Ingredients
Chocolate zucchini cake:
- 250g cake flour, sifted
- 360g castor sugar
- 70g cocoa powder, sifted
- 10ml bicarbonate of soda
- 5ml baking powder
- 5ml salt
- 5ml cinnamon, ground
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 330ml vegetable oil
- 350g zucchini, grated
- 100g walnuts
Candied zucchini:
- 500ml sugar
- 250ml water
- 3 whole zucchini
Chocolate glace icing:
- 180g icing sugar, sifted
- 15g cocoa powder, sifted
- 45ml water
Chocolate soil:
- 30g cake flour, sifted
- 25g cocoa powder, sifted
- 60g almonds, ground
- 60g castor sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 30g margarine, dairy-free
- 25g walnuts
Meringue shards:
- 2 egg whites
- 120g castor sugar
- 30g walnuts, chopped
- 5g raspberries, freeze-dried
Assembly:
- candied zucchini
- chocolate soil
- meringue shards
- chocolate glace icing
- 5g raspberries, freeze-dried
Preparation method
Chocolate zucchini cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180 C and spray a bundt pan
- Stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
- Add the eggs and oil, mix to combine
- Fold in the zucchini and walnuts
- Pour into prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes in tin, then cool completely on a wire rack
Candied zucchini:
- Use a mandoline slicer to ribbon the zucchini
- Bring the sugar and water to the boil
- Add the zucchini and cook for 15 minutes with a cartouche
- Allow to cool slightly in syrup, then rinse lightly in water
- Lay out on a lined baking tray, then dry out in a 50 C oven
Chocolate glace icing:
- Mix together the sugar and cocoa
- Add the water 15ml at a time, until the right consistency forms
- Ice the top of the cooled cake and decorate with the candied zucchini
Chocolate soil:
- Preheat the oven to 170 C
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined
- Spread out on a baking paper lined baking tray
- Bake for 20 minutes
Meringue shards:
- Preheat oven to 95 C
- Beat together the egg whites and sugar to form a stiff meringue
- Spread the meringue thinly on baking paper lined baking trays
- Sprinkle walnuts and freeze dried raspberries over the meringue
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, until dry
- Remove from the oven and cut into large shards, reserve any pieces that break
Assembly:
- Ice the cooled cake with the glace icing
- Crush the reserved meringue and add to the soil with 2g of the raspberries
- Move the cake to a serving plate
- Surround the cake with the soil mixture, sprinkle some of the remaining on top
- Place any remaining soil in the centre of the cake
- Place the candied zucchini around the top of the cake
- Arrange the meringue shards, standing up, in the centre of the cake