Zucchini cake is devilishly delicious

(A slice of zucchini devil's food cake is filled with mascarpone and topped with ganache)

It’s mid-August and that typically means an abundance of zucchini for backyard gardeners.
Zucchini is a versatile vegetable that is great grilled, sautéed or batter-dipped and fried. It can be grated and cubed, julienned and diced for any number of recipes, from soups and stews to salads and desserts.

Zucchini Pancakes with Tzatziki Sauce is the featured recipe on today’s Busy Cook in the Poughkeepsie Journal. The creative chefs from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park have fashioned a tasty recipe punctuated with feta cheese and toasted pine nuts. The cucumber dressing adds a cool, tangy touch to top it off. Cucumbers are also abundant this time of year, so it's a great recipe that uses two of the garden stars of August.

Gardeners have to get creative when it comes to zucchini, so a new recipe is always welcome.
I’ve posted a few more for griddle cakes and frittatas, which you can check out by clicking here.
I love using zucchini in baked goods especially, from warm, spice-scented breads and cupcakes to this recipe for a decadent devils’ food cake – oh, yeah!



This is a great recipe for chocolate cake, which is nice and moist with the addition of the zucchini. I’ve adapted it from a quaint little pamphlet called “Old-Fashioned Zucchini Recipes” published by Bear Wallow Books. I don’t remember where I found it, but it is a charming little tome, splattered with batter, its pages browning over the years of use.

The mascarpone-raspberry cream and chocolate ganache notch up the decadent factor. Mascarpone makes a wonderful frosting or filling. You can certainly substitute other berries or fruit for the filling.
So if you think you are out of ideas on how to use that bounty of zucchini, save one for this delectable dessert.

Zucchini Devil’s Food Cake with Mascarpone-Raspberry Çream and Chocolate Ganache

For the cake:

1. 1½ cups sugar
2. 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3. 2 eggs
4. 2 cups white flour
5. 1 teaspoon baking soda
6. ½ teaspoon baking powder
7. ½ teaspoon saly
8. Dash of cinnamon
9. 1 cup buttermilk
10. 1 teaspoon vanilla
11. ¾ cup cocoa powder
12. 1 cup zucchini, grated

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease two 9-inch cake pans.
• In a large mixing bowl or KitchenAid mixer, cream together the sugar and butter.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
• Squeeze the water from the zucchini; set aside.
• With the mixer on medium, add the buttermilk alternately in thirds with the flour mixture until well blended; do not overmix.
• Turn off the mixer and gently fold in the grated zucchini.
• Pour into the prepared pans; bake for 30 to 35 minutes until set and toothpick inserted in the center comes out crumb-free.
• Let the pans rest on a wire rack for a few minutes and then remove the cakes from the pans to cool before frosting.

For the mascarpone cream:

• Mix a small container of mascarpone (120 grams) with ½ pint of fresh raspberries in the bowl of a food processor. Frozen berries can also be used. Save a few for decorating the top and a little of the cream as well. Pulse until blended.

For the chocolate ganache topping:

• Heat a pint of heavy cream in the top of a double boiler until almost scalded. Mix in about 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Stir to melt.
• Let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
• Whip the cooled mixture with an electric beater until fluffy.
  

• Spread the mascarpone-raspberry cream on one cake. Top with the second cake.
• Finish by icing the top with chocolate ganache.
• Decorate with dollops of the mascarpone cream and fresh raspberries.
  

(And don't let the kitty sneak in for a bite! I had to share this attempt at food photography with a curious cat who has to get in on everything. You can tell by that look on his face he's moving in for the kill, but boss was way too quick for him.)