A few days ago, Granny sent me a link to her awesome chocolate zucchini cake recipe and then sent me a few others by email. I was facing a difficult zucchini issue having harvested 28 in one week and given away or eaten all I could. Michelle sent me a wonderful recipe for zucchini pickles, but I decided to try my hand at relish and made some zucchini relish this morning. I'll post on that tomorrow. However, even after the relish, which took 12 cups of finely chopped zucchini, which is no small amount, I still had 6 left over and harvested three more today.
This is where Granny's chocolate cake comes in. I decided to make cupcakes so I could freeze them and pull them out when wanted and here they are!
Ladies and Gentlemen, Granny is right. Chocolate is indeed a vegetable, and I'll proclaim it until the end of the earth because this child just put one of these in her mouth, bit of a piece, chewed and actually swallowed.
So, fine. It was the only bite she took and I'm sure there was no nutritional value left in the zucchini, what with the butter and sugar and all, but she put it in there and now there's zucchini in her belly. Done. Nuf said.But I still had 4 left over so I made another recipe she sent. This was actually very, very good. I thought it would just be like a glorified pasta sauce, but it was really substantial and good!
So, Granny...thanks for being in my thoughts today. You've made zucchini enjoyable again.
I'll post on that relish soon, OH and I scored HUGE today. Huge garden score. Maybe I'll post on that tomorrow instead. Hmmm.. decisions, decisions.
Those cupcakes look tasty. I have some grated zucchini in the freezer, I should give them a try too.
ReplyDeleteRay Charles, PLEASE!
ReplyDeleteGranny knows how to get the little ones to eat their veggies ;-)
Those cupcakes look scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteThose cupcakes look scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteWow, that is definitely getting creative with the zucchini! Good job getting it into the kiddo, in whatever form LOL!
ReplyDeleteSo I think I will make some of those cupcakes with my kids today or tomorrow...any tips or suggestions!?
ReplyDeleteThey look fabulous, now someone needs to post that recipe!
ReplyDeleteOh my...that thing at the bottom makes me want to lick my computer screen. Care to share?
ReplyDeleteChocolate zucchini cake is fabulous, but I never thought of making it as cupcakes, what a great idea.
ReplyDeleteIf you need more zucchini ideas I've been collecting recipes over the years, things like Zucchini 'Carpaccio', tarts, gratins, sweet and sour fried, pancakes, omelet, 'Saltimbocca', to name a few favorites.
You know...that last dish looks really good! I want the recipe!!! I'll also be very interested in the relish. Way to go "zucchini lady"....hehe. Oh, and I liked the poem that's in granny's garden. Ha!
ReplyDeleteWhat ever is in the oven has my mouth watering!
ReplyDeleteGranny's chocolate zucchini recipe can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/08/august-1-2008-evening.html
I found I had to bake the cupcakes a bit longer than I thought I would have.
The zucchini dish at the bottom is as follows (and I hope Granny doesn't mind me sharing it):
Zucchini Pizza Casserole
4 cups shreadded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesean cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 oz) Italian tomato sauce
Place zucchini in strainer; sprinkle with salt. Let stand for ten minutes. Squeeze out moisture.
Combine zucchini with eggs, parmesan and half of the other cheeses and press into greased 13x9 inch dish
Bake uncovered at 400 for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Add tomato sauce; spoon over zucchini mixture.
sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 20 minutes longer or until heated through.
IT WAS SOOOO GOOD. I used a bit of a tangy and spicy pasta sauce and it was superb.
Oh good I was going to ask for the recipe, but it was already provided. I wonder if I could convince my husband to eat it? I don't think I've ever gotten zucchini past his lips before - not even with chocolate cup cakes.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you! I'm going to try the Zucchini Pizza Casserole.
ReplyDeleteI just had leftover casserole for dinner tonight and I honetly think it was better the second go around. It's really the egg on the bottom layer that make it so different.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try this cupcake recipe! And the casserole looks delicious too!
ReplyDeleteThat's quite an impress zucchini harvest for one week.
Both of these recipes look so good. Of course, I plan to ONLY tell the ingredients to my family AFTER they tell me how much they like them. Thanks for posting and thanks to Granny for MORE wonderful recipes!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen you pull them out next time, the girl won't remember the squash and will just eat it all up.
ReplyDelete