Chocolate Zucchini Cake
This cake doesn’t taste anything like zucchini, but is the most moist, dense chocolate cake you’ll ever eat! We cut back on the sugar from the original recipe, so if you like your cake really sweet, you may want to add 2 cups of sugar as called for in the original recipe.
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 3 James Ranch eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 3 ½ cups coarsely grated zucchini (Garden’s Italian zucchini works the best)
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped pecans, walnuts or pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Combine the chocolate and oil in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Stir in the chocolate mixture until well mixed.
- Sift the dry ingredients in the batter and add the buttermilk. Stir until the batter is smooth. Mix the zucchini, chocolate chips, and nuts into the batter.
- Pour batter into a 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack before cutting into serving pieces.
(from Garden Way’s Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne, Garden Way Inc. 1984)
