Divine Zucchini Spice Cake with Dogs!

I baked this delicious cake to take to a friend who had a baby recently. I didn't manage to get photographs taken - so instead you get pictures of dogs!


I really should have cooked a meal for this friend sooner - she had her baby in May! Eeek! I am a bad friend!! I have known her my whole life, so maybe she used to my procrastination. I tried to make up for it by bringing her a lasagna for the freezer, awesome pasta salad for dinner and this tasty zucchini spice cake for dessert.

I was introduced to zucchini spice cake a couple years ago when I tried a recipe I found on the internet for my co-workers. Of course, I have no idea where that recipe is or where I found it. That is so frustrating! I had a bad habit of keeping my recipes on my work computer. Of course when I was laid off, I didn't get an extra 15 minutes to print out various non-work-related-recipes :) C'est la vie! It merely forced me to scour the internet and come up with a new zucchini spice cake recipe to try. I turned to the Cooking Light Bulletin Board for inspiration, and it didn't let me down.

This is an action shot of them playing- I swear!
They just play kinda hard...

The recipe actually comes from DianasDesserts.com, a website I have never visited but I should based on this cake! The zucchini keeps the cake moist, and the spices are warm and delicious. I especially love the strong tingle you get from the cloves. I increased the spices slightly since I love heavily spiced cakes, but you can leave them alone for a more subtle flavor. The frosting is simple and totally necessary. This was the perfect cake to bring to my friend's house - she had two servings so I know she loved it! (She is a new mom - she deserves it!)

Zowie Zucchini Bars

Ingredients 2/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used 1 t) 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (I used more like 3/4 t) 1 cup shredded zucchini, drained 1/2 cup chopped nuts, any type (I omitted) Spice Frosting (see recipe below)

Instructions: 1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom and sides of a 8x8x2-inch square pan*. 2. Mix brown sugar, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Spread in pan. 3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Frost with spice frosting. Cut into 24 bars. Makes 9 regular or 18 "mini" size bars. Spice Frosting 3/4 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 3 to 4 teaspoons milk Mix all ingredients until smooth and spreadable. *Note: If using a nonstick or dark colored baking pan, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Source: DianasDesserts.com

Date: August 21, 2002