The True Test of a Good Dessert

Many times I will try a new dessert and my family will say that they like it, but then it sits on my counter uneaten. I believe that I am to assume that they were just being polite, and I don’t need to make that dessert again. Every summer I seem to be trying to find the perfect chocolate zucchini cake recipe that will taste good when I convert it to whole grain and quite possibly the search has finally ended. I wasn’t so sure if the cake I made this past week was really good until it was gone in just two days.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Zucchini Cake

                          2 1/2 cups hard white wheat flour

                          1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

                          1 teaspoon soda

                          1 teaspoon baking powder

                          1/2 teaspoon salt

                          1 cup brown sugar

                          1/2 cup sugar

                          1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

                          1/2 cup buttermilk

                          3 large eggs

                          1 teaspoon vanilla extract

                          2 cups shredded zucchini

                          1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan or bundt pan. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugars and butter until smooth. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. Add half the dry ingredients, stirring until evenly moistened. Stir in the zucchini and then the remaining flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. For bundt cake, allow to cool on wire rack for 15 minutes before removing cake from pan. Cool completely and drizzle with chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup chocolate chips

2 teaspoons corn syrup

Heat the heavy cream to a simmer, and pour over the chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir in corn syrup, and keep stirring until there are no more lumps and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Antioxidants

This past week I was in the mood for something chocolaty. I decided to use up some of the zucchini that was collecting on my kitchen counter and try a chocolate zucchini cake. I don’t have a favorite recipe for chocolate zucchini cake, and so I tried a new recipe that I found on the internet. There were literally hundreds of recipes that combined zucchini and chocolate. My favorite zucchini bread recipe was easily adapted to whole wheat flour, and so I figured whatever recipe I used would turn out well with whole wheat instead of all-purpose flour. I liked the flavor of the cake, but the texture was more like a quick bread recipe than a fluffy cake. My husband ate the majority of this cake. He loved the flavor and thought it was incredibly moist, but I think the middle section must have been a little too moist because he cut all around it.

ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CAKE
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups hard white wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups zucchini, grated
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream butter then add oil and sugar; mix.
Add next 8 ingredients; mix well.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Put in greased and floured 9X13 pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until done.


ANTIOXIDANTS? REALLY?
Have you ever noticed that Hershey’s Cocoa claims to be a natural flavorful source of antioxidants? Antioxidants are compounds that help neutralize free radicals and protect your body against their destructive effects. According to Hershey’s website, cocoa has more oxygen radical absorbance capacity than cranberries, grapes, or prunes. Prunes or cocoa – now that is a no brainer! Antioxidants, vegetables, and whole grains, and I thought I was simply making a dessert.