Hannah says it’s the best chocolate cake she’s tasted—I think that’s stretching it a bit. But this cake is quite moist, very tasty and somewhat good for you, as cake goes, with the 2 cups of zucchini, some applesauce in place of oil, and no frosting. Plus, the orange undertones are an unexpected delight! Be sure to tell people there is zucchini in the cake—imagine the horror if they mistake those little pieces of grated green zucchini for mold!
Hannah now makes this for her kids. They can’t understand zucchini in cake and at some point they got confused and started calling them those “Chocolate-Cucumber-Brownie-Things”. So that’s what we call it now. The Chocolate Cucumber Brownie Things. It kind of freaks some people out 🙂 The chocolate-cucumber-brownie things are a big hit with the kids, though. A second generation recipe!
This recipe was first published in Bon Appetit in November 1995, which is where I found it. I have changed it a bit, of course, but I’ve forgotten exactly what it was I did changed 🙂
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 2¼ cup flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups sugar (can use all white sugar, or half brown and half white)
- ½ cup butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon orange extract OR 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with grated rind of one large orange
- ½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt—freeze any leftover buttermilk to use in the next cake!
- 2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (S-qu-e-e-z-e the zucchini to release excess water before measuring)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1¼ cup chocolate chips (divided use)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Prepare at 13x9x2″ baking pan by greasing and dusting it with cocoa powder and set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until well blended.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Beat in orange extract or the vanilla.
- In another bowl stir flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together and aerate slightly.
- Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and beat to blend.
- Then add ½ of the buttermilk and beat to blend and repeat, adding 1/3 more of flour mixture, then last half of buttermilk, then last third of flour, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in drained zucchini, applesauce, orange peel (if using) and 1 cup of chocolate chips to blend.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle evenly with remaining ¼ cup of chocolate chips.
- Bake at 325° for about 50 minutes or until cake springs back on touch.
Enjoy!
