Chocolate Walnut Zucchini Cake

The celebration continues! Thank you to everyone who has submitted photographs to our contest! They are amazing. We are in awe of your creativity, and we love all the wonderful dogs and cats who posed for you. Thank you so much! It's not over, of course, until midnight Thursday. Five people will win our fun tote bag and seven books!

All you have to do is submit a photo in one of five categories:

1. One of our books with a cat
2. One of our books with a dog
3. One of our books having summer fun
4. One of our books in a library
5. One of our books in a bookstore.

Enter the contest or just enjoy the delightful photos at http://a.pgtpb.me/R2rT6.

This is also a first. Contrary to appearances, we don't just blog about cakes here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen! I think the unbroken succession of cakes proves that we gravitate toward cakes when we're celebrating. No doubt something that is ingrained in us as children, beginning with festive birthday cakes.

I was determined not to bake a cake for today. But the zucchini plants in the garden just keep producing! I have cooked zucchini every which way you can imagine. But not as a cake. And I kept running into recipes for chocolate zucchini cake. So I broke down and made my own version.

We loved the zucchini walnut muffins that I baked a few weeks ago, so I knew that walnuts worked well with zucchini. I deepened the chocolate flavor with a hint of coffee, and added dark brown sugar. I dusted the top with powdered sugar instead of icing it. Honestly, it's so rich and moist that it doesn't need frosting.

Krista's Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts

2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1-2 zucchini)

1/2 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter + extra for greasing pan
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso
2 teaspoons warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 10-inch springform pan with butter.

In a food processor, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and walnuts. Pulse until the walnuts have disappeared. Pour out into a bowl and set aside.

Use the shredding disk in the food processor to shred the zucchini. Set aside.

Dissolve the coffee in the water. Cream the butter with the sugars, and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the coffee and the vanilla and beat. Slowly add the flour mixture. The batter will be thick. Mix in the zucchini and stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Cool on a baking rack. When cool, dust with powdered sugar.

Walnuts disappear into the flour and cocoa.

Before baking.

Let it cool before adding powdered sugar.

We're still giving away a book each day, too! Today we're giving away Mystery Lovers' Kitchen's alum Elizabeth Spann Craig's SHEAR TROUBLE! It won't be out until August 5th, but Elizabeth will ship it to you as soon as she has her hands on it! To enter, leave a comment here today before midnight.

Good luck!