I went and found the recipe, printed it out and then sat down to plan. I seem to be incapable of leaving a recipe "as is" and so as I read through the recipe my mind started to work overtime and that's when I decided I would make a cake instead.
The thing I LOVE about adding carrots/zucchini is how moist baked items turn out. This cake is no exception. It is rich and moist and plenty chocolaty.
Plus, you can tell yourself that it's a vegetable dish when you go to have seconds.
We ate ours with ice cream, but I also enjoyed a piece with some chocolate ganache one afternoon. Either way, it's time to eat your veggies!
Adapted from Allrecipes.com
Makes 1 standard size bundt cake
6 Tbsp. cocoa
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini, packed
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cocoa, butter, and sugar. Add eggs, oil, grated zucchini, and vanilla; beat well. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Place chocolate chips in sifter and toss with a bit of flour (sifting off the excess) (this is to help your chocolate chips from all sinking to the bottom of the cake batter once your cake is in the oven).
4. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
6. Let cool for several minutes, then unmold cake onto cake plate to finish cooling.
** Have you taken the pop quiz yet? It's not too late! Comments will be open until tomorrow (Thursday, September 10, 2009) at 10pm PST. I'll announce the winners and the answers on Friday!
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
OMG, look at mini-you! Hilarious. And chocolate and zucchini cake/bread is something I've tried a couple of times and never been able to make a version that tasted good, not even Clotilde's which came out disgusting, no idea why, so I stay away from le chocolat et la courgette ensemble, lol.
I love the idea of making it in a bundt pan instead of loaves! Your daughter is adorable!
Your little girl is precious!!!! This cake sounds amazing!
I've never heard of tossing the chocolate chips with flour. What a great idea! Please put a piece in the freezer for me. I think my face will look just like Squirrel's when I take a bite!
awww..she's so cute!Her face is priceless.
I've been thinking of making a zucchini cake lately.I always use it up for steamed veggies before I get a chance to tho.
What a sweet assistant and taster you have. Your cake looks wonderful and I love that you made it in a bundt pan. I can only imagine how good this tastes.
Moist chocolate cake is so difficult to achieve. I'll have to try this out. Topped with chocolate ganache looks divine!
I have a zucchini in my fridge, I may have to try this :)
Your daughter is ADORABLE!! I think you need to take more of those kinds of photos of her ready to take a bite and put it in a scrapbook. You may need leverage for the wild teenage years! :)
Holy criminy! That looks AMAZING! I love zucchini bread and this looks waaaaay better. Thank god I can bake now, because this is going to be on the top of my list! YUM! And your daughter is gorgeous. Great post!
Owh yum! they look so chocolaty.. I got so excited just by looking at it! I'm sure your daughter did too. She's so adorable!
This sounds so good. I found your blog through my friend Rachael (the blogger behind http://www.tokyoterrace.com.) I'm really excited to try some of your recipes.
I'm spending this weekend with my in-laws and have lots of zucchini from my garden. I'd like to make this cake but I don't have a bunt cake pan. Will it work in any old pan? Also, I know some people peel their zucchinis before grating them. What's your advice on this?
Great minds think alike…I, too, have a similar recipe that I use in my bundt. Instead of tossing the chips in flour, I use sugar. We grease the bundt and coat it with sugar, which adds a crispy crunch that I think is way better than frosting. Just remember to invert the pan right out of the oven, or the sugar will melt….
This looks delicious! I'd never seen zucchini and chocolate together before.
Ah!!!!! How great that you made it!!! Our zucchini have been done with for quite awhile but while they were in season we made a ton of this cake.
Now that it has been featured on La Fuji Mama I feel like it has been legitimized. :)
My most favorite chocolate cake is actually my chocolate zucchini cake. It's absolutely the best. I also make chocolate zucchini muffins, but totally differently, without the chocolate chips, less chocolate, and lots of cardamom. Yummssss. I love zucchini.
Oh, I think I should go make some now. I mean, I haven't for like a WEEK! What am I thinking?
Delicious, as usual! Love the expression on Squirrel's face!
Mmm… Looks very tasty! What a perfect way to eat veggies. :) I love the pictures of Squirrel… so cute!
OK- I just made this recipe (in muffin form vs. bundt cake) and I can attest to the fact that it is amazing! You all must try it!
Jenn– I wouldn't use a regular cake pan. A regular cake pan sometimes will not let the cake cook through in the middle without burning the edges. You can cook this instead in 2 loaf pans! I have never peeled a zucchini before cooking it, but I do make sure to cut a good chunk off each end (I find the ends to be a bit more bitter sometimes). I hope that helps!
tokyoterrace– You just made my day! :)
Hi!
Just wanted to let you know I made this today and both of my daughters (Jinjer, 15 & Jasmine, 8) LOVED it!!
I deviated a little bit–I was out of chocolate chips so I used chocolate candy melts. I also rough chopped a cup of pecans and mixed these together with the melts and some flour before adding it to the mix.
The cake is totally moist on the inside with a satisfying crunch on the outside–thanks for sharing, I don't think I'd ever have thought to add zucchini to a chocolate cake! Delicious!!
jbramman– Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm so glad you and your daughters enjoyed it. Mmmm, love that you added pecans–I love pecans in cakes and cookies!
First, I am not a baker but I grew a garden this year and have a lot of zucchini so I have been experimenting. I made this cake and WOW it tastes awesome!! However, I had one problem, it stuck to the bundt pan and came out looking horrible (no one hear minds, they are just happy to have sweets even if it looks ugly). Since I don’t bake much I was wondering if I should have adjusted the recipe at all for high altituded, we are at 5500 ft. I greased the pan enough and it appears to be cooked through all the way, it just stuck. I want to make it again, and I saw maybe trying loaf pans (which I may try) but thought I would ask your opinion
I tried this recipe and LOVE it! I shared it with family and friends, and we couldn’t get enough of it! I highly recommend it. It’s delicious and unique. Thanks for posting the recipe!
Do you have a chocolate ganache recipe you could share? Thanks!
I’m gong to try mine in a tube pan. I love your suggestion about flouring the chips. Cocoa might also work and deepen the flavor. Cooking is such a creative activity and you are egging me on. I love it, and you.
This was a wonderful cake! Thank you! We didn’t realize that we had a GIANT zucchini on our plant and we got cups of shredded zucchini out of it. I changed nothing and plan on making it for people at work….both hubby’s and mine. I did use duck eggs, as we have lots of ducks in the back yard and they always make a yummy cake! Thanks again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Wendy! I find that those giant zucchini are best suited for a cake like this! I have never baked with duck eggs, and now you have me dying to try!