World Chocolate Day Special

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Recipe

This World Chocolate Day, explore some unique chocolate recipes like this chocolate zucchini bread. This dessert or baked treat is one of a kind and can be a great conversation starter as this loaf emerges from the oven looking dark, almost brownie-like, with melted chocolate chips visible at the top and a crumb so moist and fudgy that first-time tasters inevitably will ask what is in it. The answer lies in the shredded zucchini, which tends to cause disbelief, then conversion. Baking with zucchini is quite easy and perfect to try on World Chocolate Day, when your goal is to produce the most intensely satisfying chocolate experience ever. Zucchini does not have any pronounced flavour, which is what makes baking with it so delightful. It contributes enough moisture to the chocolate bread, which is released during baking and also into the batter for a crumb that stays soft and tender for days after baking. It’s the same principle that works for a carrot cake and also an apple cake. The cocoa in this chocolate zucchini bread recipe must be natural, unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch-process. Natural cocoa (fruity flavour) is acidic and reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to produce lift and structure. Dutch-process cocoa has been treated to neutralise its acidity (with a mellow flavour) and will not react the same way, potentially producing a denser, flatter loaf. The espresso powder also boosts the flavour of the cocoa exponentially without tipping the bread into coffee territory.