Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Best Ever Deep Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake



Served with homemade strawberry preserve

This has to be the best chocolate zucchini cake I have ever made, just ask Rob my recipe tester. Just when I thought I could not come up with another zucchini recipe, I struck gold by totally revamping my favourite carrot cake recipe.  I simply replaced the carrots and pineapple called for in the original recipe with grated zucchini and for a deep rich flavour, added dark Dutch cocoa.  I kept the cinnamon because it marries so well with chocolate but reduced the amount of oil. The cake turned out beautifully moist and not overly sweet, perfect served with a touch of strawberry preserve made with our local berries.
So, with all those healthy ingredients and no cholesterol, who says you can't have your cake and eat it to!  


Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark Dutch cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups shredded zucchini    
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Squeeze the grated zucchini with your hands to remove excess moisture. Set aside.
Sift and blend the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together the sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla. 
Stir in the zucchini and pecans. 
Transfer to two prepared 8" square cake pans 
Bake in a pre-heated 350º F oven for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

41 comments:

  1. Now I know I've got to try this recipe. I keep seeing a lot of zucchini and chocolate recipes and am hesitant to what this would taste like, but now I'm totally intrigued!

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    1. Hi Ellen, Since I love the Canadian Living carrot cake recipe, I decided to give it a stab with zucchini,which are in over abundance this time of the year. So,glad I threw caution to the wind by totally altering the original recipe. Let me know if you give it a try.

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  2. Oh my goodness, Ellen! This looks LOVELY, and I cannot wait to try this recipe. I've never tried the chocolate zucchini combination before, but I'm excited to check it out since I love both things! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Erin. I would love to hear how the recipe turns out. Looking forward to sharing more recipes with you.

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  3. this looks delicious Anna ! Have a good week my dear friend....

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    1. Chiara,it has been awhile. So nice to reconnect. Thanks for you comment. Buona settimana cara amica.

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  4. Yum, this looks so awesome! Loved that you served it with homemade preserves.

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  5. Oh yes! This zucchini cake looks lovely, soft and sticky. I usually use carrots but I think next time I will give it a go with courgettes!! Thanks, very nice recipe.

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    1. Rita, thanks for your visit. Being inundated with too many zucchini from the garden,I simply adapted my favourite carrot cake recipe.

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  6. The cake looks so luscious and tempting!!! You have got me drooling anna :)

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    1. Thanks, it is so nice to hear from you. This is one recipe that is worth trying. It really is very forgiving and super easy.

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  7. I've made courgette cakes before but never with chocolate. This sounds brilliant!

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    1. I have made chocolate zucchini cakes and loaves in the past but this has to be the best to date. Credit goes to the Canadian Living carrot cake recipe which I have been using for years. Given how I toyed with the original recipe,I am thrilled that it actually turned out so light and tasty.

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  8. Thanks for your invitation. I will give the site a look see.

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  9. Official taster here. Feasting on this treat was a life-altering experience. Its a must try.

    Rob on 8

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  10. I haven't had a zucchini cake in long time. Anna, this looks so very moist and delectable. I wish I could taste a bit right now.

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  11. Anna,this has my socks going up and down. It looks moist and delicious and is perfect for my tastes. Thanks forsharing it with us. Have a wonderful day. Blessings...Mary

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  12. Made this cake three times now....Friends and family just love it and have requested several times...Made one slight change...I added a cup of buttermilk....Moist, and delicious and not too sweet

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    1. It so nice to hear that the recipe was such a hit. Thanks so much for writing in...loved your buttermilk suggestion.

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  13. Sorry but I really did not like this cake. Not only were the instructions lacking (but I'm a baker, so knew what to do), but I didn't like the flavor at all. I like cinnamon but only put in 1 t and still found it over-powering. I appreciate the fact that its not so sweet but just didn't like the flavor. I too added the buttermilk - I think it would have been quite dry without it. Anyway, won't make this again and the family didn't like it either.

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    1. How unfortunate that the recipe did not work out for you. Normally, Canadian Living recipes are almost fool proof and popular. My adaptation of their cake recipe involved replacing the carrots with zucchini and adding the chocolate for added flavour. Sorry that your family did not like the results. It was a definite hit at my place and with neighbours.

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  14. Thanks for posting this adaptation. I have some gluten free baking mix I have been wanting to try, and a lot of zucchini from the organic box. I thought I would give this a whirl as, like you said, the Canadian Living recipes are usually spot on.

    I halved the recipe, in case it didn't work, but used 2 eggs. The batter was delicious ::lick lick lick:: so I really hoped it would work. And it did. It worked GREAT!

    I'm glad I was watching closely, as it only took 20 minutes to bake in my 7by 11 inch pan. Next time I will grate the zucchini finer also, as you can see some green bits in there still (maybe because of the shorter baking time). It is ever so slightly on the dry side (as gr stuff tends to be) so I think I will smother it with some chocolate glaze :)

    In case anyone is curious I used the kinnikinnick brand all purpose baking mix.

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  15. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I can't agree with you more when it comes to Canadian Living recipes. I am so glad to hear the cakes were such a success.
    Given the ever increasing number of people with gluten intolerance,your baking tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for sharing.

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    1. I have made an improvement to my delicious gluten free version (if I may say so myself).

      First, I grate the zucchini very fine, and don't squeeze out much of the liquid. I also add 1/2 a teaspoon or so of xanthan gum, and use melted coconut oil for the vegetable oil. Sooooo much better than the first few times I made it. So moist and yummy!

      Thought I would share!

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  16. what a lovely looking cake!

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  17. Phoebe, thanks so much for the lovely comment. Happy baking!

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  18. I have made chocolate zucchini cakes before and i found this one was really good. Easy to make and easy to cook. I only used 1 tsp of cinnamon and did not put in the pecan nuts as I didn't have any and it still was lovely. I cooked it in a brownie tin and it only took around 30 min. I hope you don't mind that I pinned it to Pinterest. Next time I think I might add some chopped chocolate! Many thanks.

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  19. With 1.5 cups of sugar and white flour, to call this recipe healthy is a stretch, but it sure looks good! Eggs contain cholesterol, so for those of us watching our cholesterol intake for heart disease reasons, I found your cholesterol-free claim to be a bit misleading. Otherwise, great recipe!

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