Recipe: Chocolate Zucchini Cake from carbs by numbers

I was recently sent a copy of the book carbs by numbers recipe options ─ 15g carbs or less per serve by Sandra Dunbar and Meg Pell.

Delicious to look at as well as about as handy as they come, it makes carb conscious meal planning easy, without the need to get too paleo or restrictive on it. For example, four seed crackers (1g) with guacamole (1g) followed by pork and sage rounds with cauliflower mash (4g) and finishing with tiramisu (7g), adds up to a meal of just 13g of carbohydrates per serve.
 Easy and easy to enjoy, with no rules and regulations.

Plus, the book is unique by providing readers with extensive nutrition details for every recipe. Every recipe has the following information: energy kilojoules and calories, protein, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, carbohydrate, sugars, dietary fibre, vitamin C, total vitamin A, sodium, potassium, calcium and iron. All the recipes are also colour coded according to the level of carbohydrates per serve: 0-5g carbs is colour coded green, 6-10g carbs is colour coded blue and 11-15g carbs is colour coded magenta.  The recipes are also gluten free and there is a good cross section of hot and cold recipes, vegetarian and non vegetarian, and all are family-friendly and use ingredients that are readily available at supermarkets. I love that!

It’s available instore and the eBook can be purchased from iBook or Kobo either direct or through the www.carbsbynumbers.com website. The softback has a RRP of $24.95 while the eBook can be purchased for $9.95.

Anyway, now for the yummy stuff, one of my favourite recipes:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

5g carbs per serve

(prep time 15 mins; total time 65 mins; serves 8; serve weight 73g)

110g zucchini

2 tablespoons (8g) instant coffee

200g hazelnut meal

62.5ml milk, reduced fat

45g cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 teaspoon (3g) baking powder

3½ tablespoons (70ml) sugar free maple flavoured syrup

2 eggs

20g hazelnuts, whole

2 tablespoons (40ml) water

20g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

¾ teaspoon (3.75ml) coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Grease and line a loaf pan unless using a silicone one (we used a 10cm wide x 21cm long x 5.5cm deep silicone loaf pan)

Grate the zucchini and set aside to drain. Warm the water and dissolve the coffee.

Set aside the dark chocolate, coconut oil and the whole hazelnuts to decorate.

Mix all the remaining ingredients in a bowl.

Pour mixture into the pan and cook for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for at about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and the coconut oil together.

Plate the cake and drizzle the chocolate mixture in bands across the cake and the plate.

Scatter with the hazelnuts.

EAT!