¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS JOAQUÍN!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

(adapted from my Mom Sherwood's bread recipe)

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup oil

2 cups grated zucchini

I 10oz bag of chocolate chips

butter to grease the cake pan(s)

Preheat oven to 325º.

Whisk dry ingredients in a large glass bowl using a wire whisk. Add wet ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix/blend on medium-high until a smooth creamy consistency is reached. Add grated zucchini and mix on medium until well incorporated. Add half of the dry mixture and mix on medium until well incorporated and then do the same with the rest of the dry ingredients. Turn mixer off after mixture has mixed for 3-5 minutes and looks creamy and thick. Remove mixing bowl and, using a spatula, add the chocolate chips and mix them into the cake batter.

Pour batter into greased cake pan(s) (I use 2 spring-form pans) and bake at 325º for 1 hour.

Orange Zest Frosting

(adapted from a book my sister-in-law gave me)

¼ cup (2 oz.) neufchatel cheese

2 ¼ cups powdered sugar

finely grated rind of one orange juice

1 Tablespoon or more of freshly squeezed orange juice

Using your mixer or hand beater, beat neufchatel cheese and orange zest until smooth and airy. Juice zested orange into a small bowl and set aside. Add ¼ cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of your freshly made orange juice. Mix slowly until well incorporated and slowly add the rest of the powdered sugar, adding more juice as needed.

Background:

My son turned six this week! Growing up, we all had signature birthday cakes.  Grandma Sherwood's is Wart Cake (yep the "t" is intentional), Uncle Dan's is Date Nut Chocolate Chip, I always wanted Banana Bread Cake with sliced bananas in between the layers and penutbutter frosting...  you get the idea!  Naturally, now that I have my own little family, I've decided we all need signature birthday cakes too!  My husband's is Ice Cream Cake, Bella's is Carrot Cake, you now know mine, and you can guess Joaquin's! Since his birthday falls right as zucchinis are usually dominating our veggie garden, a birthday cake that features zucchini just seemed right! Happily, we all seem to love this cake, and it was a few years before we even told Joaquin there was zucchini in his birthday cake.

This year, I had to buy zucchini since our new house has yet to sprout a veggie garden (Hint to the husband!). Baking this cake has really made me crave zucchinis and now I totally miss getting my and my childrens' hands dirty in the veggie patch...

Additional Notes:

To make cupcakes, halve the baking time.

The frosting is so yummy, that I often find myself doubling or tippling the recipe justifying it with the “need” to use up the freshly squeezed juice!

This is also the frosting I use for my daughter's birthday cake, it is just THAT good.

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