Spiced Zucchini Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

 I'd like to take a moment to talk about mutant vegetables. Zucchini, to be more exact.
Around this time of year, food bloggers tend to start a trail of complaints along the lines of, "OMG, I can't even deal with how much zucchini is growing in my backyard and I'm so overwhelmed and it's taking over my kitchen and my life is really hard."
 The thing is, I live in New York City, where if your backyard is big enough to hold one small zucchini, you should consider yourself lucky. So I don't have a whole lot of sympathy.

Above is my dog, lying next to a zucchini we were given by a friend with her own little vegetable patch. Guys, this was one crazy zucchini - it was over a foot long. I didn't even know this ridiculous, genetically outrageous thing was possible in nature. Seriously, what?!

Regardless, I suddenly had a lot more understanding of the complaints popping up on my computer screen constantly, and I decided to tone down my own sass. And that's my life lesson for the day. (Is there even a lesson in there? I don't know. You're welcome anyway.)

This cake is crazy delicious. As in, way better than I ever thought a dessert based on a vegetable could be. (Although to be fair, that's pretty much the only healthy thing about it.) It's full of shredded zucchini, making it really moist, and it's studded with bittersweet chocolate chips. (These make everything better. We've been through this before.) I topped it with a quick cream cheese frosting made with both orange zest and juice (I used a blood orange, but you can use any kind), which adds a nice little pop of flavor to this summery cake.
Enjoy!

Spiced Zucchini Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

(adapted from Emeril Lagasse's Farm to Fork)

for the cake:

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)

for the frosting: 

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons orange juice

grated zest of one orange

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, and grease an 8" square cake pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs until foamy. Add the vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder, and mix until well blended. Stir in the chocolate. Pour the batter into the pan, and tap it gently on the counter to release any air bubbles.
Bake until the cake has risen and is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 5 minutes; then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.
Once the cake is completely cooled to room temperature, make the frosting. With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, the orange juice and the orange zest. Add more sugar or juice, until it reaches the desired consistency. Spread on top of cake (if you'd like to frost the sides as well, double the frosting recipe).