Emotions and memories....and chocolate zucchini cake!
Cooking involves a lot of emotion for me...its not just about following a recipe or putting a nice meal on a table. Every recipe has a history, both in how it was created or first used, and in how it affects me when I cook it; this is especially true for recipes that I use over and over again.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake is one such recipe! I remember when I first found this recipe in an old magazine and knew that I just HAD to try it! I remember converting it to "my" recipe by making, what I believed to be, "necessary" changes. I remember taking it to dozens of potlucks, picnics, church socials, birthday parties...and it being a hit every single time! (You know you're a hit when your plate is the first one empty :) I remember struggling to convert it over to GF after I got diagnosed and how happy I was when I finally got it right!
I also think about my Grandmother, Velma Burkhart Leakey Whiting, whenever I make this cake because I use her Bundt pan to make it in. It's old and scratched but I just love it! It's got a lovely scalloped pattern that makes the cake even more beautiful, but that's not why I keep it. She had it for years and years and made so many cakes in it! Grandma was a cook!! That woman could make anything taste good and I got my love of cooking from her. When we were first married, we lived with my grandparents for about 2 years and helped take care of them. When we left to join the Air Force, my grandma gave me that pan and I've used it for almost 30 years. I've looked, many times, at replacing it for a new, shiny pan, but I just can't because I'd lose the memories that flood my mind every time I take that pan out of the cabinet to make a cake.
But, not all my memories attached to this cake are good ones. Another thing that happens to me when I make a much-loved recipe is that I remember other times I made it and I feel the emotions again that I felt at the time. I remember one time when my daughter, Carlie, was13 or 14. I had a social to attend and I knew I had just enough ingredients to pull off this cake and just enough time to do it. I went rushing in to make the cake, only to find that Carlie and her friend had been looking for a snack and eaten the very last bit of applesauce that I had!! The applesauce I needed to make the cake! I'm not proud to say that I yelled at her and it still makes me cry just a little bit whenever I make this cake and think of my actions that day. How could I?
I also think a lot about Carlie's friend, Judy, her partner in crime in the applesauce caper, whenever I make this cake. Judy was Carlie's best friend in middle school and high school and she always asked me to make this cake whenever she came over, which was pretty often!! I always love making something special for someone special and it's the way I express my love for people---cooking and baking for them :) Judy and Carlie parted ways after they left high school and that makes me kinda sad, too. Then, that will lead me to think about my best friend from high school, Shelly. And, we're still best friends after all these years and that just brings a smile to my face and then, I've gone full circle.
I know not everyone who reads this will understand, and that's okay. For those of you who are cooks like I am--who put everything you've got into cooking, who attach all kinds of emotions to your cooking, who practically personify your ingredients!!--you'll get it and feel along with me.
My cake is in the oven now; I'm making it today because we have good friends stopping by to spend the night and it's one of their favorites, too. I wanted to post this while I was caught up in the emotion of the moment, so I'm going to give you the recipe now, without any pictures...sorry!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe
3 eggs
1/2 cup sunflower oil
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini, with skin on
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup soy flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt cake pan. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl and add to zucchini mixture; mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until cake tests done. Let cake cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing for complete cooling. After completely cool, glaze with chocolate glaze. Serves 10-12.
Chocolate glaze recipe
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
dash vanilla
In a small pan, heat whipping cream and bring to a soft boil. Melt chocolate in the cream, stirring until completely incorporated. Splash in the vanilla and stir. Let cool for just a few minutes. Pour over cake; it will continue to set up as it cools.
***Just a word of caution: Don't wait too long to glaze your cake with this or you'll end up just drinking it straight!!!***
Chocolate Zucchini Cake is one such recipe! I remember when I first found this recipe in an old magazine and knew that I just HAD to try it! I remember converting it to "my" recipe by making, what I believed to be, "necessary" changes. I remember taking it to dozens of potlucks, picnics, church socials, birthday parties...and it being a hit every single time! (You know you're a hit when your plate is the first one empty :) I remember struggling to convert it over to GF after I got diagnosed and how happy I was when I finally got it right!
 |
| Me, at age 8, with my Grandma |
I also think about my Grandmother, Velma Burkhart Leakey Whiting, whenever I make this cake because I use her Bundt pan to make it in. It's old and scratched but I just love it! It's got a lovely scalloped pattern that makes the cake even more beautiful, but that's not why I keep it. She had it for years and years and made so many cakes in it! Grandma was a cook!! That woman could make anything taste good and I got my love of cooking from her. When we were first married, we lived with my grandparents for about 2 years and helped take care of them. When we left to join the Air Force, my grandma gave me that pan and I've used it for almost 30 years. I've looked, many times, at replacing it for a new, shiny pan, but I just can't because I'd lose the memories that flood my mind every time I take that pan out of the cabinet to make a cake.
But, not all my memories attached to this cake are good ones. Another thing that happens to me when I make a much-loved recipe is that I remember other times I made it and I feel the emotions again that I felt at the time. I remember one time when my daughter, Carlie, was13 or 14. I had a social to attend and I knew I had just enough ingredients to pull off this cake and just enough time to do it. I went rushing in to make the cake, only to find that Carlie and her friend had been looking for a snack and eaten the very last bit of applesauce that I had!! The applesauce I needed to make the cake! I'm not proud to say that I yelled at her and it still makes me cry just a little bit whenever I make this cake and think of my actions that day. How could I?
 |
| Carlie about the time of the great applesauce caper |
I also think a lot about Carlie's friend, Judy, her partner in crime in the applesauce caper, whenever I make this cake. Judy was Carlie's best friend in middle school and high school and she always asked me to make this cake whenever she came over, which was pretty often!! I always love making something special for someone special and it's the way I express my love for people---cooking and baking for them :) Judy and Carlie parted ways after they left high school and that makes me kinda sad, too. Then, that will lead me to think about my best friend from high school, Shelly. And, we're still best friends after all these years and that just brings a smile to my face and then, I've gone full circle.
 |
| Me and my BFF, Shelly, about 5 years ago |
I know not everyone who reads this will understand, and that's okay. For those of you who are cooks like I am--who put everything you've got into cooking, who attach all kinds of emotions to your cooking, who practically personify your ingredients!!--you'll get it and feel along with me.
My cake is in the oven now; I'm making it today because we have good friends stopping by to spend the night and it's one of their favorites, too. I wanted to post this while I was caught up in the emotion of the moment, so I'm going to give you the recipe now, without any pictures...sorry!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe
3 eggs
1/2 cup sunflower oil
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini, with skin on
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup soy flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Bundt cake pan. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl and add to zucchini mixture; mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until cake tests done. Let cake cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing for complete cooling. After completely cool, glaze with chocolate glaze. Serves 10-12.
Chocolate glaze recipe
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
dash vanilla
In a small pan, heat whipping cream and bring to a soft boil. Melt chocolate in the cream, stirring until completely incorporated. Splash in the vanilla and stir. Let cool for just a few minutes. Pour over cake; it will continue to set up as it cools.
***Just a word of caution: Don't wait too long to glaze your cake with this or you'll end up just drinking it straight!!!***
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