*Chocolate Zucchini Cake* You Will LOVE 🎂

Plus, what I'm harvesting + cooking this week

Hi friends,

A reader asked me if I could share what I’m cooking with my weekly CSA. (If you haven’t heard of a CSA, scroll below ↓). I love this idea, because I often want to share recipe ideas that aren’t polished, but that I’m confident you could make.

This prompt also made me realize… I would LOVE to know more about YOU!

Can you take 1 minute to answer this survey to help me improve my newsletter offerings for you? Pretty please with a cherry on top? :)

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This week I’m harvesting…

Black cap raspberries! These small, wild berries are absolutely addictive and by some miracle, we have been blessed with an enormous bumper crop on our land.

They are a superfood native to North America, with one of the highest antioxidant ratings of any fruit or berry!

For the past week, we’ve been deep in the brambles, harvesting as many as we can. Five-year old Cora is our #1 picker, whose efficiency and morale improved when we punched holes in an old yogurt container, threaded a rope through it, and tied it around her waist. Hands-free picking is much more comfortable and speedy, and kids love “gear.”

When Cora was falling asleep the other night she said, “When I close my eyes I see black caps!” Bobby had said the same thing the night prior, after a particularly long harvesting session. I thought it was cute, but didn’t really believe them, until I hit the pillow and saw them too! In fact, I couldn’t fall asleep that night, so I stepped outside to watch the fireflies. At this time of year they are a magical spectacle of forest bioluminescence. All of my senses felt sharpened, as if vividly dreaming, and it occurred to me that I might be under the enchanting spell of black raspberries. Why not!

Wouldn’t consuming so much wild food directly from the land beneath my feet… hone my nature receptors?

Harvesting and eating local food infuses me with an unparalleled sense of vitality. This liveliness, wellness, connection, abundance, and joy is what continues to inspire me to make fresh, local food accessible to everyone. We have a lot of work to do to achieve this, and the small part I hope to play is teaching people how to cook with whole, fresh foods - keeping this art alive!

With all the black caps I made 8 half pints of black raspberry jam, a batch of black raspberry and chocolate mint shrub (using this any-berry shrub recipe), and froze 1/2 a gallon for winter.

One more fun fact – did you know that black caps have so much natural pectin, that you don’t need to add any when making jam?

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A note about Community Supported Agriculture

I’ve been a member of Full Plate Farm Collective for 14 years, a local CSA (which stands for Community Supported Agriculture). Every week, I pick up a share of fresh vegetables and fruits harvested from a small group of sustainable, family farms. CSAs are incredible for so many reasons, but I’ll share my top ones here:

• CSAs can offer a more affordable way of eating ($27/wk for all our produce); Full Plate also offers subsidized CSA shares through their partnership with a local nonprofit, Healthy Food For All.

• CSA shares are distributed directly to consumers over short distances (I pick mine up at the farm), which reduces carbon emissions while also ensuring that food is picked at peak ripeness. This leads to the fact that…

• Food is picked at peak nutrition AND flavor!

• A CSA model supports small, sustainable farmers, which in turn, supports the health of our planet (so much on this point)! It offers farmers a direct, consistent source of revenue.

• But perhaps best of all, a CSA connects consumers with farmers, eliminating the middle person, and building essential relationships in our community between the people who produce our food and those who eat it. My children have grown up buying food directly from farmers they know and trust.

I recognize the enormous privilege of having access to a CSA, and am inspired by organizations like VINES who are working to build urban farms and gardens in Binghamton, NY, and deliver CSA shares to over 300 families city-wide.

You can read more about the CSA model here.

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This week I’m cooking…

Here are the highlights from my kitchen this week:

• I used the napa cabbage to make a simplified version of my kimchi, leaving out scallions and red peppers (we used the scallions for morning egg scrambles)

• At least three times I made this salad: mixed greens with baby tat soi (a lovely, tender spinach), shredded chicken (made in a large batch in the Instant Pot), black olives, thinly sliced fennel, honey-mustard dressing from the June Meal Plan.

• Baked broccoli-cheddar pasta dish (which was the ultimate component cooking dish): in a 12 x 9 baking pan I mixed together 1 box of cooked elbow macaroni pasta, 1 head lightly steamed broccoli (I cut the florets and stem into smaller pieces for wider distribution), shredded chicken, and loads of grated cheddar and parmigiano cheese. And capers! I covered it all with foil and popped in the oven for about 30 minutes at 375 F / 180 C, then uncovered and coated the surface with breadcrumbs and more grated parmigiano. I put it back under the broiler to crisp and toast, creating a crunchy top layer. It was devoured!

• And finally, this insanely delicious Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Yogurt Frosting, which you can truly feel good about feeding your kids. It has yogurt, olive oil, loads of zucchini, and coconut sugar. I made this for a dear sister-friend’s birthday, and it’s been on rotation ever since. Let your kids help decorate it with berries and edible flower petals. (RECIPE BELOW ↓)

I hope something in here inspires you, and would LOVE to hear what you’re making. Please share your ideas with me — and each other — in the comments below!

With berry-stained paws,

♡ Emma

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Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Yogurt Frosting

Yield: 15-20 servings ⎹ Prep time: 15 min ⎹ Cook time: 40 minutes ⎹ Level: Easy

Adapted from Seasonal Family Almanac

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (substitute with GF 1:1 flour)

• 3⁄4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1⁄2 tsp baking powder

• 1⁄2 tsp salt

• 1 cup olive oil

• 1 3⁄4 cups coconut sugar

• 4 large eggs

• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 cups shredded zucchini (from about 2 medium zucchini)

• 1⁄2 to 1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Frosting

• 11⁄2 cups plain Greek yogurt

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup maple syrup, to taste

• Berries and edible flower petals, for decorating (optional, see Notes)

Instructions

To make the chocolate zucchini cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and position a rack in the middle. Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with oil or butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, coconut sugar, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined. Add the shredded zucchini and stir to incorporate. Add the zucchini mixture to the flour mixture and stir to thoroughly combine. Fold in the desired amount of mini chocolate chips. Using a spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely while you make the frosting.

To make the frosting: In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, cream cheese, and maple syrup and whip with a fork or egg beaters until smooth and creamy.

Once the cake is completely cool, use a knife or angled spatula to spread the frosting evenly on top—if the cake is still warm, the frosting will melt. Decorate with edible flowers if desired. Cut the cake and serve.

Cover leftovers with aluminum foil or reusable beeswax wrapping and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

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In case you missed it…

This month’s meal plan is an excellent source of recipes for summer dining. I’ve included a 1-month free trial when you upgrade to paid!