Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Chocolate Zucchini and Sweet Potato Bread with Almonds and Dried Cherries





True to my word, this post is to fulfill my promise  to Val Outmezquine, community producer at the Foodnetwork.ca site, after I was fortunate enough to win a copy of Anna Getty's book, "Easy Green Organic".  I picked the zucchini and sweet potato bread with pumpkin seeds and dried cherries" as my project.  However, don't  go looking for the pumpkin seeds in my version, but do expect a few surprises as I stray from the original recipe.  I replaced the pumpkin seeds with toasted almond slices, which I think is a marriage made in heaven when combined with cherries. I also added dark Dutch cocoa and  dark chocolate chips to compliment the cinnamon in the original recipe, which by the way I reduced in half , so as not have the cinnamon overpower the chocolate ingredients. I also reduced the oil from 1 cup to 3/4 cup. Couldn't very well stop there! However nothing too drastic, I opted to use the almond slices in the topping instead of  the pumpkin seeds. I elected to sprinkle dark chocolate chips on the streusel topping. I might have not followed the recipe to a tee, but who can knock that all that chocolaty goodness oozing out of the hot loaf.


Ingredients:
 Batter:
1 3/4 cups all  purpose flour
1/2 cup dark Dutch cocoa powder 
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
3/4 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup grated zucchini (unpeeled)
1 cup grated uncooked sweet potato

Crumble Topping:
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup almond slices
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

In a bowl add 1/4 cup of flour, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and butter.  With your fingers blend the flour, sugar and butter pieces until the texture of very coarse meal.  Add the almonds and combine with the flour/butter mixture. You may then toss in the chocolate chips or simply sprinkle them on top of the streusel topping.  Set aside while preparing the batter

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, dark chocolate cocoa, cinnamon, soda, baking powder and salt.  Toss in the cherries, dark chocolate chips and almonds.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs,sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and the sweet potatoes. Pour the egg /zucchini mixture into the dry ingredients and beat to combine. Do not over beat. Pour the batter into a prepared 9x5x3 loaf  pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350º F oven for 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours. The loaf is done when a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

13 comments:

  1. Man Anna, your photos are outstanding! Nicely done and I like your version of the recipe. Congrats on winning the book too, looks like it went to the right person!

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  2. Susie,
    Thanks so much. You can't really go wrong with the addition of chocolate. When it comes to the photos, it's once again the great natural light that works the magic.

    Anna

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  3. That's a jumbo zucchini loaf! Love the streusel atop.

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  4. Hi Angie,
    I actually used a bread loaf pan which is longer bu not as wide, but it did rise beautifully.

    Anna

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  5. That does look incredibly, chocolatey good. I think the almonds was the perfect way to go, nice adaptation, sounds incredible.

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  6. You're the best! I couldn't stop smiling, thanks for the mention :)
    Your photo looks beautiful and I'm with you for switching up the ingredients, in particular the pumpkin seeds for almonds. Nice!

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  7. Hi Val,
    Thanks for the thumbs up on the switch, after all who wants birdseed in their cake when you can have almonds and chocolate instead. LOL

    Anna

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  8. Ava,
    The extra dark cocoa powder made such a big difference,and I only added a 1/4 cup. Although the batter doesn't have butter,even you would flip over its rich flavour and texture.

    Anna

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  9. So many wonderful ingredients in such a beautiful looking loaf of bread!

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  10. This loaf looks amazing. It is chock full of so many great ingredients though! I love the melding of sweet potato and zucchini. I'm sure they both added a wonderful amount of moisture. And then the chocolate crumb topping sounds great!

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  11. Hy! A hungarian award waiting for you on my website. :)

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  12. Hi Evan,
    I really appreciate your visit and lovely comment.
    I encourage everyone to visit your blog to see your amazing cake creations.

    Thanks,
    Anna

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  13. Hi Monet,

    The dark Dutch cocoa and good quality chocolate chips really made for a rich and decadent loaf. I guess it made up for the oil in the batter.

    Thanks,
    Anna

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