Think of it as a versatile, delicious little black dress.
Only it’s very dark brown instead of black, and it’s not a dress, but a cake. But otherwise…
This is week three of dispatches from my adventures when I joined Lisa Prince and WRAL’s Brian Shrader as they prepared and filmed four recipes for Local Dish, WRAL’s cooking segment that airs each Friday on the noon news.
This week’s chocolate cake, y’all.
In keeping with the summer produce theme, this is a zucchini cake. And there are two really important things that I need you, Gentle Reader, to take from this essay.
The first is the importance of cooking time. There is a little butter and four eggs in this cake, but no other fat. So, most of the moisture comes from the grated zucchini and the applesauce in the recipe.
Which means, if you overcook it, you will get a dry result that will stick in your throat and make you sad. It cooks for 60-70 minutes, but you should start checking it at 55 minutes. As soon as a toothpick comes out clean but moist, get it out of the oven. And after it’s been out for 10 minutes, get it out of that pan.
The second thing is, once it’s cool you can top it with anything from powdered sugar to a decadent vanilla fudge icing topped with crushed Oreos. You can go simple and use whipped cream or a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. Or let the ice cream melt. It then becomes a fancy custard sauce called crème Anglaise. Set the cake on a puddle of that (for crème Anglaise use an ice cream containing only milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and maybe a pinch of salt).
Here are two of my favorite toppings.
Mama Cat’s Vanilla Fudge Icing
½ cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup milk
Heat ingredients in saucepan until it begins to boil. Let cool slightly and mix in 1& 3/4 -2 cups sifted powdered sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
Pour over fully cooled cake and top with crushed Oreos (optional) or anything else you’d like.
Mom’s Fudge Glaze
6 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
In saucepan, melt butter. Stir in cocoa until dissolved. Mix in sugar. Add milk and vanilla; whisk until smooth.
Pour over cooled cake and allow to set.
The cake calls for cinnamon, but you could also tweak it with things like cayenne or espresso powder.
Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
4 eggs
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat bottom and sides of 9 to 12 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray.
Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in bowl. Set aside. Beat sugar and butter with mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, applesauce then vanilla.
Reduce mixer to low. Beat in dry ingredients until blended. Fold in zucchini.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before topping.
This cake also travels really well for picnics and potlucks; or wrap a slice and tuck it into a bagged lunch. With both zucchini and apple sauce in it, you could almost call it healthy with a straight face.
Thanks for your time.
Contact debbie at d@bullcity.mom.
I had a plan. I was going to get really pretty pictures of this brand-new pasta salad I’d invented. Petey had shown me a few camera tricks and I was going to wow the world with this gorgeous summer dish.
I’ve had a life-long culinary handicap. I’ve talked about it many times, and in various ways: baby tongue, delicate palate, wimpy mouth. No matter the moniker, they all mean the same thing. I have a very low tolerance for heat/spice.
It literally causes me pain (and definitely not in a good way), and I can’t eat it. But, it would be a perfect weight loss strategy—if I didn’t have a problem with wasting any food, fiery or not.
But my new favorite is the chili-lime seasoning. It’s perfectly balanced and goes great on meat, avocados, and fruit. The other day I made pasta salad, and got crazy with it.
½ lb. rotelle or other small extruded pasta, like shells or cavatappi, cooked according to directions and drained
1 cup mayonnaise 
baby spinach 
Serves 6-8.
Thanks for your time.
I was visiting my dentist the other day. As in almost any situation I’m in, we were talking about food.
Goober Grape. It’s that striped peanut butter and jelly product from kindergarten. I don’t think I’ve ever had it on bread. It is my martini, my cigarette, and my valium. A spoon of this stuff is just what I need after a bad day. The first scoop from a brand-new unsullied jar probably brings me way more joy than it should.
Toasted sesame seeds. I buy them at the Asian market where they’re cheaper, and because of high turnover, much fresher. I put it in tuna, sprinkle it on my oatmeal, add it to breading. It adds flavor, texture, vitamins and minerals.
Campbell’s chicken and stars soup. I haven’t bought or used a can of cream soup since the (First) Bush administration. But when you have a cold and sore throat, or are just feeling sorry for yourself, nothing goes down easier, or makes you feel so loved. But there’s so much sodium in it, the next day I blow up like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade float.
Espresso powder. I use a bit of this whenever I cook with chocolate. A little just enhances the cocoa flavor. Some more gives you a mocha taste. And there’s nothing wrong with coffee with a slight choco-kick. You can also stir it into things like peanut butter, mascarpone, and whipped cream. The espresso is ground super fine so there’s no grit.
And for the last item: Kraft macaroni and cheese. In thirty-five years of marriage I have never not had this in my pantry. The are many nights that without Kraft dinner, as the Canadians call it, I may not have made it to morning (Honestly, it has gotten me through some very tough, very dark places). But I use cream instead of milk; it’s comfort food, Gentle Reader, you might as well go all in.
If there are any foods in my pantry you’ve never tried, give it a whirl.
Honey, you let that food-stained freak flag fly.
Thanks for your time.
I spent the last couple of weeks prodding The Kid to purchase a Father’s Day gift for paterfamilias Petey.
In the entire twenty-seven years that our offspring’s been on the planet, I’m guessing my spouse has spent a grand total of three to five minutes doing the same for Mother’s Day
Guys are lucky. They’re lucky we make a fuss for them, and they’re lucky that we, sadly, expect and accept much less fuss in return.
1 cup toasted pecan halves with ½ teaspoon vanilla extract stirred in while still warm from toasting
Press it evenly into bottom of prepared pan. With straight edge cut down into dough for eight lines in one direction, and three on the other, making 24 shortbread bars. With floured fork, prick each finger length-wise down the center of each bar. Bake until lightly golden, 30-35 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes in pan. Use foil to lift shortbread from pan onto cutting board. With serrated knife, carefully separate warm shortbread into the 24 pieces. Remove from foil; cool bars completely before drizzling.
4 ounces white chocolate with at least 31% cocoa butter
Preheat oven to 250. Place white chocolate in small, shallow oven-proof dish. Cook 10 minutes, then remove and stir. Continue cooking, stirring every ten minutes, until chocolate has turned the color of peanut butter (50-60 minutes). If it gets stiff as it roasts, pour in a little oil, then stir some more. Keep adding oil, a few drops at a time and stirring until it becomes silky smooth. When chocolate is browned and smooth drizzle over the shortbread and let set before serving.
If desired, sprinkle a tiny pinch of the sea salt right after drizzling. Keep covered in a cool place for up to one week or freeze for up to a month.
Thanks for your time.
Gentle Reader, this week there’s no time to chat because I have two big lemon recipes.
Yield: 4 servings
Heat olive oil in medium saucepan on medium, add garlic, and cook for 60 seconds. Add cream, zest and juice from lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.
Cook pasta according to package directions in heavily salted water. When done, take out a cup of pasta water and set aside, then drain pasta and place it back into the pot. Immediately add cooked cream mixture and stir together over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed into pasta. Stir in 1/2-3/4 cup of reserved pasta water to help sauce cling to the pasta and give it a silky mouth feel. Add spinach, Parmesan, tomatoes, and cooked broccoli and gently toss. Pour into large serving vessel, season to taste, and serve hot.
The next one is my take on a lemon icebox pie. It has a vanilla wafer crust with lemon zest, and an unexpected, creamy topping. It’s the perfect dessert to eat on the porch on a hot summer evening.
Twisted Lemon Icebox Pie
50 vanilla wafers
2-14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
1 & 1/2 cups sour cream
To serve:
So, despite slumber parties being an endangered species, you’ve lost what was left of your self-protective candy coating, and your cotton-picking mind, and agreed to host a horde of ravenous tween Mongols.
But the result is the same: it’s a low-level special occasion, and you need to feed kids.
So, we decided to self-cater. I spent months searching for and auditioning recipes. I finally decided on about six items that were interesting but not too complicated, light and fresh, and could be made ahead and finished on-site.
The kids devoured the soda, chips and candy. The rest of the food was barely touched. We gave away as much of the carefully prepared food as we could, but there was still a ton of waste.
But I do have a few refinements.
For pizza: buy pre-made dough from a pizza joint, including whole wheat and gluten-free, if necessary. Have a couple different cheeses, pepperoni, sausage, and some veg. Don’t have more than three or four choices so they don’t become paralyzed by indecision. Let them make their own and just bake or grill them.
For tacos, make a visit to your local tortilleria (tortilla factory, they’re everywhere these days, just google them); they’re fresh and cheaper than the grocery store. Get corn tortillas for tacos and larger flour tortillas if you want quesadillas on the menu. Get a modest selection of toppings and let the kids create their own.
You must have munchies, but don’t get carried away. Jiffy Pop popcorn is fun, and a lot of kids have never seen it. I like a 50/50 spread: 50% chips and such, and 50% fruit, nuts, and veggies and dip. Popcorn falls somewhere in the middle. You can also make things like rice crispy treats, granola bars, and tiny little pb&j’s.
For sweets, have a Sundae bar with no more than three flavors of ice cream and a small selection of toppings. Just have plenty of cans of aerosol whipped cream. Small fry adore them—I know The Kid and Petey sure do.
For breakfast serve a make-ahead potato casserole, bacon, juice, and pancakes with plenty of drop in choices like nuts, chocolate chips, and fruit.
Thanks for your time.
bull city mom 