Zucchini in chocolate cake? I was skeptical at first too 🙂 I’ve actually never tried zucchini bread or any of the other baked goods that use zucchini in them, but I decided months ago that this would be the summer that I’d make my first attempt! I picked up one zucchini and had every intention of making a simple zucchini bread. Then this recipe for chocolate zucchini cake started popping up in my Google Reader and I began to reconsider. The cake was getting raves and it looked so delicious! I decided to give it a go.
I didn’t make any modifications to the recipe, but I did squeeze some of the moisture out of the zucchini before adding it to the batter. I grated the zucchini with my box grater using the largest holes, so the pieces were fairly big. The only problem I ran into was with the chocolate chips for the icing. As the recipe instructs, I scattered them over the cake and returned it to the oven for a bit. Still, the chocolate chips weren’t spreadable over the top of the cake. I just left them whole as a decorative topping instead! (In the end, I don’t think it mattered as I don’t believe this cake even requires any icing!)
The verdict? After the cake had cooled just a bit, I took a piece downstairs to Shane to try. To reiterate what a lot of you already know, Shane does not eat vegetables – at all. He would never have tried the cake if I’d told him there was zucchini in it so I left that tidbit out. He took a bite and declared the cake delicious – very chocolaty! I did tell him about the zucchini afterward and at that point he became much more skeptical about the cake though he did have one more piece even after the zucchini revelation so that says a lot about how much he liked the cake! I loved the cake – the zucchini adds incredible moistness but is otherwise completely undetectable. The cake sat on the counter covered with plastic wrap for a few days and only got better and more moist over time. I passed quite a few pieces along to my neighbor as well and she raved about it. She liked it so much in fact, that she asked if I’d use this recipe to make her son’s birthday cake next month!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream or yogurt
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder (optional)
2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10″ zucchini, about 12 ounces)
1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips, for icing
Preheat oven to 325 F. Lighlty grease a 9″ x 13″ pan. (I used cooking spray with flour.)
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.
Stir in the sour cream or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set. Slide the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the 1 cup chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and use a cake spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Cool on a rack.
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Looks yummy!
Definitely have to give this one a try! DH doesnt eat many veggies either, let alone, zucchini. I’m not going to tell him what’s in it either — til after the fact!
BWAHAHAHA, I love that you duped him into eating veggies!!! Two thumbs up!!!
Although now, I wonder if he’ll be doubting ALL your chocolate cakes…. 😉
I’m seeing this all over the place. I’m going to have to try it soon!
This summer I have made zucchini muffins, zucchini oven fries, zucchini bread, zucchini casserole. I might as well add Chocolate Zicchini Cake to the list – looks delish!
I agree. Way yummy. I liked it too! And with the ice cream…that’s on another level!!
I think I will make this one in a bundt pan. Do you think the consistency is heavy enough? I think from reading the recipe it is not light. What do you think?
Joyce
This is on my to bake list!
That looks delicious, but I must admit, I was skeptical when I read the title. I expected to see chunks of zucchini in the cake, but you can’t see it at all. I think I might have to give this a go, just to taste it for myself!
You go girl!!! Look at that melting ice cream!!! In a word… fabulous!
So glad this worked out for you 🙂
big time YUMMMMMMM!!!!
Zucchini and Chocolate – healthy and delicious. What a gret combination. Looks fantastic!!
I love all kinds of zucchini baked goods; I’ve made z. cake, but this recipe looks a lot better. I’m always happy to avoid squeezing moisture, though, that is one of those dreaded kitchen tasks in my book.
Beautiful picture of the cake! I love zucchini breads, so I know I’d love this cake.
Goodness, it sure looks delicious with the ice cream drooling over the top!
This is surely a must make cake. I loved it, too!
http://kevnkoi.blogspot.com/2009/08/zucchini-chocolate-cake-and-awesome.html
I will post soon my “healthier” version which was also VERY good!
Seriously looks divine, Tracey!
Joyce – I called the King Arthur Flour baker’s hotline this morning to check with them about baking the cake in a bundt pan b/c honestly, I wasn’t sure. They said it would work perfectly in a standard 12-cup bundt pan! Let me know how it turns out if you give it a shot 🙂
i’ve never tried any baked goods with zucchini before either, so i think i’ll go ahead and bookmark this recipe, grab a zucchini and get to work.
your cake looks ah-mazing!!
I really need to make this recipe- I’ve seen it a couple times in my reader as well. I literally have a pile of zuchinni I need to use! Were there noticeable chocolate chunks in the cake from the chips? I’m not a huge fan of chocolate chunks in baked goods and was debating about whether or not I should leave them out.
After seeing this cake simply EVERYWHERE, I really want to try this! It’s the first time I’ve ever wished for a vegetable to be available here!!!
Yummm!!! This looks great!
It’s been a long time since I’ve made zucchini bread or cake. Your cake looks fantastic–so dark and rich and chocolatey. And the ice cream melting on top makes it look even more amazing.
Luscious! I made a delicious chocolate zucchini cake once and Mr. Persnickety refused to eat it. I’ll have to try this one next…
Hi Honey!
What a beautiful recipe, thank you for sharing!
I love it so much I’ve included it the “Top 21 Chocolate Cake recipe posts on twitter”
Keep up the good work!
Love,
Bridge
Looks delicious, Tracey. Very moist. I’m glad I checked out your cupcakes post today which lead me to this recipe. After debating what to make for next week’s potluck at work, I’ve come to a decision 3 min ago: this choc/zuke cake. I’ve made a choc/zuke bread with my first homegrown zukes a few years ago which was delicious. This cake recipe reminds me of that. Thanks Tracey. Will let you know how everybody likes it. Since you can’t taste the zucchini, and the cake part seems pretty chocolaty, I’ll frost it with Espresso Whipped Cream. Yum!
I have just made this cake with your recipe, and it’s absolutely fabulous!!!it’s moist,dark and very chocolatey! i love it!thanks!!
ok, i promised myself that i’d make this one day, and i did. i made it last night. threw it together, put it in a bundt pan, glazed with raspberry preserves and called it a birthday cake.
and whoa man!! was it ever good. and simple to throw together. i’m so glad i tried this.
Hi Tracy…
I’ve just accidentally run across your blog! I’m going to be making a birthday cake for my granddaughter in a couple of weeks and after seeing this, I think I may choose it. She wants a Barbie cake, so when I saw that it should work in a bundt pan, I’m thinking I may really go out on the limb here and find a small bundt pan to just slip the doll into… sounds like a fun adventure anyway!!!! I’ll let you know if it works! Thanks!!!
I made this for Valentine’s Day this year just for something different from all the typical candy junk and it was delicious! I’m living in Italy right now and the handful of Italians who tried it thought I was for sure confusing vocabulary because they could not believe there was zucchini in that delicious chocolate cake. Some other people were debating baking in a bundt pan – that’s how I did mine!
Bookmarked!
I love anything that sneaks in some nutrients while still tasting delicious, so this is perfect!