Chocolate Zucchini Cake (I goofed!!!)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake (Photo from www.Penzeys.com)


I was in Shelby recently and my friend PJ made some delicious zucchini nut bread.  When I got home I noticed the bounty of zucchini at the Farmer's Market so I bought some.  Later while  looking through my Penzey's magazine, I found this recipe for chocolate zucchini cake, and I thought it the perfect recipe for using  the zucchini.

• 1/2 Cup margarine or butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 13/4 Cups sugar
• 1/2 Cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1/2 Cup buttermilk or sour milk (1/2 Cup milk plus 1 tsp. white vinegar = sour milk)
• 21/2 Cups flour
• 4 TB. COCOA POWDER
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. PENZEYS CINNAMON
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Cups grated zucchini, peeled if desired, drained (about 2 medium)
• 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 325° (for a glass pan) or 350° (for a metal pan). In a mixing bowl, cream together the room temperature margarine/butter and sugar. Add the oil, eggs, VANILLA and buttermilk and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the flour, COCOA, baking soda, CINNAMON and salt. Gradually add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in the zucchini. Pour into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts over the top of the cake. Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Let cool before cutting. Prep. time: 20 minutes Baking time: 35-50 minutes Serves: 12-15 Gather your ingredients. Ingredients. Cream butter and sugar. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs,oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients. Dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients. Fold in grated zucchini. Fold in grated zucchini. Out of the oven. The cake has the consistency of brownies rather than cake.  Mine came out with the consistency of brownies---not light as cake should have been.  What went wrong?  As I looked back over the recipe I discovered that I had added baking powder instead of baking soda.  When I googled to see if it is possible to substitute baking powder for baking soda I learned that yes, that is possible, but when doing so one should add 4 times the amount of baking powder.  I had added only 1 tsp of baking powder and I should have added 4 tsps.  (Well actually I should have added baking soda as the recipe called for---must have been having a "senior moment".) Mistake number two:  When I was measuring the flour I discovered that I had only a cup of all purpose flour. Not wanting to make a run to the grocery store, I remembered I had some whole wheat flour in the freezer, so I substituted 1 1/2 cups of this in place of the all purpose flour.  After seeing that the cake was too dense, I thought perhaps it was because of the whole wheat flour substitution.  Sure enough, when I googled, I learned that when substituting whole wheat flour for plain flour use about 3/4 cup of whole wheat for each 1 cup of all purpose flour.  I didn't reduce the amount of whole wheat flour but used the full amount called for in the recipe.   Another "senior moment", I forgot to add the vanilla.  That didn't affect the texture, but it did affect the flavor.  There is cinnamon in the cake so the cake was flavorful but the flavor would have been better with the vanilla. Well one thing, Dan loves brownies, so he thinks the "brownies" are good.  I will make this recipe again though making sure I follow the recipe exactly---no substitutions.  Check out this recipe at www.penzeys.com.  I get all my spices at Penzeys.