chocolate zucchini cake

I’m one of those sad people who has never been blessed with an abundance of zucchini. We’ve tried to grow it in our garden several times, but with no success (yes, we have total black thumbs…). And somehow our friends and relations just never seem to share much zucchini with us. It’s kind of a running joke in Utah that everyone has zucchini coming out of their ears all summer long, but such is never the case with us. It makes me sad, though, because I love zucchini! I love it pretty much any way you can make it… sautéed, in pasta, on pizza, in soup… it’s always delicious! One of my favorite ways to enjoy it, though, is in dessert form. I love how it makes everything so moist, and I also love that my kids are getting a little dose of vegetables in with their treats. 🙂

This particular cake is pretty awesome, with two whole cups of grated zucchini! Abby helped me make it, and was a little distressed when she saw me adding so many vegetables to her yummy chocolate cake. I told her to be patient, and wait to see what would happen when it came out of the oven. After her first bite she said, “Mom! This is a magic cake! When you baked it, the zucchini disappeared!” Whether you’re a fan of zucchini or not, you’ll love this rich, moist chocolate cake!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
adapted from Lulu the Baker

1/2 cup oil (I used canola)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 heaping cups peeled, shredded zucchini
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a 9 x 13 baking dish by spraying with cooking spray. In a large bowl whisk together oil, sugar, vanilla, egg, and milk. Fold in zucchini. In a small bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan, and bake 25-28 minutes, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool completely before frosting.

To frost, I used the chocolate frosting from this recipe, which went great with the cake!