Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips

This Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips recipe is moist, rich, and slightly fudgy with little semi-sweet chocolate chips baked in for an added treat! Top if off with this devilishly good chocolate frosting and your guests will be asking for seconds!

I was in the mood to bake a Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips this past Friday for the sole reason that I was just craving a really good chocolate cake! Probably not one of the best decisions I ever made and I ended up eating way too much, but damn people—it was GOOD!

I felt like Miranda Hobbes from that Sex and the City episode where she’s obsessed with eating chocolate and ends up baking a chocolate cake. My favorite part is when she leaves this voicemail on Carrie’s answering machine:

“Your good friend has just taken a piece of cake out of the garbage and eaten it. You will probably need this information when you check me into the Betty Crocker Clinic.”

Thankfully, it didn’t get that far for me, but it was close!

what’s in this chocolate zucchini cake?

This particular chocolate zucchini cake includes all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, unsalted butter, vegetable shortening, vegetable oil, eggs, milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, zucchini, and chocolate chips.

how do you make sour milk?

To make sour milk, you add 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice to 1/2 cup of milk. Mix it up and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.

chocolate zucchini cake baking tips

• I added my Wilton Cake Strips to each pan to help keep the tops level. If you don’t have them, I recommend getting a couple!
• I used 3, 6″ x 2″ cake pans to bake this cake.
• To retain some of the moisture from the cake, cool them upside down on a cooling rack still in their cake pans.
• If you’re not going to be frosting the cake after cooling it, you can store them in the cake pans tightly wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

recommended baking tools to make chocolate zucchini cake

can you taste the zucchini in the chocolate cake?

Nope. Not at all!

I’m serious!

The reason zucchini is used in, not just this recipe, but also my One Bowl Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe, is to give it that extra level of moistness! And while you may be tempted to drain the liquid from the shredded zucchini—do not do it! It’s important to leave that with the zucchini!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips

• Author: Jennifer
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Yield: 10–12 slices 1x
• Category: Cakes
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: Dessert

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Description

This Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Chips recipe is moist, rich, and slightly fudgy with little semi-sweet chocolate chips baked in for an added treat! Top it off with some of this devilishly good chocolate frosting and your guests will be asking for seconds!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate chips

• 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 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup Sour Milk (see Notes below if you don’t have any sour milk)
• 2 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 4 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 2 cups Shredded Zucchini (do NOT drain the liquid from the shredded zucchini)
• 6 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

chocolate frosting

• 1 1/4 pounds (5 sticks) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 2 cups Confectioners Sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Light Corn Syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 pound 0f Chocolate, melted and cooled

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Instructions

chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate chips

1. Set your oven rack to the 2nd level position and preheat your oven to 325ºF.
2. Spray your 3, 6 inch cake pans with a flour-based baking spray. Place a circle of parchment paper in each pan, and respray the bottom with the flour-based spray. Alternatively, you can grease the pans with butter and coat in flour, but it’s important to still add in the parchment paper circles (it helps to release the cake from the pan).
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking soda. Set to the side.
4. Using your hand-held mixer or 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.
5. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and sour milk.
6. Switching your mixer speed to low, gradually add in the whisked dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add in the shredded zucchini.
7. Fold in the chocolate chips.
8. Evenly distribute the cake batter into each prepared cake pan, then place in the oven to bake for 45-50 minutes at 325ºF or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean from the center of each cake.
9. Cool cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then carefully invert to cool completely on wire cooling racks.

chocolate frosting

1. Using your hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment mix the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt on medium speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Alternatively, you can use a food processor – America’s Test Kitchen recommendation to make this frosting.
2. Add in the light corn syrup, vanilla extract, and the melted and cooled chocolate, and mix until the frosting is well blended and smooth in texture.
3. Frost your cake once it’s completely cooled.

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Notes

Cake recipe is adapted from the 2001, “A Taste of Bedminster Elementary” Cookbook.

Frosting recipe is adapted from “The Perfect Cake” book by America’s Test Kitchen.

Keywords: chocolate zucchini cake, cake, chocolate cake, zucchini cake, chocolate zucchini cake, how to make chocolate zucchini cake, chocolate chips, chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate chips

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you may also like these other chocolate desserts!

• Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream Frosting
• Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
• Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Hearts
• Mini Bundt Chocolate Pound Cakes
• No Bake Dark Chocolate Tart

Need more dessert recipe inspiration? Visit my recipe box or follow me over on Pinterest!