Cake You Can Snack On!...Chocolate Zucchini

Is it just me or is there something particularly delicious about ‘snack cake’? I mean the unfussy kind that is baked in a rectangle pan, the kind that is the stuff of dreams for an after school snack, and if you are really lucky is left on the counter for clandestine night-time nibbling.

I developed this recipe so that we could have  a simple and healthy snack cake we could actually snack on. I have since discovered that this cake is crazy versatile. Over the years I have done everything from turning it into a decadent layered, frosted birthday cake (I used whole wheat cake & pastry flour, butter, and coarsely grated zucchini) to unabashedly serving the kids the Over-The-Top-Healthy version for breakfast!


I hope that you enjoy making this cake as much as I enjoy eating it….that is to say a lot! 

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This recipe makes 1 rectangle pan, 2 round/square pans or 24 small cupcakes.

Baking Tips: 

• The key to success with this cake is really whipping the sugar mixture before adding the milk & dry ingredients – it won’t get fluffy, but as light as possible is the goal.  

• The finer you grate the zucchini the denser the cake - depending on the ingredient choices you make it this cake is either similar to a devil food cake or almost as dense as a brownie.

Preparation Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F).
   
2. Oil & flour the bottom of the pan(s) or line the bottom(s) with paper (wax or parchment).
   
3. Mix together the flour, cocoa/carob, soda & salt - sift the cocoa/carob if it has lumps.
   
4. Cream together the butter/coconut oil & sugar in a large bowl until it is lightened – 1-2 minutes
   
5. Whip the apple sauce into the sugar mixture– 1-2 minutes…the applesauce will not fully combine with the butter/coconut oil
   
6. Add the eggs one at a time, whipping after each addition
   
7. Stir in the vanilla.
   
8. Starting with the dry ingredients, mix into the sugar mixture the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in three alternate additions each. The batter will be quite stiff.
   
9. Fold in the grated zucchini.
   
10. Scrape the batter into the pan(s) and smooth.
    
11. If using, sprinkle the chocolate chips/nuts/seeds on the top of the batter.
    
12. Bake in the centre of the oven until a tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out moist but clean (no batter or crumbs): approx. 50 minutes for the rectangle, 40-45 for the square and 35-40 for the round, 30 for the cupcakes. 
    
13. Cool in the pan.

Enjoy with abandon!