Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread (cake?!)

I had this big zucchini sitting on my kitchen island, staring me in the face.  For a few days, I looked at it and said, "I know, I'll get around to you."  It intimidated me a little bit, actually.  Then the call came -- yesterday, my friend Joanne asked me if I could bake something for an impromptu going-away/baby shower for her friend Erica.  I said "sure" and she said "no, you don't have enough time" and I said "of course I do."  After all it was for Erica, a lovely soon-to-be Mom who's been great to work with.  I promised scones and zucchini bread.  I searched the internet for zucchini bread recipes, and there are a gazillion, so I decided to go home and open up my baking textbook, the bible of the best (or wanna-be-the-best) bakers, Cooks Illustrated's beautiful book, Baking Illustrated.  It was a gift to myself a few years ago, and as much as I love the internet for instant recipe gratification, it's good to hold a good, heavy book in my hands, to set it on my island opened to a recipe, and even to brush crumbs off a page.  It's like Baking 101, where I can study a paragraph three or four times and really get it without having to scroll up or scroll down. 

Anyway, my point is that old-school is sometimes better, and you can learn an awful lot from a real book, and with this baking book you get lessons based on research in Cooks Illustrated's kitchens, as well as the history and tradition surrounding the recipe (right up my academic alley).  They take one recipe and refine it to perfection before they publish it.  If you ever get a chance to catch their show Cooks Country on PBS (often on Sunday afternoons) it's worth watching.  Christopher Kimball and his staff explain why recipes do and don't work, and they tape their show in a real Vermont country farm house.  There's just so much that is real and authentic with CI and all they do -- it's a refreshing change-of-pace from the glitzy cooking shows populating cable TV.

I found BI's recipe for zucchini bread, and I altered it a bit.  I added chocolate in the form of Hershey's cocoa powder, and even more with mini chocolate chips.  I also added a tiny bit (a teaspoon) of dried Valencia orange peel, just because, but it doesn't have to go in there.  I personally love a little hint of orange in my chocolate.  Once the zucchini was grated and drained, it didn't seem to be that large a component in the bread/cake.  But, it's in there and you can feel good about it!

Here's my recipe for Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, adapted from Baking Illustrated:

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD
makes two loaves

Grease and flour two 9x5 loaf pans 

12 tablespoons softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs (OR for low-fat version, 3 egg whites and one egg, or equivalent in egg substitute - 1 c.)
3/4 c. sour milk (2 tbsp. vinegar and milk to make 3/4 c.) or buttermilk or plain yogurt
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups zucchini, grated, mixed w/ 2 tbsp. sugar, drained in colander for 30 minutes, excess moisture squeezed out (use large holes of a box grater, or shred in food processor)

3.5 cups flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
(optional:  1 tablespoon fresh orange rind, grated, or 1 teaspoon dried)

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted for 5 minutes, dry, over lowest heat setting until fragrant. 
1 cup mini chocolate chips (Regular chocolate chips are heavier and my drop to the bottom.  If you're using them, coat in flour first and then they'll suspend in the batter better.)

Beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy.  Add oil.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add sour milk, vanilla, and zucchini.  Mix well.

In separate bowl, combine flour with cocoa, baking powder, soda, and salt. 

Mix flour mixture into butter mixture until everything is moistened and there are no dry parts visible.  Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips.

Oven 375 degrees

Spray, or grease and flour two 9x5 loaf pans.  Line bottom of pans with parchment or waxed paper (makes it easier to remove later).

Divide batter among loaf pans and bake at 375 until cake tests done - check at 40 minutes.  Cake is done when it springs back when lightly pressed in the middle, or when toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes.  Turn out onto cooling rack to cool completely, and then wrap in saran wrap to keep cake moist.

Like all zucchini breads, this is made to be shared!

Enjoy!

Photo:  by me

Zucchini Everywhere? Ratatouille and Chocolate Zucchini Cake!

No matter how few zucchini plants a gardener grows, there always seems to be an over-abundance of the prolific vegetable. People bring brown bags full of zucchini to work, offering them to anyone who will take them! These unwanted zucchini can be turned into wonderful dishes. I had a neighbor who used to beg for my garden’s zucchini blossoms, and I had to be sure to give her the “male” blossoms because once their job was over, well, they could be dismissed. She’d batter the blossoms and fry them in olive oil, evoking memories of childhood in her Italian family.

We grilled zucchini over the weekend. My daughter sliced it in ¼ inch slices lengthwise, and drizzled it with olive oil. I grilled it on both sides, just until each side had nice grill marks. Sprinkled with just a little salt and pepper, it was delicious “as is.” You don’t have to do a lot to zucchini to enjoy it, but it plays nicely with a lot of other vegetables and ingredients.

This post features recipes for Ratatouille Stew and Chocolate Zucchini Bread (more like cake). Both are highly-rated, adapted from Eating Well, and will make great use of the many zucchini sitting on your back porch (or in a brown bag on your desk), waiting to be appreciated. Here the zucchini is granted the honor it deserves!

Ratatouille Stew
Makes 10 side-dish servings (5 main-dish)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, coarsely chopped
2 red and/or yellow bell peppers, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed (I'd leave this out!)
1 medium eggplant, diced
2 large zucchini, diced
6 medium ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped (you can substitute canned)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and bell peppers; cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and fennel seeds; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl.
3. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pot. Add eggplant and cook, stirring frequently, until browned in places, 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the vegetables.
4. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pot. Add zucchini and cook, stirring frequently, until browned in places, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, thyme and the reserved vegetables and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven.
5. Bake the ratatouille, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature. Garnish with parsley before serving.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
(makes 2 loaves)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (1 3/4 ounces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch-process
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, melted (or 1/3 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips)
2 cups grated zucchini (1 medium)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Spread walnuts in a pie pan and bake until fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
3. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
4. Whisk eggs, sugar, applesauce, oil, vanilla and melted chocolate in another large bowl until blended. Add to the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in zucchini and the reserved walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops.
5. Bake the loaves 55 to 60 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto rack and cool completely.

Photo credit: http://www.nowhiningdining.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/zucchini_img_8322_.jpg