The Sweet Side of Zucchini

I love zucchini. And there's no better time to enjoy them than the summer.

Although zucchini are now force-grown and offered year round, they are the tastiest during the summer months. A member of the squash family and available in green or yellow varieties, zucchini is technically a fruit because it is the ovary that gives "birth" to the zucchini flower.

Am I the only one surprised by this fact nugget? A fruit, really?

Science may call zucchini a fruit, but the culinary world categorizes it a vegetable and uses it predominately in savory dishes. But, there are a few examples where it is used in sweet treats.

One example is the zucchini chocolate cake.

It's a personal favourite - fluffy, moist and chocolatey - but I've learned that it's not a crowd pleaser. The first time I offered this cake to a guest, I watched his face turn from enjoyment to disgust upon learning that the green flecks peppering the cake were actually pieces of zucchini.

I was surprised then and continue to be perplexed by others who have negative reactions to this cake. Is it so off the wall to mix in a vegetable in a cake? If so, then why is the carrot cake so widely accepted? Is the taste of the zucchini offensive? If that were true, wouldn't that same offensive taste appear when cooked in more traditional ways?

Hmmm. I guess I can't win them all. Oh well, more for me!