Years ago, when my mother first started making zucchini bread, she found this recipe for chocolate zucchini cake. The recipe was featured in the Boston Globe newspaper under the Confidential Chat section of the paper. It was always a wonderful snack cake that disappeared quickly, especially when no one knew there was zucchini in it. She always made it as a cake, but I found it more enjoyable to make as a bread. It allowed me to split it into loaves and share some with family and friends. Plus, I was probably looking for a reason to eat it for breakfast. As a cake, it's dessert, as a bread it's breakfast!
Even though the cake is made with cocoa and chocolate chips, there isn't an overpowering taste of chocolate. The bread is sweet with a hint of spice but the chocolate flavor comes through in the mini chocolate chips. It is delicious for breakfast, served cold or slightly warmed with raspberry jam. As a dessert, serving it warmed with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate or strawberry topping is delicious, too.
So, what will it be? Cake or bread? The results of the last loaf I served: 3/4 was eaten at breakfast, 1/4 eaten for dessert after dinner. I'll let you decide.
For those not familiar with Confidential Chat, check out the article A sad ending for a beloved feature.
Ingredients:
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 cup of buttermilk
2 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of baking soda
4 tablespoons of cocoa
3 zucchini about 6 inches long (about 3 cups shredded or grated)
1/2 to 1 cup of mini chocolate chips
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 3 small loaf pans. I use aluminum foil pans. They are easier to freeze in the pan or give away as a gift.
Cream sugars, butter and oil together in a large bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and buttermilk and mix well.
Measure dry ingredients into sifter and sift into bowl. Mix well, then add zucchini and chocolate chips.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a tester comes clean. Cool completely before covering or freezing.
