From the mouth of babes.........

Don't you just love the conversations kids have with each other? I know I do. My son Andy had his friend Sylvester over today. Andy took Sylvester in the kitchen to show him the zucchini I had just picked from the garden. There conversation went like this:

Andy: Look at these zucchini my Mom picked today.

Sylvester: I don't like zucchini.

Andy: Yes you do.

Sylvester: No I don't.

Andy: You do when it is cooked in cake.

Sylvester: No I don't.

Andy: Yes you do.

Sylvester: I most definitely do not.

Andy: Well, you had seconds of my birthday cake at my birthday party so you must have liked it.

Sylvester: Your birthday cake had zucchini in it?

Andy: Uh huh.

Sylvester: Wow, your Mom is sneaky.

Andy: Well yeah, where do you think I get it from?

So you don't have to search the archives for my recipe - here it is - and if you aren't GFCF, just substitute regular ingredients for the GFCF ones.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
2 1/2 cups gf flour ( I used Bob’s Red Mill GF Mix)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (use aluminum free!)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup shortening
2 cups rapadura (you could use regular sugar, but rapadura is healthier)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons grated orange peel (make sure you grate an organic orange - you don't want to know what chemicals are on non organic ones)
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk substitute (I used Dari Free)
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts, but any would be fine or omit if you are nut free)
Glaze (directions follow)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
1 Combine the four, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
2 With a mixer, beat together the shortening and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the shortening and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini.
3 Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk substitute into the zucchini mixture, including the nuts with the last addition.
4 Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan (use a stainless steel pan – please don’t bake in aluminum. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool thoroughly.
5 Drizzle glaze over cake.
Glaze:
Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk substitute, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Cut in thin slices to serve.
Makes 10-12 servings.