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Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

Summer is almost over, and my freezer is full of shredded zucchinis, zucchini bread, sliced zucchinis, zucchini and salmon lasagna. I don’t have any room left, and to be honest, I am sick of eating zucchinis. I will probably forget that by the end of winter, and end up planting 10 zucchini plants like this year.

I hate throwing away food, especially when it took so long to grow it, so I came up with this recipe. Your guests will not be able to tell that there is more than a pound of zucchini in this cake.

Serving : 8

Preparation: 20 minutes

Baking : 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 200 g flour
• 3 medium eggs
• 125 ml milk
• 200 g powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 700 g zucchini
• 60 g butter
• 75 g semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 50 g almond flour (optional)
• almonds or walnuts to decorate the cake (optional)

Instructions:

Peel the zucchinis, and cut them into small pieces. Boil the zucchinis in a pot filled with salted water for 10 minutes. Once they are tender, rinse well. Place them in a blender and pureed them.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Mix the flour, eggs, milk, powdered sugar, pureed zucchinis, almond flour, and vanilla extract together. Melt the butter and the chocolate. Mix everything together. Grease a pie pan. Place the mixture into the pan, and add the almonds or walnuts on top of it (optional).

Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy !

Leave a Comment August 27, 2010

Pizza Crust / “Foccacia”

This recipe takes about 30-40 minutes to make. It is as fast as calling the pizza place. I also use the exact same ingredients to make a Foccacia.

Serving : about 4

Preparation: 10 minutes

Baking and waiting : 40 minutes

Ingredients:

-300 g flour (about 0.65 lbs)

-1 tbsp yeast

-3 tbsp olive oil

-1 glass of warm water (about 250 ml)

-salt

Instructions:

Mix the water and the yeast together. Let it sit for 2 minutes on the side. In a large bowl, mix the water+yeast with the flour and salt. Knead the dough until you have a smooth, non-sticky dough (you might end up adding a little bit more flour). Brush the dough with olive oil.

Cover the bowl with a clean and dry dishcloth.

Let the dough rest 30-40 minutes in a warm area or until doubled in size. Preheat your oven to 525˚F

Lightly grease a sheet pan. Spread the dough with your hand.

• If you are making Foccacia, don’t make it too thin (3/4 of an inch). Optional : Garnish it with sliced tomato, sliced onions or herbs. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt.
• If you are making pizza, spread the dough thinner (1/4 0f an inch) : Garnish it with tomato sauce, cheese, ham, or whatever is left over in your fridge.

Place the pizza for 5-10 minutes in the oven (it cooks really fast, so the first time you make it, open the oven to make sure it’s not burning).

Enjoy !

Leave a Comment August 25, 2010