Chocolate Zucchini Cake
This chocolate zucchini cake has been a family favorite recipe for just about forever (and by forever, I mean my 30 years on earth so maybe not quite forever). It’s simple – just 11 ingredients. It can be dressed up with cream cheese icing or dressed down with a single dollop of whipped cream. It’s moist and chocolate-y. And, if you weren’t told, you’d never know a vegetable was hanging out inside it.
I made this chocolate cake to compliment the lilac blooms that appeared this week in the large bush alongside my home. Chocolate seems the perfect texture and color to grace the table next to gorgeous purple-hued blossoms (as evidenced by my choice in making a chocolate cake last year too). I did, however, forget to trim the lilac bush last fall. As a result, it didn’t offer many blooms this year. Thankfully, there were enough for a full vase worth.
In other news this week, I made and delivered a cake for a client, finished eating the delicious sourdough cinnamon raisin loaves I made last weekend and managed to get my small batch cinnamon scone recipe up on the blog too. Overall, I rate my productivity a solid B+ (not that this is something I regularly assess….haha). But let’s not get too much further off track. Onto recipe notes…
Recipe Notes for my Chocolate Zucchini Cake:
- Fresh or frozen grated zucchini both work for this recipe. However, if using frozen, be sure to strain it thoroughly. We don’t want to add a bunch of extra liquid to this recipe. What I do if using frozen is strain the zucchini as normal. Then, using a silicone spatula, I press the zucchini against the side of the strainer several times to squeeze out any extra.
- If cleaning a fresh zucchini, be a bit particular to make sure no seeds make their way into the grated mixture. These don’t soften much when baked, and it is noticeable should you find one in the cake (I may have found this out the long way.)
- The moistness of this cake comes partially from the zucchini because of its high moisture content but also from the oil and buttermilk. While I haven’t tried alternative solutions to the oil and buttermilk in this recipe, I have in other cake recipes. I assume other variations – all oil, all buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, etc… – would work. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, did you know you can easily make it with whole milk, white vinegar and a bit of time? I learned this from Whitney of Sugar & Sparrow in this blog post.
- In the directions, I note to remove the cake from the oven when “nearly done”. I say this as cakes can very easily be overbaked. And an overbaked cake is typically the difference between one that is moist or dry. For this cake, it’s better to pull it out slightly too soon than too late. To know when it’s ready, it will still be sticky and moist on top, but there will be no “jiggle” of batter underneath.
- The recipe also adds a cream cheese frosting. This is particularly good if using a 9×13 pan. However, the cake is still delicious without it. If you don’t have as large a sweet tooth as I do, you may prefer the cake without the frosting. I also love to eat this cake with a dollop of whipped cream.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated zucchini
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1 tsp baking soda
For the cream cheese frosting:
- 1 8 oz. package softened cream cheese
- 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- 1) Prehead the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare either a 9×13 inch pan or a bundt pan by spraying with nonstick cooking spray and flouring. 2) Cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix until combined. 3) Add the grated zucchini. Take care to ensure no seeds are in the zucchini. If using frozen grated zucchini, first strain the juices. Then use a spatula to press the zucchini against the strainer to further strain remaining juices. Mix with the wet ingredients just until evenly incorporated. 4) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cocoa and baking soda. Sift into the wet ingredients and mix until combined. 5) Pour the cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes until just done and a knife/toothpick inserted comes out nearly clean. (I say "nearly clean" as I prefer this cake to have a very moist, almost fudgy – but still cake-like – texture. The top will be slightly sticky, but the batter underneath won't jiggle. This is a good sign to take it out.) Let cool.6) For the cream cheese icing, mix all ingredients until fluffy and smooth. Make sure cake is cooled before spreading. Otherwise, simply dust the cake with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
smith
Thanks for this useful informative blog to sharing step by step.
Bekah
So glad you found it useful! Thank you!