Petite Kitchen's decadent zucchini chocolate cakes

Rich and decadent zucchini chocolate cakes. Picture / Eleanor Ozich

Eleanor Ozich of Petite Kitchen sneaks vegetables into this delicious cake recipe.

These amazingly rich and delicious chocolate cakes contain zucchini as their secret ingredient, adding a certain moistness that chocolate cakes can sometimes lack.

The little cakes of joy emerge from the oven incredibly tender and moist, and fill the kitchen with the most stunning chocolate smell. The best part is that you can throw the ingredients together in less than 5 minutes. I topped them with pure and simple mascarpone and a sprinkling of hazelnuts. Perfection.

RICH AND DECADENT ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CAKES
Makes 8 individual cakes, or 1 regular-sized cake.

Ingredients:
• 2 cups of roughly chopped zucchini (about 3 regular sized zucchini)
• ½ cup coconut oil or butter, melted
• 2 cups ground almonds
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 4 free range eggs
• 1 cup cocoa
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda

Decoration
• ¼ cup mascarpone
• ¼ cup crushed hazelnuts

1. Preheat oven to 160C, and grease 8 Texas-size muffin tins or 1 regular-sized cake tin.

2. Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

3. Divide mixture between the 8 jumbo muffin tins.

4. Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

5. Leave to cool in tins completely before carefully removing.

6. To decorate, top with mascarpone and a sprinkling of crushed hazelnuts.

*Gluten free
*Dairy free
*Refined sugar free

-VIVA