(Recipe is by Cindy Wallace. Check out her blog My Eclectic Range here.)
Step by Step Instructions:
Chocolate Zucchini Cake will have you and your family doing a happy dance. Here’s what you’ll need: Salt, Vanilla (Vanilla Bean Paste of course), Ground Cinnamon, Unsweetened Cocoa, 2 cups of Sugar, 3/4 cup of Margarine or Butter, 3 Eggs, 2 1/2 cups of Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Milk (or Almond Milk for me), and Zucchini.
Start off with the zucchini milk. Peel the zucchini and then slice the zucchini in half lengthwise. Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and innards of the zucchini. If the Zucchini has small seeds, then you could use them, but I prefer to be seed-free.
Then cut the zucchini into chunks.
Add all of the zucchini to the food processor. I ended up using the large zucchini and 2 small ones.
Then puree the zucchini in your food processor until all of the chunks are gone.
I poured the zucchini milk into a measuring dish and measured so I had 2 cups of pureed zucchni…aka zucchni milk.
Time to sift the dry ingredients. Add in the 2 1/2 cups of flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of Salt to a mesh strainer and sift your heart out.
Then add 1/2 cup of cocoa and sift it into the bowl.
Let’s put the batter together. Start off with 3/4 cup of softened butter or margarine. And 2 cups of Sugar. Now I like to set my butter out on the counter ahead of time to let it soften that way.
Then cream the butter and sugar together by mixing it at a medium speed until it’s nice and creamy and fluffy.
I also like to place the 3 eggs out on the counter for a bit ahead of time so they come to room temperature. Add the eggs one at a time running the mixer to incorporate each egg.
Here’s the batter which you can see is even fluffier after adding the eggs.
Add a little of the sifted dry ingredients at a time. I like to add about 1/4 to a 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time. Mix and keep combining until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Finally add in the wet ingredients including our 2 cups of zucchini milk, 1/2 cup of milk and 2 teaspoons of vanilla (or vanilla bean paste is what I always use).
Run the mixer until the batter is completely combined.
Now grab 2 loaf pans and spray them well with cooking spray. I sprayed mine with spray specifically for baking.
Then either spoon the batter or eye ball it so that it’s evenly divided between the 2 pans. Bake your bread for 40-45 minutes. I baked mine closer to 50 minutes, I’d say. Just stick a toothpick in the middle to test and make sure that it’s cooked through and not runny.
Set the cooked bread on a wire cooling rack.
Once the pans are cool enough to handle flip them upside down so that the cake comes out of the pan. If you aren’t sure if the sides are loose from the edges of the pan, just use a knife to release them. You’ll need to be gentle when flipping the bread so that it stays in shape. Once it’s cooled, then slice it up and dig in. Happy baking!!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients:
3/4 cup Margarine or Butter
2 cups Sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups raw, shredded Zucchini OR Zucchini Milk (pureed zucchini)
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Chopped Nuts (optional)
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Cocoa
Preparation Instructions:
1. Start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Then cream together your margarine and sugar in a stand mixer.
2. Add the eggs (best at room temperature) one at a time until they are mixed in completely.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cocoa. Then gradually add to the batter until it’s well incorporated.
4. Add in the vanilla, zucchini milk, and nuts and mix until they are combined.
5. Grease 2 loaf pans really well. (I used a cooking spray for baking, which worked great.) Then divide the batter evenly between the two pans.
6. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out pretty cleanly to ensure that the loaves are cooked all the way through.
7. Cool on a wire rack and then dig in!
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