Cake #10 - Zucchini Cranberry Spice Cake with Orange-Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

My son sees an occupational therapist to help him with his diet.  He's been a picky eater since about age 2, with an easily tripped gag reflex.  Over the last few years, what he'll eat has been a pretty narrow selection of typical kid foods, with lots of anxiety over trying new things.  The therapist, who he sees once every two weeks, helps him practice accepting unfamiliar foods.  At one appointment, Nick mentioned that I'd been doing this cake project, and intrigued by Nick's enthusiasm for it, the therapist suggested maybe he'd help me make a cake that we could bring in.  Nick loved that idea, so I chimed in that we could try a fruit- or vegetable-based cake.  I offered Nick three recipes, and he chose this one.  He helped with every step and chose dried cranberries (instead of the raisins the recipe calls for) and suggested the flavorings (of orange extract and vanilla) for the cream cheese frosting as well.

The cake is delicious - my husband said he thinks this is his favorite so far.  I softened the cranberries in a little boiling water and then dried them off and dusted them with flour, but I think they still sunk during baking (it was harder to tell with this cake than with others).  The cake stuck to the pan, which left it with a terrible appearance before frosting, and it seemed to be a much smaller cake than others that have called for the same size pan.  It was also very crumbly.  But as I said, delicious.

The cardamom was very strong when we first tried the cake, but it mellowed over the next couple of days and I think the cake got noticeably better with time.

Nick had a few bites - it was hard for him to deal with the cranberries mixed in.  Without the dried fruit, he'd probably eat tons of it.

Zucchini Cranberry Spice Cake with Orange-Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake

½ cup butter

1½ cups packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1½ cups unbleached white pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cups grated zucchini

1 cup chopped toasted nuts, such as almonds, pecans, or walnuts

½ cup dried cranberries (or currants or raisins)

Frosting

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 ounces cream cheese

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon orange extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Food coloring - optional

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.

2.       In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light.  Beat in the eggs and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.  Fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.  Fold in the vanilla, zucchini, nuts, and dried cranberries. 

3.       Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake is golden and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert the cake onto a plate – tap the bottom of the pan to help release the cake, if needed.

4.       For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer.  Beat in the confectioners’ sugar until fluffy.  Add the orange and vanilla extracts and beat until smooth.  Add the food coloring, if desired.

5.       Once the cake has cooled, cover with the frosting.

From Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts by The Moosewood Collective