The C&Z cake.

So instead of making dinner for friends on Saturday, I was invited to a friend's B-B-Q that was not to be missed. I had been rifling through my recipe books and found the perfect thing to bring in the form of a C&Z cake - chocolate and zucchini cake that is! My friend Christina had given me Chocolate and Zucchini, Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen, as a gift when I visited her in San Francisco last summer. The author of Chocolate and Zucchini is Clotilde Dusoulier, a Parisian girl-woman, who discovered her love of food and cooking when she lived in San Francisco for two years after college, and who currently resides in Montmartre. She started her blog of the same name in 2003 to create a forum in which she could record her explorations in food and cooking and it found a bit of a readership to say the least.

The recipe I used from the book is a little different than the one I found on her blog (see below) in that it called for 2 cups all purpose flour and did not give the option of using 1 1/2 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and also mentioned confectioner's sugar or melted bittersweet chocolate as optional toppings whereas the blog recipe includes a hazelnut topping which I have not included here.

Chocolate & Zucchini Cake

- 1 1/2 C (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 C (60 g) whole wheat flour (of course, you can just use 2 C / 240 g all-purpose flour, I was just trying to be good)
- 1/2 C (40 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C (110 g) butter, softened
- 1 C (160 g) light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules (the Nescafé type, the stronger the better)
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 C zucchini, unpeeled, grated (about 280 g, two medium)
- 1 C (170 g) chocolate chips

(Serves 10.)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease a 3 quart (3 L) springform cake pan, and flour it or sprinkle with cocoa powder : this is to help the cake unmold easily, especially if you're not using a magic non-stick pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In your food processor, combine the sugar and butter, and mix until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and espresso powder, then the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition.

Spoon in the flour mixture, reserving the last half-cup of it. Mix thoroughly, the batter will be thick.

Add the grated zucchini and the chocolate chips to the reserved flour mixture, and toss to coat. Fold in the batter, and blend thoroughly, it's fun. Pour into the prepared cake pan, and flatten the surface with a spatula.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Turn out on a rack to cool for half an hour, then unmold. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, glaze with melted chocolate, or decorate with a few slices of raw zucchini (you don't have to eat them, though).

The moment my cake was ready I headed over to Williamsburg and I arrived at the B-B-Q with the cake still steaming hot. It was devoured in a matter of minutes...I got a chance to try a piece myself...delicious!