Cake
This Summer Snacking Cake Is the Sweetest Excuse to Eat Your Vegetables
A chocolatey snack for casual Fridays.
A snacking cake is exactly what it sounds like: a more casual, snackable version of cake. The cake equivalent to casual Fridays, a snacking cake is less fussy and less formal than a layer cake. But what its name might not suggest is that it's much simpler to make than the original, which in turn makes it even more enjoyable to eat.
| 1 | cup walnuts, plus more for topping |
| 3/4 | cup sugar |
| 1 1/4 | cups flour |
| 1 1/2 | teaspoons baking powder |
| 1 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 1/2 | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
| 1/4 | teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg |
| 1/4 | cup unsalted butter, room temperature |
| 2 | eggs, room temperature |
| 1/2 | cup whole milk |
| 1 | cup grated zucchini, approximately one medium-sized zucchini |
| 1 | cup walnuts, plus more for topping |
| 3/4 | cup sugar |
| 1 1/4 | cups flour |
| 1 1/2 | teaspoons baking powder |
| 1 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 1/2 | teaspoon ground cinnamon |
| 1/4 | teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg |
| 1/4 | cup unsalted butter, room temperature |
| 2 | eggs, room temperature |
| 1/2 | cup whole milk |
| 1 | cup grated zucchini, approximately one medium-sized zucchini |
| 5 | ounces milk chocolate |
| 4 | ounces cream cheese, room temperature |
| 4 | tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature |
| 1 | cup confectioner’s sugar |
| 1/4 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 5 | ounces milk chocolate |
| 4 | ounces cream cheese, room temperature |
| 4 | tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature |
| 1 | cup confectioner’s sugar |
| 1/4 | teaspoon kosher salt |
Snacking cakes are baked in square or rectangular baking tins and served slab-style, no assembly required. Just a single layer of delicious cake—simple in the best way possible.
Like all cakes, snacking cakes can come in pretty much any flavor. This version here is made seasonally with lots of grated zucchini. Not only is it a great way to use up the abundance of summer squash you’re likely to have on your hands this season, but, grated finely into the batter, it also serves as insurance against dryness. This zucchini snacking cake is as moist as they come.
When it comes to afternoon snacks, my go-to is a handful of nuts. This probably isn’t the most interesting thing about me, but it’s a fact. And to give this zucchini cake a more snackable vibe, I incorporated lots of walnuts into the batter. Instead of chopping them up by hand, I like to whiz them up in a food processor until they’re somewhere between walnut meal and a finely chopped nut. This very important ingredient adds density as well, making it easier to pick up and eat with your hands, which is—let's be real—the best way to snack on a snacking cake.
Being the equal-cake-to-frosting-ratio kind of person that I am, I was bummed to learn that snacking cakes are traditionally topped with a mere dusting of powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream. Initially I was going to leave this cake unfrosted, but then I thought: If snacking cake is a thing, then why can’t snacking frosting be a thing, too?
My second go-to favorite snack is an obvious one: chocolate. So I topped this nutty cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, slathered on top in dramatic swirls. The melted milk chocolate both sweetens the frosting and, once set, lends a fudge-like consistency.
The best part about a snacking cake is that you don’t need a special occasion to make one. Because cake is reason enough, no?
Written by: Grant Melton
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