Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream and Chocolate Ganache

That's a mouthful. This recipe comes from Plump Me Up. A perfect cake for a BBQ to share with friend and neighbors.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup apple sauce

3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips

Whipped Cream Ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
4 tsp instant coffee
16 oz (2 1/2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips



Method:

Let's start with the cake shall we? No mixer required here! Preheat oven to 350. Combine all dry ingredients into one bowl and eggs, oil, and apple sauce in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until almost combined. Add the zucchini and the chocolate chips to the batter and mix to combine. Pour into two greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans and bake for 50 minutes or until a knife comes out almost completely clean from the cake. It's ok if there are still some moist crumbs on the knife because zucchini is a little wet any way. You want this cake to stay nice and moist, right Molly? (We like a moist cake around here) Let the cakes cool for a bit in the pan and then run a knife around the edges to remove them from the pan. Once they are room temp you can cut them each into two layers giving you a total of four layers.

While the cake is in the oven you can make the ganache by heating the cream until little bubbles form, but don't let it boil, then stir in the coffee until it is combined and then add in the chocolate chips and remove from the heat. Stir in the chocolate chips until you have a smooth ganache. Yum.

Right before you are ready to assemble the cake (once the cake layers are cool so the whip doesn't melt) make your whipped cream. With the whisk attachment of your electric mixer whip cream, sugar, and vanilla until it looks like whipped cream, duh.

Assemble the cake by layering cake then whipped cream, using all four pieces of cake with whip between layers. On the top pour ganache and spread it with an off-set knife until it drips over the sides. Put a strawberry on top and you're done!

Muffin Thursday: Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins

This is a great recipe. I love a muffin with a lot of stuff in it. And anything that fills the house with cinnamon smell is a keeper.

The original recipe is from Bake-A-Holic. I made a few changes. I made it half whole wheat flour and half white, I quartered the sugar, subbed out some of the oil, and made the whole eggs into yolks because I eat the whites and save the yolks for baking.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup ap flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy milk or regular milk or OJ- whatever your preference
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 small zucchini- grated
1 small sweet potato- peeled and grated
1/2 cup nuts (I used pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup raisins or craisins (I used some of both)

Method:

Preheat oven to 450.
Combine first paragraph of dry ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
Combine 2nd paragraph of wet ingredients in another bowl, set aside.
Add dry to wet and combine, don't over-mix.
Add grated veggies, seeds, and dried fruit, mix until just combined.
Divide batter into prepared muffin tin and throw them in the oven for 5 minutes at 450. Then bring the temp down to 400 and bake for about 18 or so minutes more until they are mostly done in the middle.
The zucchini is so wet they might be a little under in the middle, it's ok, they'll set up as they cool.