Fudgy Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chips
This chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate chips is moist, rich, and a little fudgy, with small chips baked throughout...
- Prep
- 30 mins
- Cook
- 50 mins
- Total
- 1 hr 20 mins
- Makes
- 12 servings
This Chocolate Zucchini Cake is moist, rich, and slightly fudgy, with small semi-sweet chocolate chips baked right in for extra fun! Top it with this irresistibly silky chocolate frosting, and your guests will ask for seconds!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Intensely chocolatey
- wonderfully moist and fudgy
- a perfect match for the rich chocolate frosting
- built from three 6-inch layer cakes
- tall, rising nearly 8 inches (with a thick layer of frosting)
- a dream come true for chocolate lovers
Honestly, this is one of the best chocolate cakes around. Is it healthy? Not even close. But wow, is it good.
What You Will Need
You will need the ingredients below to make this easy chocolate zucchini cake recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Soda
- Unsalted Butter
- Vegetable Shortening
- Vegetable Oil
- Granulated Sugar
- 1 Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Sour Milk
- Shredded Zucchini
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Helpful Tips
Here are a few extra pointers for making your chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate chips!
- I used Wilton Cake Strips around each pan to help the tops bake level. If you do not own them, I recommend picking up a couple!
- I baked this cake in three 6-inch x 2-inch cake pans. You can also use three 6-inch x 3-inch cake pans.
- To hold in some moisture, cool the cakes upside down on a cooling rack while they are still in their pans.
- If you will not be frosting the cake after it cools, keep it in its pans, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, in the refrigerator. You can also double-wrap it tightly and refrigerate it. For longer storage, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, place it in a freezer bag, and freeze it for up to a month.
- Leftover slices can be double-wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in an airtight container, and frozen for up to a month. Let them thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature before eating.
Recipe FAQs
What did you use to create the gold swirl?To make the swirl, I used an offset spatula, a clean craft brush, vodka, and edible gold powder. Dip the brush into the vodka, then into the gold powder, and apply it. Keep going until you have covered the whole swirl.
How do you make sour milk?To make sour milk, stir 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice into 1/2 cup of milk. Let it sit for 1-2 minutes before adding it to the other ingredients.
How much chocolate frosting does this make?This chocolate frosting recipe makes enough to cover a 3-layer, 6-inch cake with some to spare. If you or your guests love chocolate frosting, you will have plenty for thick layers between the cakes and enough for the outside. If you are not a big frosting fan, you could cut the recipe in half for a thinner layer inside and a light coat outside. Or make the full amount and save the extra for cupcakes or another dessert!
Can you taste the zucchini in the chocolate cake?No. The zucchini is only there to add extra moisture.
Should I drain the liquid from the shredded zucchini?You might be tempted to drain the liquid from the shredded zucchini, but please don't. That liquid is what gives the cake its wonderful moist texture.
More Chocolate Desserts You Might Enjoy!
If you tried this Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my site, please leave a star rating and tell me what you thought in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!
Fudgy Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chips
This Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips is moist, rich, and slightly fudgy, with small semi-sweet chocolate chips baked in for extra fun! Top it with some of this irresistible chocolate frosting and your guests will be asking for seconds!
- Prep
- 30 mins
- Cook
- 50 mins
- Total
- 1 hr 20 mins
- Makes
- 12 servings
Ingredients
chocolate zucchini cake
- 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Shortening
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Sour Milk
- 2 cup Shredded Zucchini, do NOT drain the liquid from the shredded zucchini
- 6 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
chocolate frosting
- 1 1/4 lbs Unsalted Butter, or 5 sticks of butter, room temperature
- 2 cup Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Light Corn Syrup
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 lb Dark Chocolate, melted and cooled
Method
- Set your oven rack to the 2nd level and preheat the oven to 325ºF.
- Coat your 3, 6 inch cake pans with a flour-based baking spray. Press a circle of parchment paper into the bottom of each pan, then give it a light spray again. You can also grease the pans with butter and dust them with flour, but still add the parchment circles, since they help release the cake from the pan.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, vegetable oil, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until well blended.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and sour milk.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the whisked dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Then add the shredded zucchini.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter evenly among the three prepared 6 inch cake pans and bake for 45-50 minutes at 325ºF, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then carefully turn them out onto wire cooling racks to cool completely.
- With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the unsalted butter, powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt on medium speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. You can also use a food processor, which is the method America's Test Kitchen recommends for this frosting.
- Add the light corn syrup, vanilla extract, and the melted and cooled chocolate, then mix until the frosting is well blended and smooth.
- Frost the cake once it is completely cool.
Baker’s notes
- 1 1/2 pounds of butter = 5 sticks or 574 grams.
- To make sour milk, stir 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice into 1/2 cup of milk. Mix it up and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the other ingredients.
- The cake recipe is adapted from the 2001 “A Taste of Bedminster Elementary” Cookbook.
- The frosting recipe is adapted from the America's Test Kitchen book “The Perfect Cake.”
