Yeah, in case of apocalypse, I'll need a farmer. Or at least a good gardener. Preferably one with no cooking skills whatsoever. The sum total of what I have harvested from all my plants this season, with the exception of herbs, is one (1) orange. I haven't even managed a green tomato, which is fine because I don't like raw tomatoes, but REALLY. Here we are smack dab in the prime season for dumping vegetables on your neighbors because you're sick to death of them and all I can do is be a recipient. And make cake.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Pistachios
340 g all purpose flour
65 g unsweetened cocoa powder
6 g baking soda
6 g salt
8 g powdered ginger
375 g sugar
110 g butter, room temperature
105 g vegetable oil
2 eggs
5 g vanilla extract
110 g buttermilk
275 g grated peeled zucchini (don't use the seedy center because bleh. Also you could leave the peel on but why?)
175 g coarsely chopped dark chocolate (I used a 54%)
75 g pistachios, unsalted
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13x9x2" pan with parchment and spray lightly with pan spray.
2. Sift together flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and ginger.
3. Cream butter, sugar and oil together. The key to this is to have everything at room temperature, so it mixes together smoothly.
4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping the bowl between each addition, and then add the vanilla.
5. Alternate adding in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the butter/sugar mix. Mix it just enough to combine. Fold in the zucchini.
6. Smooth the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chunks and pistachios on top.
7. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. You probably should wait until it is cool to eat it, but who am I to judge, since I didn't.
Why pistachios and ginger? Because I like them with chocolate. You could probably use some other nut, or leave out the ginger. But the chocolate chunks really are better than chips, so don't change that part, ok?
3 comments:
Formulating a plan for my old age:
1) Become an accomplished gardener.
2) Move next door to you.
3) Hang around your kitchen window with a hopeful look on my face.
:-)
I feel your pain Kathy! Ditto on the tomatoes! A few zucchini but nothing to get excited about! NOT a good summer for produce growers - including many farmers.
I have a couple nice fat zucchini my sweetie found yesterday hiding under leaves. they are mush bigger than I would normally use for eating. So just you guess what i will be making tomorrow! This recipe looks so, so yummy. And I am thinking with the zucchini in it, I might be able to substitute most of the sugar and make one for Diane!
Thanks so much for sharing.
Don't beat yourself up too much. 1. You have a bad location and not nearly enough sunlight. 2. Every gardener in Portland is frustrated this year with lack of heat/sunshine. 3. I'm not a farmer but I'm getting to be a decent gardener, sadly I do know how to cook.
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