Chocolate and zucchini cake

The organic zucchini I purchased the other day stared at me every time I opened the fridge. My intention was to grill it with some fish but because of the cold and rainy weather, I was craving something that would comfort me... like one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. Yeah!

As you can imagine, zucchini doesn't really have that much flavor (unless it's enhanced with salt, olive oil & perhaps a little garlic), so in a way, the zucchini in this cake recipe only serves to add a little texture and moist carb (in lieu of more flour). Plus it's healthier - it has greens/vitamins and fiber. The chocolate (and coffee in the recipe) pretty much overwhelms the true zucchini flavor. So what's the point? It makes feel like I'm eating a healthier cake... that's enough to justify baking it. Yeah!

I've baked this cake many times before and I've modified the recipe to make it a little more "healthy", but the original recipe is based on this recipe by one of my favorite food bloggers, Clotilde Desoulier.

The modifications I've made are:
- I use all whole wheat flour
- I add 1 cup more zucchini than the recipe calls for to make it more moist (compensate for the dry whole wheat flour)
- I decrease the sugar by almost half
- I use 60% chocolate chips (Ghirardelli)
- I add raw walnuts

In this last batch:
- I substituted half of the butter for greek yogurt (+ 1 TB)
- I added 2 TBS brewed espresso (+ the instant coffee granules) for a little more flavor intensity

I appreciate that the recipe allows me to use up zucchini when I have a big harvest in the garden. Also that it's easy and doesn't have too many ingredients.

The only thing I wonder is how many slices of cake equals one serving of vegetables?  :-)

Thanksgiving: Desserts

 Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Bread, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I knew that my mother was stocking her fridge with lots of pumpkin and pecan pies and that we would eat at the meals on the other days of the weekend. So I had to come up with some other dessert ideas.

The Pumpkin Bars taste like a pumpkin cheesecake in between a crumbly crust with rolled oats and walnuts, topped with white chocolate chips and white/milk chocolate chips.

The Pumpkin Bread was made using a recipe posted here earlier this month, only without the zucchini.

The Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies were for anyone who didn't want to have pumpkin.

 Coconut Tapioca Pudding

I also wanted to have a dessert with an Asian influence so I served Coconut Tapioca Pudding in individual glass bowls topped with chunks of fresh persimmon fruit. The combination was delicious and I was happy it worked out.

Chocolate from Europe and the USA

Everyone in my family loves chocolate so I set these bowls out so everyone can have their chocolate fix.

What's your favorite Halloween candy?

Getting ready for Halloween
Originally uploaded by love_yellow

I'll admit that I have become a chocolate snob. It's the only candy I eat so if I'm going to treat myself to something sweet, it's gotta be the good stuff... chocolate by the higher end makers and usually dark (60-75%). Neither I nor my husband enjoy the non-chocolate candy (the pure sugar stuff), so that doesn't make it into our house, with the exception of Finnish salmiakki that's gifted to us by his family every so often (but only little of it gets eaten).

BUT every year at Halloween I indulge in those "lower end" chocolate candies because of the fond memories I have of trick-or-treating as a kid. My favorites haven't changed over the years. I think my favorites will always be:

- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- Snickers
- Mounds
- M&M's (preferably peanut, but plain is fine too)
- KitKat

Chocolate is a requirement. I also loved Necco's as a kid and I see they've remade them recently with all natural ingredients. But as an adult I just don't enjoy the pure sugar candies - the sugar has to be accompanied by chocolate and fat for me to enjoy them. But I would probably taste the new Necco's if I come across them.

Every year I have the same dilemma... should I buy candy that I like or candy that I won't eat?

If I have leftover candy that I like then I'm happy that I can enjoy the leftovers. But I obviously don't need it and shouldn't be eating it, especially with the upcoming holiday eating season coming up! Which is precisely the reason why I should really purchase candy that I won't eat.

Oh what a dilemma. Thankfully I only have to face this decision once a year.

Antioxidants

Single origin chocolate from Trader Joe's
Originally uploaded by love_yellow

No matter how hard I've tried over the years, I just haven't been able to get rid of my sweet tooth. Not that I like sickly sweet desserts and I don't even like sugary candy, but I do like to have something a little sweet every day.

I wonder if there's a biological need to have that sweet tooth daily? PERHAPS, we need the boost of sugar right after a meal to give our digestive system extra energy??? I'm happy to go with it, even though my waist line could probably go without it.

My sweetness of choice is chocolate and the darker the better (up to 75%, preferably not below 50%). Luckily for me they say that dark chocolate has lots of antioxidants. Hurrah! My waist line may not get slimmer but with the antioxidants I will have fewer wrinkles and my body will be better equipped to fight of those bad cells. Or am I just finding ways to justify my chocolic habit? ;-)