Orphan Cake - for that 'baseball bat' on your porch

Have you had a zucchini “orphan” left on your doorstep yet this year?  Keep this recipe handy if you anticipate inheriting a baseball-bat-size squash that you are tempted to throw away.  Zucchini never turned out so good (and never stayed undercover so deliciously)  Equally yummy frosted, or plain.

I’m not even a child of the Great Depression, yet I can’t bring myself to throw away free produce of any kind.  (I’ll at least keep it around long enough to shrivel up and spoil before I toss it...)  My only zucchini plant curled up and died in all the spring rain we had, and we decided to see if we could still experience a normal summer without an over-producing plant.

I didn’t even miss squash until I saw this recipe.  It looked so.... moist?  not green?  chocolate-laden?  I did the unthinkable, and took an “orphan” baseball-bat-size zucchini from my daughter’s back home with me a few weeks ago.  I just couldn’t have summer end without trying a new zucchini recipe - it’s tradition you know.

This recipe uses dutch-process cocoa - and YES - it really should be dutch-process for the best result.  I think the mixture of butter and oil made it extra moist as well.  The recipe mentioned that it isn’t necessary to peel and de-seed the squash, but I did - and it made a big difference not to see tell-tale flecks of green.

I used a mixture of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, and loved it.  That makes both chocolate camps happy.  I made this early in the morning, and by evening the cake had mellowed and taken on a wonderful, moist texture - unbelievable.  

Then it got even better when topped with an old-fashioned boiled milk chocolate frosting.  Wow.  I just can’t describe it.  (I’ll post that recipe next)  

But if you’re too busy basking in the last rays of summer, I know it would be equally great dusted with powdered sugar or topped with whipped cream.

For this great cake recipe, go to:

www.changeabletable.com