The greening o' the chocolate cake
There have been several cookbooks dedicated to the art of making kids eat healthier by hiding vegetables and other nutritional ingredients to recipes, and while this may work in the short-term, it isn't really teaching kids to make healthier choices.
And making healthier choices doesn't always mean there isn't a little naughtiness along the way. Case in point, our rich and delish chocolate cake which we so happen to make a little more moist and, coincidentally healthy, with the addition of one of our favorite green vegetables - zucchini.
And yes, the zucchini is shredded and folded into a chocolate cake mix that has the addition of chocolate chips, butter, sugar and eggs, but we aren't hiding the zucchini from the kids - in fact, they embrace it as an ingredient. Actually, we have them wash it and pat it dry - but the fact is that they know it is in there.
So, what happens next time you want to steam zucchini, or sauté it and serve it along side a main entré in a more traditional way? At least your kids will be familiar with what it is and maybe make accepting it even easier.
The recipe for our The Greening O' The Chocolate Cake actually uses zucchini as a way to add moisture to the cake mix in place of water or oil. Using a large zucchini equals about one and a half-cups, so you could shred carrots or yellow squash or apples or pears and use in their place. Depending on what vegetable or fruit you use, you may need to adjust the sugar just a bit. Experiment, but don't go too wild and try an onion or turnip.
We bake our chocolate-zucchini cake in bread loaf bans and slice them like slices of bread. One thing we like to do with this cake is to slightly toast each side under the broiler, which adds some crispness and a little more texture. Also, instead of a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, we top ours with a nice chunky applesauce.Nothing wrong with that.
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You can certainly use your favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe - and we have - but we often defer to a box cake mix. Use a premium quality mix and it makes putting dinner (and dessert) on the table that much more quickly and easily.
Other than the box cake mix, many of ingredients are things you probably already have in your pantry - eggs, butter, spices and sugar among them. You may need to pick up a zucchini from the grocery store, but that's about it. Remember, when it is zucchini season, try to find some local ones at an area farmer's market.
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Equipment you need
Clean dish rag
Vegetable peeler or food processor
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Small saucepan
Large bowl
Wooden spoon
Two bread loaf pans
Oven mitts
Toothpicks
Cooling rack
Ingredients you need
1 large zucchini, shredded
3 teaspoons butter, melted
1 18-1/4 ounce box chocolate cake mix
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Dash almond extract
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips
What you need to do
Kids can wash and pat dry a large zucchini; adults can use a peeler or food processor to shred the zucchini finely then set aside. Kids can measure out butter and adults can melt on the stove top or in the microwave then set aside. Kids can open and pour the box cake mix contents into a large bowl. Adults should add the butter, eggs, vanilla and almond extract and kids can stir to moisten the mix. Kids can measure out the sugar, spices and chocolate chips and add to the mix along with the zucchini. Kids can stir to incorporate all the ingredients.
Kids can pour the mixture into two bread loaf pans lightly coated by adults with cooking spray. Adults can place the pans in a 350F oven and cook for approximately 45 minutes. Adults should check near the end of the cooking time for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
Adults should remove the bread loaf pans from the oven and allow to cool slightly before turning out onto racks to cool completely. Yields approximately 12 slices per loaf.
Patrick Evans-Hylton is a food writer and educator in Hampton Roads and a monthly contributor to Tidewater Parent. Read his adventures in food at:
Source: Tidewater Parent Magazine
