When my husband and I bought our first home, one of the first things we did was remove a large portion of the backyard lawn – to make room for a garden.

In our exuberance, we planted 7 hills of zucchini.  As the  garden grew, we began to realize that we were being over-taken by zucchini plants.  We would lay in bed at night, listening to the plants grow.  It seemed as though they would engulf the entire house!

As we looked for ways to share our bounty, it soon became apparent that our friends and neighbors had had enough of our generosity.  They refused to answer their door when they saw us with bags of the green cylinders in hand.  Drop and run didn’t work either.  People at church began to lock their car doors – out of the fear that the ‘zucchini fairy’ might leave  10 pounds of the stuff in the front seat during services.

In an effort to disguise our gift, I began baking zucchini bread. . . . which soon joined the list of banned substances in our neighborhood.  Experimentation and research finally joined in harmonious results.  Soon, batches of zucchini relish, mock apple pies, and chocolate zucchini cakes were flowing from the kitchen – much to the delight of all recipients. . . .

And so, with that as an introduction – I share with you my recipe for chocolate zucchini cake – topped with a decadent chocolate ganache frosting. . . . I promise – if you don’t tell anyone that there is zucchini in this cake – they won’t know the difference.  This cake is rich, moist, and almost brownie-like.   You will want to grate and freeze zucchini in 3 cup amounts – just so that you can make this year round!

Enjoy,

Kathy

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Ganache Frosting

Moist, decadent, almost brownie-like.

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Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup butter – room temperature 8 ounces
• 1/2 cup coconut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa Dutch-process works well with this recipe
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ganache Frosting

• 7 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

 

The Cake

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
• Grate the fresh zucchini - until you have 3 cups. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until smooth.
• Beat in the eggs, adding one at a time.
• Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt.
• Measure out 1 cup flour and set aside.
• Combine the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and the baking cocoa.
• Add the flour/cocoa mix to the wet ingredients, beating together until well incorporated.
• Drain any accumulated moisture from the shredded zucchini. If your squash is exceptionally moist, gently squeeze the squash to remove excess liquid.
• Combine the drained squash with the reserved 1 cup of flour (this will help suspend the squash throughout the batter).
• Add the squash and the chocolate chips to the batter, stirring gently to combine.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan,
• Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top of the cake springs back when gently touched, and the cake looks set.
• Remove from the oven and cool completely before frosting with Ganache Frosting

Ganache Frosting

• In a small saucepan, combine 7 Tablespoons heavy cream or half and half with 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is completely melted.
• Pour the melted chocolate/cream mixture onto the cooled cake.
• Spread over the top of the cake.

Notes

If you don't have buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt on hand, you can sour milk by adding 1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk - and letting it sour for 5 minutes before using.