Summer Is Still Here

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I know I sure did. Saturday I treated my mom to breakfast at The Original Pancake House (she loves their Dutch Baby pancakes), then we went and got pedicures (and a brow wax for me), had Starbucks and did a little shopping. While at Starbucks I enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice Latte- yum! I wait all year for those. That's the closest I've gotten so far to Fall flavors this year but I can't bring myself to start baking with pumpkin just yet. Believe me I want to, but it's still SUMMER!

It's still Summer and I'm still drinking limeade and eating grilled meats and hot dogs. It's still in the mid-90's here (high 80's when we're experiencing a "cold" front- ha!) and I'm still enjoying baking with zucchini- a summer favorite. I know a lot of you make jokes about having a surplus of the green veggie growing by the ton in your garden, but I can barely keep my indoor plants watered, so I don't have that problem. I happily buy my zucchini at the grocery store 4 at a time and I used 2 of them in this delicious cake. There's nothing like eating your veggies with a little chocolate :-).

I found this cake at The Cutting Edge Of Ordinary- Lisa has a beautiful blog (go check her out). I was intrigued by it because Chocolate Zucchini cake is one of my absolute favorites. I have a tried and true recipe that I usually bake it into a Bundt pan that my mom requests quite often but I liked this one because it's baked into a 9x13-inch pan and topped with chocolate chips that add a subtle sweetness. It's a great snack cake, simple to throw together and stays moist for days. If you've never tried zucchini cake before, don't be afraid- it adds moisture the way carrots do in carrot cake, but you can't taste it. Promise. It's also a good way to get some veggies into your kids (or you). Relish in the last few days of summer and make this cake!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake from Bon Appetit via The Cutting Edge Of Ordinary

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• 2 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 medium)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt into a medium bowl.

Beat the sugar, butter and oil in a large bowl until well blended. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.

Mix in the dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk in 3 additions. Mix in grated zucchini.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts (if using).

Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely in pan.

Would you like a piece?

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