Welcome to My Kitchen

Another Deutschesfest is in the books. We have had a little rain to wash off the summer dust and smoke from wildfires. Gardens are beginning to wind down, but you may still have a few summer squash sitting and tomatoes ripening.

Gwen Clavel shared the recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake that she brought to a recent quilting meeting. She found the recipe at http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes website. This ultra-moist, super-rich chocolate cake may even fool the zucchini haters into enjoying this prolific summer vegetable.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Cake:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cups granulated

sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sour cream, butter-

milk or yogurt

2 1/2 cups unbleached

All-purpose flour

3/4 cup baking cocoa

2 tsp espresso powder

(optional)

3 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 1/3 cups chocolate chips

7 Tbsp half and half

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder and salt until smooth. Beat in the eggs.

Stir in the sour cream alternately with the flour. Add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing until smooth.

Fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

When cake has cooled, combine chocolate chips and half and half in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on high 1 minute, stir and continue cooking for 30 second intervals, stirring after each until chocolate softens and mixture is smooth. Spread frosting over cooled cake. Yield: 24 servings.

Note: the frosting recipe noted fat-free half and half or liquid coffee creamer may be used in this frosting recipe.

Though we are at the end of the local blueberry season, frozen un-thawed blueberries work well in most recipes. Overnight Blueberry French Toast, a recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com showed up in my mailbox, but with no name of the contributor. Sorry, you will have to go to the website for that recipe. Since the recipe sounded good, I did try the recipe, with some adjustments according to what I had on hand, so my version follows.

Overnight Blueberry

French Toast Hawaiian

8 cups King’s Hawaiian

Bread cut in 1 inch cubes

1 package (8 ounces)

cream cheese, cut into 1/2

inch cubes

1 cup fresh or frozen blue-

berries

12 eggs, beaten

2 cups whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup

Topping:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh or frozen blue-

berries

2 Tbsp butter

Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup of blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with the remaining bread cubes.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and syrup. Pour evenly over the bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Remove dish from refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover dish with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes longer, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter. Pour evenly over baked French toast. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Tomatoes are an easy summer crop to preserve. Their acid content means they require only water bath canning procedures and their many uses make them a handy item in your pantry. Tomato Marmalade is a flavorful condiment to have on hand for serving with chicken, pork, or fish and is delicious on breakfast toast or English muffins.

Old Fashioned Tomato

Marmalade

5 cups coarsely chopped,

peeled tomatoes

2 large oranges

1 lemon

4 cups granulated sugar

Place tomatoes in a large stainless steel or enamel pan.

Wash and dry oranges and lemon. Cut fruit into pieces and chop in food processor or blender. Add to tomatoes. Bring mixture to a full boil over high heat. Slowly add sugar, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Return mixture to a boil and boil rapidly until mixture begins to form a gel (mixture sheets from the spoon), about 1 hour, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Ladle mixture into hot sterilized jars. Top with new lids and rings screwed finger tight. Process in water bath for 10 minutes. Yield: about 6 cups.

Variation: add 3 Tbsp finely chopped, peeled ginger root during cooking.

Fresh tomatoes are easy to freeze whole. Wash and dry tomatoes. Place in zip closure bags and put in freezer. Take out as many frozen tomatoes you need for most cooked recipes. Thaw about 30 minutes and the skin will peel off easily. Chop, dice or slice as needed.

Share your favorite end of summer, beginning of fall and preserving recipes by sending them to: Welcome to My Kitchen, c/o The Odessa Record, P.O. Box 458, Odessa WA 99159, email therecord@odessaoffice.com or drop them in the Welcome to My Kitchen mail tin in The Odessa Record Office. Be sure to deep water shrubs and trees before freezing nights to ensure strong plants going into winter.