Zucchini Chocolate Cake With Pistachio Nuts - cooking recipe

Ingredients

200 g courgettes, grated
400 g butter or margarine
225 g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 None medium eggs
325 g plain flour
160 g cocoa powder
3 tsp baking powder
100 ml full fat yoghurt
60 g pistachio nuts
175 g icing sugar

Preparation

Blend 1 cup of the butter with the sugar and vanilla extract. Next, beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time. Sift the flour and 3/4 cup of the cocoa powder together with the baking soda and a pinch of salt. Next, fold in a little of the flour, then a little of the yoghurt to the mixture, and repeat until the ingredients are used up. Finally, fold in the grated zucchini.
Grease a 9 1/2 inch springform cake pan, and pour in the mixture. Bake in a preheated oven at 350\u00b0F for 35-45 mins. Check that the cake is baked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake: it should come out clean. Remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Toast the pistachio nuts in a pan then remove them from the pan. When they are cool, roughly chop them and set to one side. To make the frosting, beat the rest of the butter and the icing sugar together, then stir in the rest of the cocoa powder. When the cake has cooled, slice it in half horizontally taking care to ensure that the slices are even and level. Spread half the frosting on the top of the bottom half of the cake, then sprinkle with half the pistachios. Place the second half on top, and cover with frosting, sprinkling with pistachios to finish. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 2 hours.