I would consider myself a super healthy eater. I try not to eat refined white sugar, I don’t drink soda, I cook 80% of my meals using whole foods, I eat mostly plants, I eat a ton of fruit and raw veggies, I buy organic.
Good for me, right!?
Taking care of my body starts with a nutrient rich diet and I want to eat the healthiest I can to ensure my health and wellness. Yup, I got that down. But what about dessert!
I grew up in a household where we had dessert every night. It was homemade, included real ingredients, and followed a wholesome well-balanced dinner. That meal agenda sounds pretty awesome to me….so I’ve started baking.
I’m not the greatest baker though – you need to be exact – plus, I really don’t love super sweet things and refined sugar is horrible for you (check out the documentary Fed Up for an eye-opening look at this epidemic). But I do love a piece of something chocolate at the end of my meals, damnit!
So today, I made this Zucchini Cake with an avocado icing. It’s vegan, can be made gluten free, and I subbed out the refined sugar in part of the recipe. Plus, I had zucchini from our garden to use up. Win-Win!
The cake turned out beautifully and actually has a ton of protein and nutrients. I substituted whole wheat flour for the quinoa flour and switched 1/2 cup of brown sugar & 1/2 cup of coconut sugar for the 1 cup of sugar.
Here are the ingredients I used as well as the icing recipe.
Happy baking!
- Dry Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 cups Quinoa flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar & 1/2 cup of coconut sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup cocoa
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- Wet Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons flax meal with 7 tablespoons of water
- 3/4 soy milk
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cups zucchini, grated
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- Preheat oven and grease baking pans.
- Mix flax meal and water and let sit for several minutes while preparing the remaining ingredients.
- In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Grate zucchini, then add to flax mixture along with the rest of the wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix just until combined.
- Pour into baking pans and use the back of a spoon to spread the batter to the edges of the pan. Bake at 350F. Test using a toothpick – I baked for 25 minute.
Icing
1 avocado
1/2 cup of confectionery sugar
1/3 cup of cocoa powder 1/3 cup of soy milk
Blend in a food processor & put on cooled cake.
happy & we know it 
This is some cake! Looks delicious and we love the idea of an ‘avocado’ icing.