The summer squashes are endless at the moment – I’ve got zucchini, ronde de nice and yellow pattypan all producing voluminously in my early-autumn backyard. What to do with them all?
Well tonight we had ronde de nice squash stuffed with ground beef, tomato and onion (topped with cheese), and earlier today I made a big pot of zucchini puree which is freezable and makes a great nutritional addition to winter soups and stews.
But by far my favourite recipe this year has been this carrot-cake-like dream adapted for less sugar from All-Recipes.com:
Zucchini Cake with Cream-Cheese Frosting
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 3 cups grated zucchini
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1.25 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 teaspoons orange juice or orange extract
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour a 9×13 cake pan.
- In a medium size bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, white sugar, and salt. Mix well.
- In another bowl beat eggs, vegetable oil, and 1 teaspoon vanilla together. Pour into egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the shredded zucchini. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 60-80 minutes (this cake needs a lot of baking time due to the amount of moisture – check it periodically after 60 minutes).
- To Make Frosting: Cream together the cream cheese, butter or margarine. Add the confectioner’s sugar, a little at a time. Add 2 teaspoons extract and mix well. Spread on cool cake.
This can also be made as a 3-layer cake, with less baking time needed (40 minutes or less). I took this to a bbq a couple of weeks ago and it was a big hit (green cake that tastes good? how weird) so I’m planning to make it again this weekend either for the party we are hosting on Saturday or for the block party in our ‘hood on Sunday. This Chocolate Zucchini Bread from the Joy of Cooking is also fabulous (I omit the chocolate chips and add chopped hazelnuts for added interest). Thankfully we have a lot of social events going on right now so I’ve got reason to bake and an avenue to use up some of this summery goodness.
is this the tasty desert you brought to peter’s bbq?
Yes indeed. It was so good I wanted to share it with the world 🙂