Chocolate & courgette cake
I have been at Fisher & Paykel for over 2 years now. I am one of seven industrial designers here in the studio in Auckland, and one of just two females. Simone is my female counterpart and the only designer to contribute a recipe to this month’s theme, Office Favourites (the boys were nothing short of vague when I enquired as to the whereabouts of their recipe submissions!).
Simone grew up in Queenstown in the South Island of New Zealand. She has shared stories with me of her childhood, of her parent’s aspirations to live a self-sustainable lifestyle on 10 acres of land 20 minutes from the heart of Queenstown. I am in awe of these stories, partly because they are so far from the childhood I experienced being raised in the city, but also because they are so compelling and so beautifully told that I can almost taste the juicy redcurrants and smell the earthy farm air as she paints a picture of her childhood for me. She has told me of the orchid and the vegetable gardens, the chickens and the geese, the goats, sheep, pigs and cows and of how she too had a part to play come time to slaughter the animals for meat. What better way to understand the journey an animal takes from the paddock to the table and to learn which fruit and vegetables are best suited to the climate and the seasons.
I could share many more of Simone’s stories but I think I might save them for another post and instead let her introduce her delicious courgette and chocolate cake recipe.
I have a friend who hates courgette, yet she never says no to a piece of this cake. Do not be nervous about the odd combination, the courgette doesn’t really contribute a vegetable flavour instead it balances the rich chocolate and gives a lightness that a lot of dense chocolate cakes lack. It is important to chop the courgette into pieces rather than grating it. We attempted this once but it just turned the cake into a soggy mess.
Ingredients
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- 60g butter, softened
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup cocoa
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup unpeeled courgettes, finely diced
- 100g dark chocolate, grated or finely chopped
Method
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- 1. Preheat the oven to 160 C Bake
- 2. Grease a 20cm round loose bottomed cake tin
- 3. Cream the butter, oil and sugar until light and fluffy.
- 4. Add the egg, vanilla, milk and vinegar and beat together to combine.
- 5. In a large bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon and stir to combine.
- 6. Add the creamed mixture and courgettes to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- 7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 50 – 60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- 8. Remove the cake from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped/grated chocolate.
- 9. Return to the oven for a further 2-3 minutes or until the chocolate has melted.
courgette!? wows i’ve got to try this someday!
happy baking,
doreen ^o^
Very intriguing! Isn’t there a danger of sogginess whether you grate them or not?
SO gorgeous and tantalizing!
I adore the way the chocolate has swirled around the top of the cake. Was that done with an offset spatula or was that just the way the chocolate melted in the oven? So beautiful.
Wow! Just found your site. Love the recipe, love the story maybe even better! More please!
Yum! And yum again! This is going on my to-do list right now! I love the wave effect.
Thanks for your lovely message. I have to admit that I used my (clean!) finger to give the chocolate that swirled effect! The chopped chocolate just sprinkled on top and melted also looks great. Happy baking! Emma
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for your message. Surprisingly enough the chopped courgette doesn’t make the cake soggy, perhaps because it gives it a bit of structure – whereas with the grated courgette it is much more ‘wet’. Hope that helps. Happy baking!
Emma
Hi Tim,
Thanks for your encouraging words. There is lots more to come, I promise! =)
Emma
Emm I love the photo of the cake!
lovely cake! my favorite part, aside from the unexpected ingredient, is that awesome chocolate crust on top–delightful!
so does this cake count as one of my 5 vegetable servings per day??!!
Of course – happy baking!
Hi, Emma! I finally got around to making this cake. You can see my version here: http://dessertgirl.blogspot.com/2010/01/chocolate-and-zucchini-cake.html
So good! Although, my pics aren’t as nice as yours!
Thanks for sharing it!
Hi Erin,
I checked our your post on the Chocolate & Courgette cake – awesome! I am glad that it turned out well and that you liked it so much. Good on you for trying it despite your hesitations about putting courgette into a cake!
Thanks for reading.
Emma