Chocolate-zucchini cakes

Before I saw this recipe, I never in a million years would have thought of putting chocolate and zucchini together in cake form.  Never.  The very pairing just seems wrong, you know? But, I was swimming in zucchini and had an urge to bake, so I decided to go for it and let me tell you now...I am a believer.

Note: the recipe for Chocolate-Zucchini Cakes can also be found in the May 2010 edition of Everyday Food.

But first things first...the Little Guy helped, as usual.  I'd like to point out that since he has mastered the KitchenAid hand mixer, he is now learning how to use my KitchenAid stand mixer.  Soon, I'll be able to snap my fingers and say "Bake me some chocolate chip cookies!" and he'll run over to the mixer and get started and I won't have to do anything but supervise his dealings with the oven.  And then he'll clean everything up and not whine and life will be grand.  Just grand, I tell you!

Martha's recipe calls for 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, which I had, but since I doubled the recipe I didn't have enough.  So I did the only logical thing I could think of:  I melted 1/4 cup of Wilton's dark cocoa candy melts and added them to the batter.  Which I forgot to take pictures of.  My bad.

The addition of the dark cocoa candy melts was a stroke of pure genius, though, so WHEN you make this recipe (notice I did not say IF, because you really do need to bake these tonight) go ahead and give the melted chocolate a try.  You'll thank me for this, I promise.

When I first decided to make this recipe I flirted briefly with the thought of making these full-size cupcakes rather than mini-cupcakes.  I wasn't sure what that would do to the baking times, so I left it as is.  And boy, was that the right decision.  These things came out perfectly!

You'll notice that I skipped the walnut on top and went with a dollop of buttercream icing.  My oh my are these things delicious!  You have to taste it to believe it, as I did.  The cakes are sweet and moist, and unless you've been told there's zucchini in there, you'd never know. 

Next year, I might plant some zucchini just so I can make these all late summer and fall.  And since they do contain zucchini, each mini-cake is like a serving of vegetables, so it's okay to eat 12 or so in one sitting. 

Thanks for the great recipe, Martha! This one is a keeper.