The chocolate and zucchini cake is a controversial recipe. To whomever I’ve served it, the first reaction is disbelief. It has a moist and light texture and, no, it doesn’t taste like zucchini at all! It is one of those cakes that go well without a filling or cream. Pumpkin can be substituted for the zucchini. Although the recipe is vegan, milk-products can be used instead of orange juice and olive oil.
And, what’s my excuse for sloppy decorating? Because I was baking other, serious, goodies for a birthday party of a friend at the same time, I let the inner child to go wild with the cake! My six year old alter ego had a blast frosting it, as you can see.
For the filling I chose black currants because it is a season for them now. They have a strong taste that combines well with chocolate. Because I wanted a stiffer filling, I boiled and soured milk into cheese, creamed it, and mixed it with crème fraiche and white chocolate. The hue comes from black currant jam. A cluster of chokeberries act as a camouflage unsuccessfully hiding the chocolaty mess.
Thank you.
I love this cake =)
ReplyDeleteI love the combination of chocolate and zucchini and have too made cakes and muffins with these ingredients. Love the addition of black currants!
ReplyDeleteSome messes can look seriously good! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've seen a prettier messy cake! Those currants add the most beautiful blush!
ReplyDeleteWhat a splendid cake and presentation!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
I have already tested the zucchini in a cake with chocolate, perfect combination, I loved this ... I love your delicious cake
ReplyDeletekiss
This is the best mess i have seen!! I really want to try this cake with pumpkin as I have a small piece of pumpkin in my refrigerator right now.
ReplyDeleteLove the chocolate zucchini combination. I also make a zucchini and cranberry cake with cream cheese frosting. Love your pictures as always :-) I think I adore your 6 year old alter ego.
ReplyDeleteLovely cake Lashmi. Like the combination of the chocolate and zucchini, used to make something similar with beetroot. I could shamelessly lick the running chocolate on the side :)
ReplyDeleteThis cake is absolutely stunning! Love this!
ReplyDeleteUsually I like a minimal amount of frosting on my cakes, but this... this frosting sounds like I could just eat it with a spoon. Fantastic as always!
ReplyDeleteSo absolutely beautiful! The frosting and the photography are amazing. I'm sure it tastes fantastic, too.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a topsy-turvy fairy cake!!! I absolutely adore it....
ReplyDeleteHeidi
Holy Toledo! When I received the email teaser I assumed you were talking about a typical loaf pan cake--may jaw dropped when I saw what you'd done. Talk about about a killer cake! Lovely pastry work and, as always, lovely photos. Ken
ReplyDeleteI love the casual look on icing cakes and am most impressed with this one. I have printed out the recipe and will try when I have enough time in one stretch.
ReplyDeleteQuite an amazing presentation.
ReplyDeleteThese pictures are stunning. I can't wait to make this!
ReplyDeleteThe messy and the sloppy frosting looks like a fancy art .. and I like it this way more actually :)
ReplyDeleteI was one of a few people who had the pleasure to taste this "sloppy" cake. The unanimous opinion of all of us, Lakshmi's voluntary and culinary guinea-pigs - it was d e l i c i o u s! Although, to be honest, it looked like it was grown in a deep forest and was an important part of a regular diet of Scandinavian trolls! :D
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that inside the cake, there was also a zucchini. And that makes me worry. What will my wife come up with, next? A pizza with chocolate frosting?! Sweet muffins with homemade Mongolian mustard!? ;) :D
ohhh great a vegan creation, something for me to try! Hope it turns out like yours, looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteWell, this may just be the most stunning zucchini cake I have ever seen. I hope you got to enjoy most (all) of it!
ReplyDeleteLaksmi your mess is beauty! I have no idea how you call this sloppy! It is the prettiest cake I have ever seen. The color that the berries imparted is truly beautiful and I have always loved chocolate and zucc. cakes. yes the best part is no one knows!! So you did not tell anyone until you blogged?? haha I just read the comment from your H! seems like you already have some ideas. Would not really mind a pizza with choc. frosting.
ReplyDeleteJust made the cake part for my son to take to school for his birthday treat--yummy! I only had extra virgin olive oil so I substituted it with heavy whipping cream. I didn't have ingredients for filling so will try again this weekend! I also substituted black currants with fig butter. I can't believe how delicious it is!
ReplyDeleteThank you for enlightening me with such guiltless treats!
I'm happy you are so lenient about the aesthetics of the cake! I’m even happier to hear thefolia baked it and it turned out well. Yesterday I received an e-mail from a friend who also tried the recipe. Her lovely kids and husband liked it so much that she was left with a microscopic crumb for herself!
ReplyDeleteMaria – I saw you have a post about a similar cake. The idea for this cake comes from Virpi Raipala-Cormier’s Frantsilan yrttitilan kasviskeittokirja. I have developed a vegan version of it for cooking classes, but have done it many times with butter and buttermilk. The cake baffles me because it is so easy to make in a food processor. Usually, I tend to be neurotic about mixing a cake batter in order to avoid viscosity.
Soma – I forgot to mention there was zucchini in the cake when serving it :-). Sometimes it is better to keep the guinea-pigs in dark!
>>Sometimes it is better to keep the guinea-pigs in dark!<<
ReplyDeleteOink, oink! The guinea-pig happily approves. :)
Your photo is amazing. I don't think chocolate and zucchini is such a controversy. I love zucchini bread and can see how using zucchini in a cake would work! Saw your photo on FoodGawker.com and clicked over to your site.
ReplyDeleteooooh! want to reach out and grab a bite! looks really yum and great recipe too!
ReplyDeleteSuch a stunningly gorgeous cake! And what a combination of flavors. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, guys.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful presentation...let the six-year-old alter ego out more :). Your blog is so inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThe photography and presentation is so amazing and unique.
Kelsey - thanks for the encouragement! The six year old gets out of control at times, but hey, kids are kids.
ReplyDeleteSloppy decorating? I think the cake looks amazing, however Zucchini sounds a bit strange but I thought the same before eating my first carrot cake ; )
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE this gorgeous and delicious cake. It's not sloppy at all. It's a delicious and delectable art :)
ReplyDeleteI love this cake!
ReplyDeleteHow do you ever take such breath-taking photographs Lakshmi? It is a big treat to the eyes. :)
ReplyDeleteHah, Pratiba, I'm not as good photographer as you'd like to think. The strength of photography is the light. I pay too little attention to it. No energy left after cooking and setting things up. I rely on good luck! Sometimes the pictures turn out fine, sometimes not. I have a lot of imagination though. Hopefully it compensates some of the weakness regarding light. In the end, photography is a skill. It will improve by study, contemplation and practice, like every work. Whatever experience is gained will expand the field.
DeleteBellissima ricetta, bellissime fotografie.
ReplyDeleteBrava!!!
Luisa
Your six year old alter ego can decorate cakes incredibly beautifully. :) And the color in this is unreal. Love that you didn't need dye to do that! I made my first chocolate zucchini cake this year and was shocked at how good it was. Shocked just because I really dislike zucchini. But I'm sure this is even better! Absolutely stunning.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was walking by when I was looking at the pictures and he said, "Whose blog is that?! I know whose it is. She has a big log collection. That's because she just has to walk out into the forest." Silly ideas he has but at least he recognized your photography. :)
Your husband is right: I find wood all the time just by going out. It is everywhere in Finland. The log above, for example, was waiting just outside our door.
DeleteWow. An amazing looking cake. Can't wait to try it out myself. Was just wondering what size of cake tin/tray to use?
ReplyDeleteYou can use a 25 cm (9.8") round cake tin. I don't remember anymore if I used a tin or tray. I wanted the cake to be small and tall, so I cut the final shape before filling it.
DeleteAwesome! Its actually amazing piece of writing, I have got much clear idea about from
ReplyDeletethis piece of writing.
Here is my site; this domain