Chocolate Zucchini Cake
on Sep 05, 2014, Updated Jun 23, 2023
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Baked in a 13 x 9 pan and topped with a thick layer of ganache frosting, this chocolate zucchini is rich and decadent dotted with green flecks.
It’s hard for me to put into words how much I love chocolate. After every meal when I crave dessert I want something rich and decadent, either dark or milk—it doesn’t matter.
During spring, summer and early fall, I find myself torn.
I know I should be basking in berries, stone fruit and other sweet produce, but I have to make an effort to bake non-chocolate desserts.
Rather than fighting my tendencies, I baked a chocolate zucchini cake.
While not fruit, I felt like a square of this cake was a celebration of the season and even better that it involved a veggie in dessert form—far more challenging to pull off.
The deep brown cake was dotted with tiny green flecks of zucchini. I finished it off with a thick layer of ganache icing.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
- For cake
- 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature plus more for pan
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups shredded zucchini
- For frosting
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 13-inch by 9-inch baking pan with butter.
- For the cake, combine the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- Using an electric mixer, whisk together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla extract and yogurt. Beat in the eggs until fully combined. Stir in the zucchini. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack.
- For the frosting, warm the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 2 minutes before gently stirring until smooth and fully combined. Let the icing cool and thicken for 20 minutes. Pour over the cake spreading to cover the top. Refrigerate the cake until the icing is set. Cut into pieces before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
