Chocolate Zucchini Cake

And now for dessert. My Grandma Shirley, my mom's mom, gave me this recipe last summer. We were still settling into our life in our new home and I never got around to baking this. Boy, was I missing out! I should know by now that Grandma Shirley never steers me wrong on a recipe. This woman is one heck of a cook too! Eventually, I'll post some of my favorite Grandma Shirley recipes on this blog...her homemade mac n' cheese, cowboy beans, sugar cream pie, caramel puff corn...the list goes on. Since the zucchini I used in this cake was fresh from her garden, I thought it fitting that I finally try her recommended zucchini cake recipe. It was moist, delicious, and pretty too! I will definitely make this one again.



Here are the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.


Sift them together, twice.



And the "wet" ingredients: sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla. I deviated from grandma's recipe here and cut the fat in half by using the applesauce I put up last Fall.



You need zucchini too. I had my assistant shred 3 cups of zucchini (closely supervised, of course) in the food processor.



Blend the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients and stir in the zucchini.



Grease and flour a bundt cake pan.



Pour the batter into the pan.



Bake at 350 degrees for 60-90 minutes. Mine tested perfect at 60 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10-20 minutes.



Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and finish cooling.



Top with icing.



I sprinkled mine with some finely chopped pecans. I don't use my bundt cake pan enough. Isn't this cake pretty?



Here's my first taste of this cake with some of my beloved whipped cream and a nice, cold glass of milk. I didn't plan to eat the whole piece of cake, but I did. It was SO good!



Grandma Shirley's Chocolate Zucchini Cake

3 cups flour
1/2 cups cocoa
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1-2 t. cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups oil or 3/4 cup oil, 3/4 cup applesauce
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
3 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Sift twice. Combine sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Pour into tube pan or bundt cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-90 minutes.

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar, sift
2 t. melted butter
2-2 1/2 T. milk
1 t. vanillla
1 t. cinnamon

Combine ingredients and mix until smooth. Drizzle on cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.