You might be reading this and thinking has she gone crazy putting zucchini in chocolate cake, and your damn right I have, straight to the loony bin, over this cake!!!!! PSST- it has zucchini in it, ha ha ha (evil laugh) from our garden At least this was my sweet hubby DT reaction upon learning this cake indeed has zucchini in it. I am sure many of you have heard of the wonderful zucchini bread in fact I have made it before and turned it into not so successful baby teething sticks if your interested here is the recipe. Any-who, the concept didn’t seem like that far of a stretch for me, I mean chocolate cake is yummy, zucchini bread is yummy, this must be a win win situation. And it was. This cake is moist, dense (in a good way), slightly spicy and did I mention fairly healthy? I adapted this recipe from allrecipe.com and its a keeper, and a good fun way to get your fruits and veggies in.
Ingredients: 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1 3/4 cups white sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup Kefir or sour milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 1/2 cups grated zucchini, 1/2 cup ground pecans, 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cream together butter, applesauce and sugar
Then sift your dry ingredients Flour and salt
Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, baking soda, and cocoa powder
To the butter sugar mixture add, Kefir or sour milk (to make sour milk, mix 1/2 cup milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice and let stand 10 minutes)
Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix well
Then slowly incorporate your dry ingredients, be sure to scrape the sides down
Now go ahead and grate your zucchini and add it in
Along with 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and chopped pecans, mix a few times and add into greased loaf pans I used 4 mini loaves, but you could easily use 2 large loaf pans or a 9 X 13
Sprinkle more chocolate chips and pecans on top
And bake at 325 for 35- 45 minutes depending on your baking pan
Enjoy!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup applesauce
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup Kefir or sour milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/4 cup ground pecans (more to sprinkle on top)
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (more to sprinkle on top)
Cream together butter or margarine, applesauce and sugar, Add eggs, Kefir or sour milk, and vanilla. To make sour milk, mix 1/2 cup milk with 2 teaspoons lemon juice and let stand 10 minutes. Blend well. In a separate bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Blend dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Add grated zucchini, chocolate chips and pecans and mix well. Spread in a greased floured 9 x 13 inch pan, 2 loaf pans, or 4 mini loaf pans . Sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips on top. Bake in a preheated 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) oven for 35-45 minutes.
Another yummy tackle!!
my grandma and mom made this for me growing up — it’s seriously THE ONLY WAY I will eat chocolate cake. If it doesn’t have zucchini it seriously does not taste nearly as good.
Thanks for stopping by! I would have to bake this without the husband around; he would freak out if he saw zucchini in our house! As for me, I’m all about sticking the veggies in when they can go unnoticed!
That looks really god Jenna!
I will have to try this because my father in law has a garden and we have a ton of zucchini now.
Fabulous! Zucchini is really a versatile ingredient and very unappreciated – it’s great in so much. And I can’t wait to try it in this recipe – looks amazing 🙂
This looks so yummy and I love that it does have healthy ingredients!
Wow, love that idea!
That cake looks so moist. I know it will be great. Looking forward to another great recipe by you!!! As always, thank you for sharing with us all!!1
Looks great. Another good way to use zucchini!
I haven’t had the chocolate version before. This sounds awesome!
I have a recipe similiar to this. But your topping looks better!
Thanks for sharing!
~Liz
I love zuchinni bread, but I never tried chocolate!
Hey I am shredding too! But on my other blog. I am Team Lime!
You are so creative!! I love zucchini bread so I bet it tastes even yummier with the chocolate in it!
I couldn’t be happier you’ve gone to the looney bin since I just picked our first zucchini as well. 🙂 Thanks for linking to Tasty Tuesday.
Oh. My. YUM!!!
That is awesome looking! YUMMY!
Isn’t this just the best? I have not made it in years, thank you for posting it and reminding me I need to make it.
I was hooked when I saw the word chocolate. The combination of that and zucchini can’t be beat. Chocolate for flavor, zucchini for moisture. Your photos were spot on and made the whole process of assembly very easy to follow. Have a wonderful weekend.
What a yummy treat. Thanks for the gorgeous photos. I hope you’ll share over at Momtrends for Friday Feasts. Here is the link:
http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2009/06/friday-feasts-quinoa-salad.html
oh wow…. I have to try this! Happy Foodie Friday! Have a great weekend ~ Susan
Our zucchini aren’t ready yet, but when those babies start showing up in the garden, you’d better believe I’m making this recipe for my family! Thanks!
We make zucchini bread our recipe is a little different than yours but we love it . I can’t believe that I never thought of putting chocolate in it because I am a chocolate lover.
Great idea!
Wow! What eye candy! I could eat a whole loaf myself I am sure! Your recipe sounds great and I am going to try it with bananas or pumpkin because my zucchini is barely beginning to fruit.
Thanks for such a wonderful post.
Hmmm! A healthy chocolate – just what the Doctor ordered. Seriously it looks GOOD! ~ Robyn
I love Chocolate Zucchini Cake…..Yours looks really good….It makes me hungry