instant classic

As one Ye Olde Secret Knitting project is completed and packed into its shipping box this morning with a few encouraging words for its journey, I’m taking a pause to say “Hello!” and to share my new favorite recipe. It’s in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living and naturally, I love it because it’s filled with butter and sugar. Below, my modifications and notes.

Orange-Cardamom-Zucchini Bundt Cake (makes one 6-cup bundt cake)

• small amount of Crisco, or other shortening, to grease bundt pan
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus a small additional amount for dusting bundt pan
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 – 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom, to taste as desired
• 1 tsp. table salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted (melt this in advance to let it cool)
• 1 1/2 – 2 zucchini (enough to provide 2/12 packed cups of grated zucchini that has been squeezed dry)
• 1 tsp. grated orange zest and 1 tbsp. juice from one orange

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease the bundt pan thoroughly with Crisco (or use Pam baking spray – whatever you prefer) and then lightly flour the pan, getting into all of the grooves, especially along the center neck.  Shake out and discard all of the excess flour.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.

Using a box grater, grate the zucchini on the large holes.  Put the grated zucchini in a colander and press down with dry paper towels on the zucchini to absorb the excess water/moisture.  Repeat this step a few times, turning the zucchini over to get at all of it with the paper towels, and allowing some of the moisture to run out through the colander.

In a large bowl, mix together well the eggs and sugar.  Add the 2 1/2 cups of packed and drained zucchini, the cooled melted butter, and the orange zest/juice.  Stir in the flour mixture, incorporate it well, and then pour the batter into the bundt pan.

Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes.  A knife inserted into the cake will come out clean when the cake is finished.  Allow at least 15 minutes for the cake to cool in the pan.  Before inverting it onto your plate of choice, carefully run a knife along the edges of the cake (both outer and inner edges) to loosen it from the pan.  Allow the cake to cool for another 45 minutes or so before glazing it.

Orange-Cardamom Glaze

• remaining zest and juice of the orange
• generous pinch of ground cardamom
• confectioner’s sugar

In a small bowl, zest the rest of the orange, and squeeze out the remaining juice from the orange.  Add the cardamom.  With a whisk, slowly add in enough confectioner’s sugar until the mixture reaches a thick, but still spreadable, consistency.  Slowly pour the glaze over the cake and let it set before slicing the cake and digging in!

So as you can see, this recipe is super simple!  One note: this cake will only fill a “typical” 10-15 cup bundt pan halfway, so if you’re really needing to feed a crowd, or you want to eat half now and put the other half in the freezer for a rainy day, then you could add another half to this recipe, or possibly even add another full recipe to make a double batch in one pan.  You’ll just need to keep an eye on the cooking time, and increase it if at all.

Enjoy it with coffee in the morning (as I may be doing at this very moment…..) or as a sweet finish to a dinner. Either way, it keeps extraordinarily well on the countertop because of the zucchini keeping the cake moist.  Bon appetit!

PS: The recipe also calls for candied zucchini strips to decorate the top of the cake. In my book, life is too short to worry about making vegetable candy.

PPS: Still knitting away on my Nyanen tee and hoping to finish it before the weather cools off again hahahaha!  Thank goodness for subway knitting time!