Eeek I’m so excited! I finally joined Daring Bakers after months and months of procrastination! For those of you who aren’t familiar, Daring Bakers is a group of bloggers and non-bloggers who are assigned a “secret” challenge at the beginning of each month. The 27th of each month is the “reveal” date, in which those who blog can write about their experiences and recipes for the challenge.
Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results! I was excited for this month’s challenge because I had set my sights on a Chocolate Beet Cake that I was planning on baking as cupcakes. Unfortunately I was left disappointed because the interior of the cupcakes were dry and not to my liking. After a few days of wondering what I would experiment with next, I decided to go ahead and bake my trusted Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake (adapted from King Arthur Flour). And my, oh my, was I glad that I did! The zucchini isn’t noticeable at all, and it also aids in keeping the cake rich and moist. A win-win, wouldn’t you say? 😉
Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
Yield: 1 Bundt Pan
Ingredients:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup oil
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sour cream or yogurt
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, optional
- 3 cups shredded zucchini
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F and set aside a greased bundt pan.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until smooth. Beat in eggs. Stir in sour cream or yogurt, alternating with all-purpose flour. Add cocoa powder and espresso powder (if using), and mix until smooth. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips. Transfer batter to bundt pan.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan for ten minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before applying glaze.
I’ve been contemplating joining Daring Bakers too……just been putting it off. I’m part of secret recipe club and i post at the end of the month…not sure if I can handle it…
Bundt cake looks awesome. Zucchini is great for baking. I’ve made Zucchini Bread before but never a chocolate version (my husband isn’t a fan of chocolate 🙁 )
I wanted to join SRC but I don’t qualify because I don’t meet a few of their requirements (like having 100+ recipes and an index on my blog).
Honestly, I LOVE baking with zucchini! It adds no extra flavor, but it adds so much moistness and lightness to a cake!
You joined the daring bakers! YAY!
You will have loads of fun! Congratulations on doing a wonderful job on your first challenge 🙂
Thanks!
I’m so excited for the 1st! I can’t wait to see what the next challenge is! 🙂
Oooh, I have a friend who keeps telling me to try chocolate and zucchini in a cake and yours has convinced me! It looks wonderful!
Thanks! And I’m telling you, zucchini works wonders in baked goods!
Hey you joined DB as well!! awesome 🙂 I joined it last month and even made the crackers(last month’s challenge) but this will be my first official challenge as well…You great looks great!
Yeah, I remember seeing your mathri crackers! I’m so excited to find out what the next challenge is 😀
congratulations for your maiden DB challenge ! chocolate and zucchini cake looks awesome.
Thank you Himanshu! I’m so excited to find out what next month’s challenge is 🙂
It must be my fault for being a stubborn web designer. I never understood how to actually sign up to that site. I found the navigation confusing to some extent, so after 10 seconds, I gave up and told myself I’m not going to trouble myself with a poorly designed website. 🙂
Terrible, isn’t it? But your cake looks just the opposite of that. I’ve liked the idea of sneaking in healthiness – just never have done it before… Perhaps this cake is a good place to start 🙂
LOL!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who that their website SUCKS! I had such a hard time navigating, and signing up was such a pain in the butt! The only reason I joined was because I feel that it’s good motivation to try my hand at something I otherwise wouldn’t.
Sweet as. I’m glad you actually were patient enough, you know. 😛 we should email them or something. A good heads up before they get bad PR all over the net with comments like ours .. Hehehe 🙂
O my Gosh that’s so good.. wish i could have a piece.. I am just mad at chocolate cooking.. hey do visit mine when time permits.. Love to have your feedback 🙂
Happy blogging
I wish to have all food blogger friends all around hehe Recipes Passion
have a good day!
love ~ Monu teena
I’ll hop over and check it out right now! 🙂