Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe

Bakery owner brings gluten-free treats to Dickerson Run

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Made-to-order gluten-free baked delights are now available at Lisa's Gluten Free Bakery in Dickerson Run.

Lisa Brower, owner, was diagnosed with celiac sprue disease in 1997. It was a life-changing diagnosis for her because she had been baking since she was 12 years old and very much enjoyed breads, pastries and baked goods.

"I tried product after product that wasn't fit to eat and finally just gave up all the foods I used to love," she said. "The aroma of baked goods was like torture so I even stopped baking for my family. After a few years I tried baking with a gluten-free cookbook, but the food still didn't taste like the food I remembered eating."

Then Brower just got out her old recipe box one day, picked a recipe she was hungry for and rewrote it, using a variety of gluten-free flours. After a few years of blending and tasting, her baked goods began to taste like the wonderful food she remembered. The grit was gone and the flavor was delicious, she said.

Brower knew what it was like to have to give up the baked foods and so, having earned a degree in business marketing and management and confident in her gluten-free recipes she set created the new business in order to share the gluten-free recipes with others.

Gluten-free items cannot contain wheat, barley or rye. The main ingredient Brower uses is xanthan gum, although she also uses others such as gelatin and guar gum. In addition, she created her own flour blend that is in almost everything she makes.

Gluten-free breads, fresh baked by order at Lisa's Gluten Free Bakery are sandwich, Italian, baguette, onion, potato and monkey bread. Buns include hamburger, hot dog, Kaiser, onion, hoagie (plain or herb), dinner roll, buttermilk biscuits, English muffins, croutons and stuffing bread. Pizza dough comes frozen in both balls and flats. Breadstick flavors are cinnamon sugar, plain, garlic and herb. Cookies include peanut butter, peanut butter kiss, chocolate chip, chocolate chunk, chocolate peanut butter chips, oatmeal (no bakes), oatmeal raisin, thumbprints, snicker doodles, snowballs (Russian tea), sugared, sugar cut-outs, sugar spiral, white chocolate, oatmeal cranberry walnut, chocolate-covered cherry cookie, peanut butter cup, filled, nut tassies and bear claws (cinnamon nut roll).

Also available are mini fruit pastries, popovers, brownies and chocolate, orange and pumpkin gobs and apricot and nut rolls. Mini fruit pies include cherry, apple and peach. Cakes and cupcakes and mini cupcakes are available in chocolate, vanilla and red velvet. Choices of specialty cakes and breads are zucchini bread, pumpkin bread and orange-cranberry cake.

Grandma's Zucchini Cake Recipe | Simply Recipes

Rummaging through my mother's old recipe file recently, I stumbled upon a photocopy of a handwritten recipe for zucchini cake. The recipe is in my grandmother's hand, my dad's mom. She was the baker in the family (a title now passed on to my father). She moved from St. Paul to live with us in Los Angeles when I was four. Mom, being rather busy with all the kids (6 kids in 8 years!) and working as a head start teacher, didn't have much time for crafts or baking. It was grandma who taught me to sew, to knit and crochet, and to bake. She made cherry pies, angel food cakes, apricot jam, and the best oatmeal raisin cookies . We fought for the rights to lick the batter bowl of whatever cake she happened to be making. When we moved to Sacramento, she would send my mother recipe clippings and notes. I think that's how we must have ended up with this recipe for zucchini cake. It's a lot like zucchini bread , moist and somewhat crumbly, but in sheet cake form, with more egg and sugar, and with a cream cheese frosting. Great for summer potlucks.

2 cups flour 2 teaspoons cinnamon (can sub 1 teaspoon with other spices such as allspice and nutmeg, go easy on the cloves though) 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 3 eggs 2 cups white, granulated sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (optional, my addition) 2 cups (from about 3-4 regular sized zucchini) grated un-peeled zucchini (place grated zucchini in a sieve and press out some of the excess moisture before measuring) 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (my grandmother recommends black walnuts) 1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Frosting: Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9x12 or 9x13 baking pan (I used a pyrex pan).

2 In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

3 In a mixer, beat the 3 eggs on high speed until frothy. Lower the speed and beat in the sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and lemon zest (if using). Stir in the flour mixture, a third at a time. Stir in the zucchini and chopped nuts and/or raisins.

4 Pour mixture into a 9x12 or 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes. (My grandmother's notes say you can also bake in an angel food pan for 1 hour.) Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting. (While the cake is cooling, let the frosting's cream cheese and butter sit at room temperature to soften.