Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

From Denny: From the almost 6-year-old blog Chocolate and Zucchini, written by a French woman and offered in American-style very good English as well as French.

It is also in the top 100,000 traffic ranking, an admirable feat for any blog other than an IT one. Congrats to Clotilde Dusoulier for getting recognized as a fabulous blog! For more interesting recipes and reading just click on the title link.

For recipe conversions there is a link for your convenience to that page just below my posting area if you are unsure about any of her measurements.

Chocolate & Zucchini Cake

Yield: Serves 10


Ingredients:

1 1/2 C (180 g) all-purpose flour

1/2 C (60 g) whole wheat flour (of course, you can just use 2 C / 240 g all-purpose flour, I was just trying to be good)

1/2 C (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C (110 g) butter, softened

1 C (160 g) light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp instant coffee granules (the Nescafé type, the stronger the better)

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 C zucchini, unpeeled, grated (about 280 g, two medium)

1 C (170 g) chocolate chips

Topping :

40 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar

1/2 C (70 g) hazelnuts, toasted and chopped


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease a 3 quart (3 L) springform cake pan, and flour it or sprinkle with cocoa powder : this is to help the cake unmold easily, especially if you're not using a magic non-stick pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In your food processor, combine the sugar and butter, and mix until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and espresso powder, then the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.

Spoon in the flour mixture, reserving the last half-cup of it. Mix thoroughly, the batter will be thick.

Add the grated zucchini and the chocolate chips to the reserved flour mixture, and toss to coat. Fold in the batter, and blend thoroughly, it's fun. Pour into the prepared cake pan, and flatten the surface with a spatula.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients, and sprinkle all over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Turn out on a rack to cool for half an hour, then unmold.