Gâteau chocolat & courgette

Yesterday evening when I got home from work there was a delicious surprise waiting for me on the kitchen counter. Wing Nut had the day off and spent part of it baking. She tried her hand at a new recipe and it was a grand success in my opinion. She made a chocolate zucchini cake. But this wasn't just any chocolate zucchini cake. This was  Clotilde Dusoulier's Chocolate & Zucchini Cake.

If you look carefully at the picture, you can see flecks of green in the cake. Wing Nut didn't put any nuts in the cake as the recipe on Dusoulier's website calls for. One thing I really liked about this particular recipe is that it calls for less fat and sugar than most other recipes for C&Z cake that I've found out there on the Internet. And the cake is so incredibly rich! Dusoulier mentions one possible alteration to her recipe which I'm curious to try; she gives the option of using olive oil instead of butter for a slightly peppery flavor.

My 2009 continues to smell and taste of chocolate. How about yours?

--Curmudgeon

Sleeping cheek to cheek

White Socks and Diva Dog taking their afternoon nap.

--Curmudgeon & Wing Nut

2009 is smelling like chocolate

What resolutions did the Wenches make for 2009? Only one:

EAT MORE CHOCOLATE!!!

Okay, okay. I'm not really serious about this being our 2009 resolution. But a chocolate recipe does follow. So all those of you who made resolutions involving diets, dieting, and weight loss for 2009 should probably stop reading right now and click away to a different blog.

This year we started what I hope will become a New Year's tradition at our house. On the first morning of 2009, Wing Nut made chocolate waffles for breakfast. Yes, I did write waffles and chocolate together. The intoxicating perfume of chocolate lingered throughout the house for hours after breakfast. We topped our waffles with baked pears and a sprinkle of cardamom.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE WAFFLES

• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa, preferably Dutch processed
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups reduced fat milk
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels

Place all the ingredients except the chocolate morsels in a large bowl and combine until well blended and smooth. Let batter sit 5 minutes before using.

Follow the manufacturer's instructions for your waffle maker regarding preheating and cooking. Once you've poured the batter sprinkle chocolate morsels over each waffle and let batter bubble a few seconds before closing the cover of the waffle maker.

Makes twelve 4-inch waffles. A serving is one waffle.

Nutritional Analysis per serving: Calories 265 (39% from fat), carbs 37 g, protein 5 g, fat 12 g, sat. fat 3 g, cholesterol 38 mg, sodium 187 mg, calcium 62 mg, fiber 3 g

*This recipe is from the instruction booklet that came with our waffle maker.

Here's wishing you a great smelling 2009!

--Curmudgeon