Chocolate Zucchini & Carrot Cake

It's that time of year again when everything in your garden explodes. I don't know about you but I have zucchinis coming out of my ears these days and I have been trying to use them up before it's too late. I found this old recipe for chocolate zucchini & carrot cake that my mom tore out of a newspaper back in the mid 80's. We had a garden back them too and we had lots of zucchinis.

I must confess that I never made this recipe until I found it tucked away in an old cookbook last year. I make the usual zucchini bread with cinnamon but this cake is really different. I made a few changes to the recipe like swapping out the margarine for butter, using pecans instead of walnuts and being very generous with the amount of shredded carrots and zucchini. It comes out super moist and keeps well even in warm weather in a cake dome. Hope you can get a chance to make it.

Enjoy,
Vera


Chocolate Zucchini & Carrot Cake

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1/2 brown sugar
3 eggs, separated and divided
9 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts

In a mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and all spice.
In a large bowl blend together butter, oil, sugar, brown sugar and 3 egg yolks, one at a time.
In a cup, blend together water and cocoa and add to the mixture of sugars. butter. oil and eggs. Mix well and then add the flour mixture. When mix is well blended, add carrots, zucchini and nuts.
Beat egg whites to soft peaks and fold in.
Spoon batter into greased and floured bundt pan. Bundt pan should not be filled more than 2/3. (Since I was very generous with my amounts of carrots and zucchini, I found that I had extra batter which I used to make some muffins in a separate muffin tin. If you use the exact amount it should fit perfectly into one bundt pan.)
Bake for 60 to 70 minutes in a pre-heated 350 F degree oven. Test for doneness. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack. If you have extra batter and make the muffins, they should take no more than 20 minutes to bake.
Good luck and enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

I thought it was time for another recipe. This is my children's very favorite cookie - Snickerdoodles. I learned to make these when I was in junior high- aka middle school. We had "home economics" back then and I must confess it was a lot more interesting than algebra! I even have my original recipe card I typed up on my Smith Corona portable typewriter. Now I'm really showing my age.

I've made a few changes over the years. Butter instead of shortening, adding some milk and vanilla extract along with more flour. I really like the consistency of the dough. I chill it for an hour. That really helps when you roll it out into balls and dredge it in cinnamon sugar.

Well, this week my son was "Star of the Week" and begged me to make the cookies for his 2nd grade class. I don't need to be asked twice. I baked a batch and wrapped them up.

This is an easy and fun cookie to make. You can get the kids involved (if you have some). Mine love to roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar. So here's the recipe.

Enjoy!

Vera

Snickerdoodles

1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/3rd cup sifted flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar (found in the baking aisle with the spices)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Cinnamon Sugar- 1/3rd cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400

• Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
• Add eggs one at a time. Mix well
• Add milk and vanilla extract. Mix well
• Sift flour along with cream of tartar, baking soda and salt and add to butter mixture. Mix until flour is incorporated into mixture.
• Chill for one hour in the refrigerator.
• Shape dough with hands into teaspoon size balls.
• Roll in cinnamon sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet 2" apart. (Cookies spread during baking process.) I line my with "silpat" liners just in case but you don't have too.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.