When I was dreaming up this cake I had a decadent chocolate cake in mind.
Something really indulgent…sinful, even.
Then I looked in my fridge and found three pretty zucchinis that needed to be used up (even despite making a few zucchini recipes lately, like Roasted Vegetable Crustless Quiche with Basil & Pine Nuts and Cinnamon and Nutmeg Zucchini “Applesauce”).
Seeing the zucchini I got an idea and I knew sinful would have to wait.
(Side Note: That is the beauty of keeping your kitchen stocked with healthy things…if they’re there, you’ll eat them!)
But the great thing is, zucchini happens to be a trick cake ingredient that will keep your baked goods moist without imparting a strong flavor. In fact, I’ve found that the flavor of zucchini is easy to fully mask in cakes and quick breads; especially baked goods like this one, which is full of flavor from other ingredients like cocoa powder and cinnamon-orange black tea. If you have central air conditioning or are brave enough to bake in the heat, this cake is one worth making, especially if you have zucchini to use up.
Even though I wouldn’t consider this cake sinful (how can any food that has veggies be considered sinful?), it definitely does taste indulgent. Best of both worlds, perhaps?
Here are a few other recipes for Chocolate Zucchini Cake from around the web that look pretty fabulous:
Cooking Light (this recipe uses cream cheese and buttermilk)
The Answer is Cake (this cake is frosted with a gorgeous fudgy frosting)
Use Real Butter (this one has espresso powder and chocolate chips)
Bell’Alimento (this cake uses cinnamon and sweet cream flavoring)
Barbara Bakes (this recipe features chocolate chips and dried cherries)
- 3 medium (600-700 g) zucchini, peeled and chopped
- Butter, to grease the pan
- 1⅓ cups (170 g) all-purpose flour
- 1⅓ cups (170 g) whole wheat flour
- ⅔ cup (80 g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cinnamon-orange black tea bags, opened (I used my favorite, Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice)
- 1¾ cups (350 g) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) canola oil
- 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar, for garnish (optional)
- Add the peeled and chopped zucchini to a food processor and process until it forms a chunky paste (see the photo at the bottom of this post). Use the zucchini paste to make this cake immediately, or cover the zucchini paste and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days until you’re ready to make the cake.
- Preheat oven to 350F; grease a standard bundt cake pan with butter.
- Whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and tea (from the opened tea bags) together in a large bowl; set aside.
- Beat together the sugar, eggs, and oil until fluffy, then beat in the zucchini (with any juices that have seeped out), molasses, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet all at once and whisk until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Place the pan on a wire rack and cool completely in the pan, then run a knife along the outside of the cake and invert it onto a platter to remove it.
- Before serving, sprinkle with a dusting of powdered sugar if desired.
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I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to 
Looks super moist and amazing! Your pictures are always so beautiful
Oh Faith this looks divine. I am making this for my dad’s birthday next week. Thanks for sharing. x
There is nothing quite like zucchini cake — and I’ve actually got a few extra zucchini hiding in my fridge, so now I know for sure what I’ll be doing with them. Love the addition of orange-spice and cinnamon!
I’m loving this cake, the zucchini and spices sound wonderful with chocolate!
This looks like a very delicious cake! Using zucchini in cake is such a great idea!
Faith, it sounds like a fun way to use zucchini! (A little more decadent than when I make Artichoke Zucchini Soup out of ’em.) And it seems like it would be a great party food- the caffeine in the tea might perk things up a bit, haha :D
Looks and sounds gorgeous, Faith. It is certainly a nifty trick using tea bags to flavour cakes (I do chai, coconut and carrot muffins). I swear I can almost smell it while reading the recipe! Maybe I should go and eat breakfast :D
This cake looks terrific! What a lovely texture.
Cheers,
Rosa
This does look every bit decadent to me. I’ve never used zucchini in my cakes and don’t know why…thanks for the idea and if my cake looked like this, why not infuse it with goodness.
So weird…I just made a chocolate zucchini bundt cake flavoured with a little cinnamon. No orange, though! Great minds…
What a delicious idea! Using orange cinnamon tea in cake. I just made Double Chocolate Zucchini bread and it didn’t quite mask the flavor of the zucchini but maybe I should try this cake with the remaining zucchini!
I love hiding some zucchini in baked goods, especially, just like you said, only few figure it out , especially when paired with chocolate.
Gorgeous photos Faith
I’m not normally a big fan of zucchini but I’m sure I would love this cake – chocolate helps most flavours!
see–there’s no reason for all these zucchinis to go to waste. i hate when people let them rot when they could be making delicious things like this.
G’day and YUM Faith, true!
What a GREAT way to use up zucchini and your cake looks so moist and love your photo too!
Cheers! Joanne
Just made this cake and it was AWESOME!!!! I love that the zucchini is pureed, makes such a nice fluffy cake. Thanks for such a fantastic recipe!