Gesine's Long Run Cake

Moved by Gesine Bullock-Prado's beautiful post about why she runs and what she's running against, yesterday I went for a long run and made her Long Run Cake. Skipping my personal feelings about how sh*tty it is that anyone has to lose a parent to cancer (or any other disease), let's talk about the cake. These little cakes, baked in muffin tins, are delicious, have no added fat, are gluten-free* and, as Gesine points out, are a great vehicle for using up your CSA zucchini. So please read Gesine's post, donate to her cause if you can, and make her Long Run Cake. Because sometimes it's all you can do. Yet somehow, it's more than that.

Gesine's Long Run Cake

Adapted very slightly, and only because I like to do things in a certain order and apparently can't leave well enough alone. Makes about 18 little cakes.

1 1/2 cups oat flour*

1/2 cup flax meal (not in Gesine's recipe)

3/4 cup cocoa powder**

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 medium or 4 small zucchini, cut into large chunks

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 large eggs

3/4 cup Muscovado sugar (I used raw sugar because I didn't have Muscovado on hand)

1/4 cup raw honey

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey is gluten-free)***

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F and line muffin tins with baking papers (about 18).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, flax meal, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a food processor, puree the zucchini chunks to the consistency of baby food. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and add the applesauce, eggs, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Mix on low speed to combine. (Note: don't put the mixer on medium speed and splash yourself with the mixture. Not that I did that or anything.)

4. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until just combined. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups till they're nearly full, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (This took exactly 26 minutes in my case.)

*To ensure this recipe is gluten-free (assuming you or your loved ones can tolerate gluten-free oats if celiac is an issue), use certified gluten-free oats or oat flour. I didn't have the latter on hand, so I made my own by whirring about 2 cups of whole Bob's Red Mill oats in my food processor until they resembled oat bran. I measured 1 1/2 cups of the "flour" for this recipe and reserved the rest for another use.

**I use non-alkalized Hershey's cocoa for my Double Chocolate Buzz Buzz cookies, only because it reacts well with the leavening agents in that recipe. However, I noted Gesine's use of Callebaut Extra Brute cocoa in her recipe, so I dipped into my stash of Valrhona cocoa for these cakes. Valrhona cocoa is alkalized and super-rich, making it ideal for truffles, fine cakes and of course this recipe.

***Gesine's recipe calls for 1 teaspoon vanilla, which I'm sure is perfect, but I can never get enough vanilla, so there you have it.


Finally, I leave you with a photo of the zucchini and applesauce base, because it's gorgeous and reminds me of the Green Monsters I see on so many blogs.

Not a Green Monster