Wheat Free Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Though I didn't grow up on a farm per se, my aunt and uncle and grandfather live in a big old house with a mini farm garden in the back. When my family would visit, we would be enlisted to help. Mostly, this meant my sister and I sat crossed legged in between rows of strawberry plants and ate about twice as many as we consumed. Which always proved to be short sighted, because breakfast, lunch, and dinner always included strawberries as well. Fortunately, my aunt is quite handy with a freezer and a canner and would make pots and pots of jam for us to take home. One crop that I never had to harvest was zucchini. Like strawberries, zucchinis yield an enormous amount and my aunt's freezer was always full of grated, pre-measured bags to make zucchini cake. When I first became interested in baking, she would send me bags of the vegetable along with her recipe and I would make it for my room mates in college. 

I've since made several adjustments to the recipe, not only for my diet, but also because some ingredients are harder to find or less popular to use for other health reasons. I've also incorporated some ideas from Nigella Lawson's recipe for Quadruple Chocolate Loaf. 

Makes 1 9 x 9 cake.

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 cups wheat free flour

1 1/2 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt (optional)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 apple sauce

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp brewed coffee (optional)

2 egg replacement, mixed with water right before adding

1 cup chocolate chips mixed with 1 tsp cocoa powder

2 cups pureed zucchini

1/2 cup soy or rice milk mixed with 1 tbs rice vinegar

CAKE DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, soda, salt if using, and cocoa powder. Set aside. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the oil, sugar, and apple sauce until well mixed. Add the coffee and vanilla extract and mix together. Place a sieve over the bowl and sift in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Blend. Add half of the milk mixture and combine. Repeat, alternating with the flour and milk, ending with the flour. Make the egg replacement and add to batter. After this is combined, add in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into a 9 x 9 pan lined with tin foil. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes, rotating half way through. 

After removing the cake, allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes and then, using the overlapping tin foil as a handle, allow to cool on a rack. If you would like to enjoy this as a snacking cake, you are done with maybe a smattering of chocolate chips half-meltingly strewn about. If, you'd prefer a more intensely chocolate experience, prick the cake all over and pour this glaze over:

1/2 cup coffee or water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbs cocoa powder

Boil the three ingredients together for five minute and then pour over the cake. If you'd like, garnish with shaved chocolate. 

Store this yummy treat for up to 5 days wrapped in foil or plastic wrap.