I like using unusual ingredients in baking. Using zucchini in a sweet recipe to give moisture is a rather unusual thing to do (ok, not the most groundbreaking idea, but still..).

 

 

Since zucchini does not really have much taste, what it brings a lot to this recipe is, as I said above, moisture. Besides that, you can see teeny tiny bits of zucchini in the slices so it also add some texture to the cake.

 

 

 

I adapted this recipe from Joy of Baking website, where Stephanie Jaworski calls it “bread” because of baking it in a loaf pan. It is a logical thought, but I stick to “cake” because for me, if a baked good is made with a cake batter, then it is called a cake.

 

 

As Jaworski explains in her recipe, you can substitute the chocolate chips in the recipe with equal amount of nuts. I actually thought of adding roasted pine nuts in the recipe instead of chocolate chips, but I did not have at home and decided to stick to what I have. But next time, I will try it with pine nuts.

 

Alright then, this is all I can mumble about this recipe, let’s get to work!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty: ★☆☆ (Easy)
(makes 1 loaf, with 26x10cm dimensions)

 

Printable PDF recipe – no photos

 

1 cup / 2.4 dl white spelt flour
1/2 cup / 1.2 dl cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup / 1.8 dl chocolate chips (or equal amount of roasted pine nuts)
2 eggs
1/2 cup / 1.2 dl brown sugar
1/2 cup / 1.2 dl granulated white sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar (or vanilla extract if you have any)
1/2 cup / 1.2 dl canola oil
1 1/2 cups / 3.6 dl grated zucchini (from about 250 gr. zucchini)

 

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1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the loaf pan and line with baking paper.

 

2. In a mixing bowl, put flour, cocoa powder (sifted), baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and whisk it well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Fold in chocolate chips (or pine nuts).

 

 

 

4. In another mixing bowl, beat eggs.

 

 

5. Add white and brown sugar and vanilla sugar (or extract) and continue whisking.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Add olive oil, whisk again.

 

 

 

7. Add grated zucchini and whisk to combine all well.

 

 

 

8. Pour the wet mixture onto dry mixture and fold.

 

 

 

 

9. Pour the cake batter into the loaf pan. Tap it on the counter a few times for the air bubbles to pop out. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for about 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before taking it out. The cake stays well in room temperature for a few days. Enjoy!