BUSY lately and haven't had time to sit down at the computer and share. And it doesn't look like it's going to get any easier in the next couple of weeks either what with college visits, college drop-offs, hockey practice, hockey tournaments, work and oh yes, jury duty--the federal kind that I have to travel all the way down to the tip of NYC for and to which I cannot bring any electronic devices, which will put me further behind my already sporadic blogging schedule!! But enough griping, let's talk about happier things like having so much zucchini that you are forced to make this delightful Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake!!
In truth, this zucchini comes from the prolific garden of my son's girlfriend who was generous enough to share her crop with us since my husband/farmer has had a lot of trouble with his zucchini for the last few years--can't talk too much about it, it's a sore spot! But I can talk about how easy and yummy this darling little bundt cake is! Homey, simple and moist without being too wet, every bite is filled with chocolate chips and toasted walnuts and the whole things comes together quickly. It's an everyday cake that you're going to want to eat every day!!
It's perfect to serve at a casual summer brunch, take to a picnic or bbq or to just leave on the kitchen counter and let happy people nibble away at. What a joyous thing too much zucchini can be! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and keep your fingers crossed that I don't get assigned to a case!! Yikes!!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake
Makes one 12-cup Bundt Cake, serves at least 8-10 people
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Bake Time: About 50 minutes-1 hour
Ingredients
2 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
12 ounces mini chocolate morsels (or the equivalent amount of regular sized chocolate chips)
½ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
The Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350º F and butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan or spray with a nonstick cooking spray that also has flour in it. Set aside.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda and powder and salt together into a bowl and set aside. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar together at high speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and then beat in the vanilla.
3. One at a time, add the eggs, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. When all the eggs have been added, beat for another 2 minutes until very smooth.
4. Remove ½ cup of the flour mixture and set it aside. Add the rest of the flour to the batter and mix it in on low speed, just until no traces of flour can be seen. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
5. In a separate bowl, toss the zucchini, chips and nuts with the reserved ½ flour mixture, making sure everything gets well coated. Add the mixture to the batter and use the rubber spatula to fold it in.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 50 minutes, turning the pan once halfway through the process to make sure it’s cooking evenly. Cake is done when a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (melted chocolate on it is ok, but not batter), the top of the cake is golden brown and the sides are beginning to pull away from the edges.
7. Let cake cool in the pan on a rack for at least 30 minutes, then invert and remove from pan onto the rack to finish cooling. When completely cool, cut into slices and serve.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from The Epicurious Cookbook by Tanya Steel.
