Chocolate Courgette/ Zucchini Cake - We Should Cocoa

Its birthday month. Both for We Should Cocoa, who turn one, and me who turns... errr, lets not get into that!

The challenge for this month was to come up with a birthday cake. For me, nothing screams birthday as much as a chocolate cake. As it turns out, I had the perfect cake recipe practically handed to me. My neighbour Vee, she of the Lemon Courgette Cookies fame had also passed on a recipe for a chocolate zucchini loaf. I've been waiting to try it out for a while, but like most good intentions, this one got side tracked by other things. You know what they say, the road to a diet is paved with chocolate cake recipes :-)

I finally got the chance to make it today, and hopefully in time for We Should Cocoa. I was a bit worried, as it was the first time I was making the recipe, so I scaled it down a bit. The zucchini came from my garden, as usual (sigh!) and I changed around a few bits as bobs (also as per usual for me :-))

This cake was just gorgeous! I used a good Lindt dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips, and the zucchini just kept it so moist, it was unbelievable. Instead of just serving it plain, I decided to then go all out and made a delicious dark chocolate cream sauce to go with it. After all its a birthday celebration!

Technically, this was supposed to be my birthday cake, and I had plans to freeze some of it, but sadly it didn't last out the day let alone keep the few more days. No matter, its the perfect excuse to bake another cake this week... and yes, I bake my own birthday cakes (another deep sigh!!)

A quick note - in my recipe I say to bake this cake in a loaf tin. For the pictures, I baked a small portion of the cake batter in a 4 inch springform tin, and baked the rest of the mixture in a loaf tin as the recipe instructs. Just wanted to clarify that, in case of any confusion.

Recipe:
(Printable Recipe)

For the cake:

2 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup oil (I used a light olive oil, not extra virgin. Replace with canola or vegetable oil)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup buttermilk
1¼ cup plain flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda (bicarb of soda)
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 cup grated courgette/ zucchini
¼ cup dark chocolate, chopped

For the sauce:

½ cup dark chocolate, chopped
½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
2 - 3 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk, and whisk until well mixed.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, little by little, beating until well mixed. Stir in the grated courgette/ zucchini and the chopped dark chocolate.

Pour into a well greased loaf tin, and bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until well risen and a cake skewer comes out clean.

To make the sauce, heat the cream until just under boiling point. Place the chopped dark chocolate and the sugar in a heatproof bowl. Add the hot cream and whisk into a smooth sauce. The sauce will thicken a bit upon cooling.

Serve the cake with the sauce poured over.