What do you do when life gives you way too many zucchini? Make cake, of course.
This year our plants produced over 100 pounds of zucchini. Now, I love zucchini, but that’s… a lot. One of our favorite ways to use it up has been making this amazing double chocolate cake, which was adapted from the recipe from King Arthur Baking Company (which you can find here).
It’s moist, delicious, and extra chocolatey making it the perfect way to make some dessert out of our homegrown zucchini. Plus, you really cannot tell that there’s zucchini in this cake (just in case you’re not a fan of the idea of squash in dessert). Check out the recipe below!
RECIPE: The BEST Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 stick salted butter, softened to room temperature (See Note 1)
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (my favorite is this one from Nielsen-Massey)
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder or instant coffee (regular or decaf, whichever you prefer)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups loosely packed (or approximately 360-400 grams by weight) shredded zucchini (See Note 2)
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (my favorite is from Ghirardelli)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ cake pan. I use Baker’s Joy baking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, eggs, sour cream, espresso powder, salt, and baking powder, and mix until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder.
4. Add the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time to the mixing bowl containing the wet ingredients. Mix only briefly after each addition of dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips and zucchini just until well incorporated. Do not overmix! (Excessive mixing will allow gluten to develop and may result in a tough cake.)
5. Pour or spoon the cake batter into the greased pan and bake for 39-42 minutes until the top springs back lightly when touched. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean when done. Do not overbake! (See Note 3)
6. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack.
7. Enjoy your chocolate zucchini cake! This cake is moist and delicious as is, with no frosting! However, feel free to top it with a dusting of powdered sugar, chocolate ganache, or frosting of your choice if you’d like.
Notes from the Happy To Be Here Kitchen:
1. I like to bake with salted butter, but unsalted butter may certainly be used depending on your preference.
2. While not necessary, I prefer to peel and scoop out the seeds prior to finely shredding the zucchini, especially if using the large zucchini from our garden. If the zucchini I am using is particularly moist/watery, I shred it and then allow it to sit on a paper towel for a minute or two before measuring by either weight or volume.
3. While a toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean when the cake is fully baked, you may hit a melted chocolate chip that makes it seem like the cake is underbaked. This cake is supposed to be moist, chocolatey, and gooey- so do not be fooled and overbake it!
Let me know how you like this yummy chocolate cake down below!
As a chocolate lover, it’s one of my absolute favorites. If you’re still in a sweet treat kind of mood, check out these 5-ingredient peanut butter cookies.
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2 Responses
Super moist, easy and great chocolate flavor – everybody loved it. No one guessed there was healthy zucchini in this cake. Have made it three times already – thanks!!
Glad you loved it!!