10 August 2011

Chocolate Zucchini Mud Cake

Hilda Jorgensen is a fan of Farmers Markets. And the author of ‘Triumph of the Lentil: Soy-Free Vegan Wholefoods for all Appetites’. She was kind enough to share this recipe with our blog and let us know this is “a great way to use up all those zucchinis”. I’m a bit of a zuccaphobe, so I am going to take her word for it. If you don’t garden, you can find zucchini at our Markets. You can find out more about Hilda and her book right here

Shhh, Don't tell anyone it's zucchini

Don’t be fooled by the zucchini in the title, this is actually a decadent tasting mud cake.  Made in a bundt pan it is thin and crispy on the outside, and moist and dense on the inside, so much that it doesn’t need any icing or accompaniments, but to make it a bit fancier-looking you could drizzle it with melted vegan chocolate or icing.  This mixture also makes delicious muffins, making 24 medium sized ones.

Kitchen time 10-15 minutes
Baking time 60 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups flour (barley, wholemeal spelt, wholewheat pastry or gluten-free)
1 3/4 cups raw sugar or rapadura
3/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
3/4 cup oil (olive, sunflower or melted coconut) or apple purée
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 – 2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 375f.

Grease and flour a large bundt pan, or some muffin tins.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, chickpea flour, bicarb soda, baking powder and salt.  Break up any lumps and mix until evenly combined.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the oil, water, zucchini and vanilla.  Add this to the dry ingredients, stirring until no traces of flour remain.

Pour into the bundt tin and bake for around an hour, until the top is firm and the knife comes out with a couple of moist crumbs (not batter!) when put through the middle of it, around 60 minutes.  Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the outside and invert onto a plate.  Leave the bundt tin on top while it cools.  Best served after it has cooled down.

For 24 muffins: bake for 20-25 minutes.

Hilda Jorgensen is an organic gardener and the author of ‘Triumph of the Lentil: Soy-Free Vegan Wholefoods for all Appetites”