The Cutest Little Zucchini Cake You've Ever Seen

What's that, you need more things to do with your ever multiplying summer squashes? Well here I come to the rescue, again. This time with dessert.

Actually, Rose Levy Beranbaum comes to our collective rescue with a wonderfully light, moist, and not-too-sweet cake from one of her many miracles of culinary literature, the Cake Bible. It's a a recipe for zucchini cupcakes that translates easily into cake form, and I particularly like the use of brown sugar instead of white.

The cake itself needs nothing more than a dash of powdered sugar, but if you're feeling extravagant, the thinnest layer of cream cheese icing (spiked with cinnamon) will take it over the top.

Zucchini Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

makes 5-in round (or equivalent) cake; ready in a little over an hour

For Cake:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans

1 egg

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium, with skin)

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour a 5-inch (or equivalent) cake pan. Stir together flour, soda, spices, and nuts. Set aside.
2. Beat egg with sugar and oil until sugar is dissolved and mixture is smooth. This can be done with a whisk and some perseverance, but beaters or a mixer are preferable. Mix in zucchini, then dry ingredients. Pour into prepared pan and bake 30-40 minutes (depending on your baking dish), until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.
3. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then loosen edges and invert onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely.

For Icing:

2 Tbsp butter, room temperature

2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Beat butter and cream cheese with electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat well. Add sugar 1/4 cup at a time, adding cinnamon in one batch and beating well after each addition. When it's all in, beat 1 extra minute for a nice, smooth texture. Spread a verrrrrrry thin layer over top and sides.

Zucchini and Bell Pepper Torte

Full disclosure: I'm not sure this dinner tasted as good as it looked, nor am I entirely sure it was worth the effort, but my goodness it's pretty. Right? I saw it in this month's Gourmet and immediately knew it must grace my kitchen table. Plus, I purchased an elephantine zucchini from

the market thinking it was funny; then I got home and realized I had to figure out how to eat it.

The whole enterprise was a bit fussy. It has several steps and you need a springform pan and a pressure strategy and several hours' patience while it occupies significant fridge space. But when you finally pop it out, it's actually a lot of fun to eat. Plus it's pretty. Maybe this is a dinner party-type recipe, especially since it must be made ahead of time. So go ahead and throw it together. Impress your friends. Eat some vegetables.

The more I think about this "torte" the more I realize it is not just a single recipe; it is a brilliant strategy. The gist of it is this: sauteed or roasted vegetables layered with cheese, pressed for several hours in the fridge to get rid of excess moisture, and sliced for serving. Seems to me you could use a number of different vegetable-and-cheese combinations here, especially since roasted red peppers have a very distinct flavor, and one that tends to take over if you're not careful. (For a non-red-pepper-lover, this is a problem.)

And I hate to say it, but the springform pan is kind of necessary here. You want the torte to shed some liquid during the pressing, so you want something with cracks in the bottom. Hate to be high maintenance, but there you have it. My 6-inch springform was the perfect size. And then, when you're done, you can make tiny cheesecake (more on that later)!

Zucchini and Bell Pepper Torte

(serves 2, total time at least 4 hours, preferably more, adapted from Gourmet)

2 red, yellow, orange, or purple peppers (not green!!), stemmed, halved and seeded

olive oil

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 lb (2ish) zucchini, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds and sprinkled with salt

1 red onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

2 Tbsp red wine or cider vinegar

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped (or 1 Tbsp dry)

1. Start by roasting your peppers. Slather them with olive oil and place them cut side down on a baking sheet covered with foil. Roast around 425º for 20ish minutes, turning once halfway through. As soon as they're out, take a pair of tongs and toss them into a paper bag and close the top. In 2 minutes, open the bag and pull out the peppers. Their skins should slip right off. Cut into thick slices
2. Now, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil with garlic in a large skillet. When oil is hot, add as many zucchini rounds as you can and cook about 3 minutes. Turn and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and repeat with any additional zucchini slices.
3. In that same pan, add the onions with a pinch of salt. Cook 15 minutes, or until tender. Add vinegar and stir until evaporated, which will happen quickly.
4. Now for assembly. Flip the bottom of the sprinform over so you have the smooth side up. The layers go like this:
Zucchini
Cheese/Basil
Bell Peppers
Onions
Cheese/Basil
Zucchini
Onions
Bell Peppers
Cheese/Basil
Zucchini
5. Cover with plastic and find a plate that is just a little smaller than your springform and will sit down in it. Put some heavy weights on top, place it in a bowl or something to catch the liquid, and let it sit in your fridge, at least 3 hours and up to a day. We ate it cold, which was fine, but the recipe says to let it come to room temp first. Your call.
   

Crusty Cod with Spring Vegetables

Ok, so I'm spoiled. I live in a city pretty much surrounded by water, with a whole section of town identified by its proximity to the harbor. The tourist merchandise has lobsters on it. You can't walk out the door without tripping over some scrod. I exaggerate, but my point is that it's really easy for us to eat a lot of fish up here. Which, despite your potential distance to a body of water, is becoming easier for you to do too.

In case you haven't heard, fish is particularly good for you. It's a solid, lean protein with oodles of vitamins and Omega-3s lurking underneath those scales. And since you've been waiting approximately forever to be able to evaluate the menu or the fish counter from the comfort of your iPhone, you'll be happy to start using FishPhone -- a texting service that will shoot you nutrition and sustainability information about any fish you query. I am not making this up. (You can also check Fish Watch and the Blue Ocean Institute's Guide to Ocean Friendly Fish.) These guides are designed to help you become more familiar with the way different fish are farmed, fished, or otherwise brought to your plate, so you have a better shot at choosing an ocean friendly dinner.

Tonight, we had cod. Delicious, buttery cod over a bed of sauteed spring vegetables. Gourmet was the inspiration, and 30 minutes was all the time required.

Crusty Cod with Spring Vegetables

(serves 2 generously, start-to-finish: 25 minutes)

2 6-oz. fish fillets (cod, hake, haddock, or any other firm white fish will do)

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

4 green onions, chopped in 1-inch segments

1/2 bunch asparagus, chopped in 1-inch segments

1 medium zucchini, in 1/2-inch slices

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/2 head romaine, sliced thin

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp fresh mint, chopped

• Preheat oven to 450º. Salt and pepper both sides of the fish filets, coat in dijon mustard then smush with bread crumbs. Drizzle with olive oil. [NOTE: you can make your own panko! Simply take some bread, grind it in the food processor until some small chunks remain--not completely fine--and then either let it sit out overnight or cook it in the oven at about 300º for 20ish minutes. Store in a zipper bag in the freezer.] Cook 8-10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Toss in green onions, asparagus, zucchini and sprinkle in some salt. Cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add peas, romaine, garlic, and water; cover and cook 3 minutes more. Remove lid and take off heat. Stir in mint.
• Serve crispy fish over bed of spring vegetables.