What better way to welcome Monday than with dessert! Today I'm sharing a homemade favorite that I've been making during the summer for years. But, I can't share this recipe without telling a little story first....
The summer that husband I met, I made this chocolate zucchini cake with a chocolate coffee drizzle and brought it to work as a treat to share with co-workers. I might have mostly brought it to impress him, but that's beside the point especially since it didn't work. When I handed him a slice of my cake (remind you I was quite proud of it), he took the first bite and followed it up with, "This isn't how my mom makes it."
I kid you not, those were his exact words. Later (months later) he cleared it up by explaining his mother's version of a zucchini dessert was more like zucchini bread without the chocolate. Husband insisted though, that he loved my version. Clearly, I forgave him, we married, lived happily ever after, and every single time I make this cake I remind him of this story :)
Baking has always been one of my passions. Every summer my aunt grows a garden with excessively large zucchini, which my parents end up inheriting. That's how the tradition of making this Chocolate Zucchini Cake with a Chocolate Coffee Drizzle began.
- What You'll Need
- For the Cake
- 2 cups grated zucchini (peel it first)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 TSP vanilla
- 1 stick of butter
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 4 TBSP cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 TSP baking powder
- 1 TSP baking soda
- 1 TSP salt
- For the Drizzle
- 1/2 a stick of butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 TSP vanilla
- 2 TSP cocoa powder
- 1 TSP ground coffee
- 1-2 TSP milk
- What You'll Do
- For the Cake
- Start off by making homemade buttermilk. Combine the milk and lemon juice, stir well, and set aside for 15 minutes.
- While waiting for the buttermilk, peel the zucchini and then grate it until you have two cups worth. Set aside.
- In a saucepan on the stove top, melt the butter. Once it has melted, add the chocolate chips and stir.
- When the chocolate chips have completely melted, add the cocoa powder and stir until well combined. Take off the stove top and set aside to cool until slightly warm.
- In a large bowl combine the buttermilk, sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix together and then add the warm chocolate sauce.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well, then add to the wet mixture.
- Once the batter is well combined, fold in the zucchini. You can add nuts if you prefer at this step as well.
- Grease a pan (I used a large circular pan, but you can use a bundt too) by spraying it with cooking grease, then making sure the surface is floured.
- Bake the cake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes.
- Check the cake to make sure it is cooked through by inserting a toothpick. Begin doing this around the 40 minute mark. Take it out before it becomes dry.
- Let the cake cool and then drizzle with the chocolate coffee mixture.
- For the Drizzle
- Melt the butter in a small bowl.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until well combined.
- Next add the vanilla and cocoa powder. Stir well.
- Add the coffee grounds and again make sure to mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add the milk little by little, until you reach the right consistency. You should be able to pick your spoon up out of the mixture and have a smooth (but not too runny) drizzle cascading down.
And there you have it, a Chocolate Zucchini Cake that's certainly not your mama's! What kind of goodies do you make from garden fresh zucchini??
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