My Danish Kitchen

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This cake was love at first sight and that love was confirmed with the first bite. I have always been indifferent to zucchini, didn’t pay them any attention. As a matter of fact I always thought they were a bit boring. So what initially drew me to this cake was the deep, dark chocolate look and then I read on and discovered it contained zucchini, and I was intrigued. I had to taste this for myself.

The result was amazing and the cake left me speechless…well almost speechless 🙂 The cake is moist with a delicious intense chocolate flavor and I still can’t believe that it has zucchini in it. I was a bit unsure when I first made this cake if I should simply just let the shredded zucchini sit in the sieve and drip off while I prepared the other ingredients. I seemed to me that it should at least get squeezed a little to get rid of some more liquid. But I decided to trust the instructions and just let it sit quietly and drip off and it turned out perfectly. As you can probably tell I am a little excited about this cake and it will definitely not be the last time that I make it.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake (makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

2 cups zucchini (1 large), shredded

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

6 tablespoons butter (3 oz.), melted

1 large egg

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Rinse and dry zucchini. Leaving the peel on, grate the zucchini using the small holes on the grater. Place shredded zucchini in a sieve over a bowl and allow the excess liquid to drain while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a loaf pan and set aside.

In a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice, set aside.

Over low heat melt butter and set aside to cool a little.

In your stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld mixer) beat egg and sugar until creamy and smooth. While continuing to mix, add vanilla extract and butter. Using a spatula, fold in the shredded zucchini. Then fold in the dry ingredients until combined, do this in three increments. Add chocolate chips and mix until combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan. Enjoy!

Source: adapted from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen