Chocolate zucchini cake
Chocolate zucchini cake is a rich cocoa sheet cake with a moist, tender crumb thanks to grated zucchini that melts into the batter as it bakes. The zucchini leaves almost no flavor behind; it simply makes the cake juicy and keeps it moist for a long time. Chocolate chips scattered throughout create irresistible pockets of melted chocolate.
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rising or chilling
- 45 min
- Total time
- 1 hr 50 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and line a 23 x 33 cm rectangular pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the two long sides. The cake is very moist and soft, so it needs paper handles to lift it out in one piece. The pan is ready when the paper lies flat over the whole bottom.
Step 2
Wash 300 g zucchini, trim both ends and grate on the fine holes of a grater, keeping the skin on and without squeezing out the liquid. The juice in the zucchini is what keeps the cake moist, and the green skin will disappear into the chocolate color. The zucchini is ready when it is in fine, soft, slightly wet shreds.
Step 3
Sift 250 g all-purpose flour, 40 g cocoa powder, 5 g baking soda, 3 g baking powder, 3 g salt and 2 g ground cinnamon into a bowl. Cocoa clumps very easily, so sift it to keep dry lumps out of the cake. The mixture is ready when it is fine, evenly brown and free of lumps.
Step 4
In another bowl, whisk together 150 g granulated sugar, 100 g brown sugar, 120 g vegetable oil, 100 g eggs, 120 g buttermilk and 5 g vanilla extract. The vegetable oil keeps the cake soft even when chilled. The mixture is ready when it is thick and smooth and the sugar has nearly dissolved.
Step 5
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until no dry flour remains, then mix in the 300 g grated zucchini and 120 g chocolate chips. Minimal stirring keeps the cake from turning tough, and the zucchini will loosen the batter further in the oven. The batter is ready when it is thick and the zucchini shreds and chocolate chips are spread evenly through the bowl.
Step 6
Spread the batter evenly in the pan and bake at 175 degrees Celsius for about 35 to 40 minutes. The zucchini adds a lot of moisture, so bake the cake fully so the middle is not wet. The cake is done when the top is taut and slightly cracked and a skewer comes out with only melted chocolate on it, not wet batter.
Step 7
Set the pan on a rack and let the cake cool for about 45 minutes before lifting it out and cutting it into squares. A moist cake needs time for the crumb to settle, and cutting too soon will make it stick to the knife. The cake is ready when it cuts cleanly and the specks of chocolate have firmed up slightly.
Equipment
- Oven
- Rectangular pan
- Parchment paper
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Sieve
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Wire cooling rack
Tips
- Young, small zucchini have fewer seeds and sweeter juice, which makes the cake tastier and keeps it from turning mushy.
- If you do not have buttermilk, you can use plain unsweetened yogurt thinned with a little milk.
- Top the cake with a thin layer of ganache or a dusting of powdered sugar if you want it to look more festive.
Storage
The cake stays moist very well; keep it covered at room temperature for two days or in the fridge for up to five days. It also freezes for two months if you cut it into squares and wrap each piece individually.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The middle of the cake is gummy and sticky as if underbaked.
- The zucchini was too watery or the cake did not bake long enough. Use young zucchini, weigh it accurately and bake for five more minutes before checking again.
- The cake is dry and crumbly.
- You may have squeezed the liquid out of the zucchini or overbaked the cake. Next time, keep all the juice in the shreds and start checking at the thirty-minute mark.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
