Zucchini & Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Hi Friends.

My introduction to cooking with Zucchini is a few years old. Earlier I had only heard this name in Sanjeev Kapoor?s show and would wonder how this vegetable will taste like. For me it was a very exotic thing which I would never see? During my college days  I had visited Pune, my father?s maternal aunt who lived there is an excellent cook. Once we had gone to pick some veggies when I asked her to show me this exotic stuff and like an overjoyed kid I was touching them and keeping them in my mind. That was my first intro to stuff like Avocado, Zucchini, parsley, celery? and was wondering when I would use them in my cooking..

I remember when we moved to Mumbai I used to regularly shop in Godrej Nature?s Basket. It used to be one stop shop for all kinds of veggies but more than veggies I would also get attracted by all actors visiting there. I had met actor like Rajat Kapur there(remember Vyomkesh Bakshi ..) and was so surprised seeing him buy a Broccoli like any other normal man?.would wonder how simple these glamorous people are in there  real life. When I had visited this store the very first time I was  excited like a child and showing S Gerkins, Zucchini. ? It was after then that I  learnt cooking these beautiful vegetables and my experimentation started..

Today?s cake is an amazingly tasty and moist cake which I had bookmarked from King Arthur flour when I had just started blogging. S had picked a huge batch of Zucchini and the minute I saw them I was reminded of this recipe. I have baked this cake and  kept it as a surprise for him. Me and my kids have just fallen in love with this cake. It is so good and the Zucchini  just disappears in the cake.

I am surely going to post more recipes using this amazing vegetable, so watch out..!

Ingredients for Cake

2-1/2 cups APF

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

3/4 cup chocolate chips

2 tsp espresso coffee pwd (optional but gives a great flavour)

2 eggs

2 cups grated Zucchini

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup curds/yogurt

1-3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp Vanilla essence

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Method for Cake

Grease a 10? spring form tin. Preheat oven at 170C.

Sift together APF, Cocoa, baking soda, baking pwd.

Cream oil, butter and sugar together. Add eggs one by one and beat it till light. Add the vanilla, salt and mix.

Now gradually add the flour and curds alternately and beat it at low speed. Mix in the coffee pwd too.

Fold in the zucchini and choco chips.

Pour the cake mix in the tin and even the top surface.

Bake for an hour (the original recipe says 30-35 mins but my cake was not even half done till then). After 35 mins cover the cake with an aluminium foil to prevent over darkening.

Let the cake stand in the oven for 5 mins and then remove it on a wire rack. Let it cool a little and then spread the ganache (this should be done in winter as the ganache spreads easily)

For Chocolate Ganache-

Bring one cup of cream to boil and to it add 8 ounces of dark chocolate. Mix and cool.