Today, we have a triple dose of chocolate in the form of luxuriously rich chocolate zucchini cake. No, you can’t taste the zucchini. No, you can’t see the zucchini. Yes, it’s unbelievably delicious and I’m showing you exactly how to make it! Zucchini recipes have never been more decadent than this one 🙂
Chocolate Zucchini Cake Video Tutorial
Can you just look at how rich and moist this cake is? It tastes even better than it looks, I swear. The real secret behind it are the hidden vegetables inside. If you’re one who believes these veggies should only be in zucchini casserole, zucchini fritters, or zucchini biscuits, and have nothing to do with dessert, keep an open mind. Carrot cake, anyone?!
Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Just as loved as my chocolate cake Super moist and rich with mega chocolate flavor Easy to make Uses up summer zucchini 3 cups of vegetables hiding inside—you don’t even taste it! Covered in chocolate buttercream
Overview: Chocolate Zucchini Cake Ingredients
This decadent cake is made with fresh summer zucchini and pantry basics. Did you know that cocoa powder can dry out baked goods much more than flour? To compensate for this, we ensure there’s plenty of added moisture in the cake batter. Let’s review:
Flour: Sturdy all-purpose flour is the base of this cake recipe. Do not use cake flour—when combined with ultra-light cocoa powder, cake flour is too fine. Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder takes the place of some flour. Just as in my regular chocolate cake recipe, make sure you’re using natural unsweetened cocoa powder instead of dutch-process cocoa powder. If you’re interested, see dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder for an in-depth explanation. Baking Soda & Baking Powder: Remember my lesson on baking soda vs baking powder? We use both here for lift. Espresso Powder: Espresso powder accentuates the chocolate flavor. While optional, I highly recommend using it. The chocolate zucchini cake won’t taste like coffee. Rather, the espresso powder helps bring out the intense chocolate flavor. We use it in chocolate zucchini bread and in this chocolate cake roll, too. Salt: Salt balances the flavor. Oil: Oil adds moisture. You can try replacing some of the oil with unsweetened applesauce. I’ve done this with chocolate cakes and muffins and the result is wonderful, but I don’t recommend replacing all of it. Regardless of the zucchini inside, this isn’t health food, it’s dessert. Don’t make it something it’s not! 🙂 Sugar: We’ll use a combination of brown sugar and white granulated sugar. Brown sugar not only provides moisture, but flavor as well. Eggs: 4 eggs bind everything together and add moisture. Remember room temperature ingredients are important. Sour Cream: Just like in chocolate peanut butter cake, you can use sour cream or plain yogurt. Either add moisture. Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract adds flavor. Zucchini: There are a whopping 3 cups of shredded zucchini in this recipe. Testing how much we can get away with… without actually tasting it! Zucchini is pure magic in cakes—nothing but flavorless moisture. Same goes with my zucchini bread and zucchini muffins, too! Chocolate Chips: For mega chocolate flavor, add chocolate chips to the batter. They’re key to those melty pockets of chocolate in each slice. I use semi-sweet chocolate chips (just like in my peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread), but mini chocolate chips or even dark chocolate chips would pair wonderfully. Whichever kind of chocolate chips you enjoy in your chocolate chip cookies, you’ll enjoy here, too.
Overview: How to Make Chocolate Zucchini Cake
This chocolate zucchini cake comes together quickly and easily, just like my regular zucchini cake! Simply whisk the dry ingredients in one bowl and beat the wet ingredients together in another bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, then add the chocolate chips. The cake batter will be slightly thick thanks to all of the zucchini! Divide the batter between two 9-inch cake pans or you can make a quarter sheet cake using a 9×13-inch cake pan. See my recipe notes for details.
Need cupcakes instead? This recipe yields about 24-30 cupcakes. See recipe note. Just as decadent and delicious as my regular chocolate cupcakes!
Chocolate Frosting
We’re topping and filling this chocolate zucchini cake with smooth, silky, and creamy chocolate buttercream. We’re using my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe, but increasing the quantity. We do this for my regular chocolate cake, too. If you would rather top this cake with vanilla frosting, use the vanilla frosting included in my white cake recipe. Regardless of which you choose, you’ll have enough frosting to frost the entire layer cake AND a little leftover for some fun piping on top. Decorate however you’d like! I used Ateco #30 tip for the piping. Deep, dark, luxuriously rich, crazy moist, and weirdly loaded with vegetables that you absolutely can’t taste. After one bite you’ll be convinced this is the best way to eat your veggies! You’ll love my zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, too.
More Chocolate Recipes
Chocolate Lava Cakes Flourless Chocolate Cake Chocolate Cake Chocolate Cupcakes Homemade Brownies Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies & Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Also try these as cupcakes! Directions in the recipe notes.
