Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
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This delicious Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake is so decadent with the addition of milk chocolate chips evenly distributed throughout it and the thick chocolate glaze drizzled on top. It’s so moist from 3 cups of zucchini and you’ll never know that the cake is loaded with grated zucchini unless you see the green peeking out of a slice.
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Zucchini season is going strong here in upstate NY and since I had an overabundance of it I figured I would update this chocolate zucchini bundt cake recipe from October 7, 2014. I’m a sucker for throwing shredded zucchini in desserts like the best zucchini bars or this amazing zucchini cake.
Ingredients
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
- Sugar – both granulated sugar and brown sugar are used in this bundt cake recipe. I was going for an incredibly moist and tender cake and think the molasses in the brown sugar helps bring that out.
- Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder – I really love the flavor and color of this cocoa powder. It’s a must try.
- Sour Cream – Use full-fat sour cream for this recipe. This helps give the cake a hint of tanginess. It also helps provide a dense, moist bundt cake.
- Zucchini – Now zucchini come in all sizes. I used 3 medium zucchinis. If they’re real big, I would recommend cutting out the seeds in the center and shredding the meat on the outside of where the seeds were. Measure out 3 cups of shredded zucchini for this recipe.
- Chocolate Chips – I love milk chocolate chips so that’s my go-to for desserts, but you can use your chocolate chip preference.
Substitutions and Variations
- You can replace the salted butter with unsalted and add about ½ teaspoon of salt when you add the dry ingredients to the bundt cake batter.
- Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder – This can be substituted with regular cocoa powder or black cocoa powder.
- You can substitute the full-fat sour cream for plain Greek yogurt.
- Instead of adding a chocolate glaze, you can use chocolate ganache for a topping or just dust it with powdered sugar.
NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations
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Step-by-Step Instructions
Start by preheating the oven to 325 degrees F and coating your bundt pan generously with nonstick cooking spray. Add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the pan and work it into the bottom and up the sides of the pan to thoroughly coat it with the cocoa powder. Tap out any excess cocoa powder once the entire bundt pan has a coating of the cocoa powder. Alternatively, you can just use nonstick baking spray with flour in it and be sure to get all of the crevices well.
Step 1: Beat the butter and both sugars in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs one at a time into the batter. Scrape down the bowl and beat in any remnants.
Step 3 & 4: Set aside ¼ cup of dry ingredients. Alternate adding the remaining dry ingredients and sour cream to the bowl of batter. Beat each addition in well.
Step 5: Coat the chocolate in the ¼ cup of dry ingredients and add them to the batter along with the shredded zucchini. Fold in with a spatula.
Step 6: Spread the batter into the prepared bundt pan evenly.
Step 7: Place into the oven and bake for 60 to 70 minutes. Insert a skewer into the center of the cake to check for doneness.
Step 8: Let the cake cool for 15 to 20 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Step 9: Add the chocolate glaze to the top of the cake.
How to Store and Freeze
To store this chocolate zucchini bundt cake, place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let it come up to room temperature or enjoy it cold.
To freeze, leave the glaze off and let the bundt cake cool completely. Wrap the cooled cake tightly in two layers with plastic wrap and a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Place it in the fridge overnight to thaw. Then you can glaze your cake and serve it up.
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Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
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Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4` cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream
- 3 cups zucchini shredded
- 11.5 ounce bag milk chocolate chips
Chocolate Glaze
- 6 tablespoons cocoa powder sifted if lumpy
- 5 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1 cup powder sugar sifted if lumpy
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 10 cup bundt pan generously with non-stick cooking spray. This is optional, but you can dust the bundt pan with 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. This will help keep the cake from sticking. Tap out an excess cocoa powder.
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the butter, granulated and brown sugar. Mix with a hand mixer on medium speed until creamed.
- Add in vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix on medium and scrape down the sides of the bowl after each egg.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk until incorporated. Set 1/4 cup of the dry ingredients aside in a small bowl and stir in the chocolate chips.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and sour cream to the butter/sugar mixture starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl after each addition.
- Fold in the zucchini and dry ingredients/milk chocolate chips into the batter until evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and evenly spread out.
- Place in the oven for 65 to 70 minutes or until done. Place a skewer in the center of the cake and if it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, it’s done!
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Let the cake cool completely before pouring glaze on it.
Chocolate Glaze
- In a medium saucepan over low heat, add in cocoa powder, butter, and corn syrup. Stir until incorporated and the butter is melted.
- Stir in the vanilla and the powdered sugar until combined. The glaze will start to get thick.
- Add the hot water a teaspoon at a time and stir until combined. Do this until your glaze reaches the desired consistency.
- Turn the bundt cake out onto a cake plate and drizzle the glaze on the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
Triple chocolate could NEVER be overkill! There is no such thing! This looks so, so fudgy and rich and amazing….but since it has zucchini, it’s practically a salad, right? 🙂
Yes, salad indeed! Great theory! lol