Easy Chocolate Zucchini Cake (Vegan)
This chocolate cake is so moist thanks to the addition of zucchini and yet it still tastes like a traditional chocolate cake. You don’t even taste the zucchini. It just makes the cake more juicy and fudgy. The recipe is so easy to make with a few basic ingredients and perfect for any occasion!
Zucchini season has started and so I wanted to try a delicious zucchini recipe. Since I love to bake with vegetables, I thought I would make a juicy chocolaty chocolate cake. Because who doesn’t love chocolate?! ? Personally, I am a big chocolate fan and this chocolate cake has beaten everything! The cake has become super juicy because of the zucchini but you can’t taste the zucchini at all. So don’t worry if you don’t like zucchini because you only taste a fudgy chocolate cake! The cake is also very simple to make. The best thing to do is to add chocolate drops or a chocolate glaze to the cake, so it tastes just heavenly!
In general, you should try baking with vegetables because this makes the pastry even softer and juicy. The consistency will be just perfect. I have already tried the following recipes with vegetables and you might like them: Carrot Muffins with Cream Cheese, Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips, Zucchini Lemon Muffins, and my Carrot Cake Recipe. However, the consistency is the same if you use fruit in your pastry.
Simple ingredients for the Chocolate Zucchini Cake
For this vegan chocolate cake recipe, you only need a few basic ingredients that are generally used for cake recipes. You can easily replace some ingredients.
- Spelt flour: I used spelt flour but you can also use wheat flour. If you want to make this cake gluten-free, it is best to use gluten-free flour for pastries.
- Zucchini: Of course, the grated zucchini should not be missing in this recipe :-D. I used a small zucchini for this recipe. You can also add some more zucchini shreds to the dough to make the cake even juicier!
- Dates: For sweetening, dates are a natural sugar substitute. Dates contain nutrients unlike sugar and because of the fiber, blood sugar levels rise more slowly. I originally sweetened the recipe with brown sugar.
- Olive oil: Olive oil makes the cake even moister. You can use different types of oil. I have used olive oil, but you can as well add neutral coconut oil or sunflower oil. It is best if you use a neutral-tasting oil.
- Nut butter: You can use just oil or add some nut butter. It’s a healthy source of fat and it’s also suitable for baking.
- Applesauce: Applesauce serves as an egg substitute. Applesauce is also the preferred ingredient for brownie dough as it makes the dough fudgy. Therefore I recommend using applesauce. You can’t taste it at all. Don’t you want to use applesauce? Then you can replace the egg with two chia/flax seed eggs.
- Chocolate and cocoa powder: The cake should have an intense chocolate taste. That’s why I suggest the combination of cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate. This makes the cake so chocolaty and incredibly delicious. Make sure that there are no additives in the cocoa powder.
- Other ingredients: Baking soda, baking powder, salt, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract.
Would you like to know how to prepare a chia/flax seed egg? Then check out my chocolate oatmeal cookies post. Don’t you know the best way to melt chocolate? Then you’ll find that information in the Peanut Butter Cups article.
Easy Chocolate Zucchini Cake – How to make it!
If you want to use dates for this recipe then let dates soak in hot water for at least 10 – 20 minutes. Put them in a blender or chopper with some water and turn into a date puree.
This chocolate dough is very quickly mixed together. Before you make the dough, melt the chocolate in a water bath and grate the zucchini finely. To avoid too much liquid in the dough, squeeze the zucchini shreds. Now mix dry ingredients together and quickly add wet ingredients and the zucchini shreds. Mix everything together until you have a creamy dough.
The cake batter is ready in no time. It is important to prepare the baking tin. Grease the baking tin with some butter and spread the chocolate cake dough evenly in the baking tin. You can also put a piece of baking paper in the baking tin so that the paper sticks out and you can easily remove the cake. You can also put some more chocolate drops on the cake or later add a glaze. I decided to use a chocolate glaze with nuts as a topping.
How to store this Chocolate cake?
For 2 – 3 days, you can keep the cake covered at room temperature. After that, the cake will be a little drier. Nevertheless, the chocolate cake tastes good for up to 7 days. From the 3rd day on, I keep the cake in the fridge.
How to serve it?
I prefer plant-based cream with the cake. Of course, you can also make it healthier by using coconut cream or by making it yourself. But you can also add nut butter or caramel sauce. Do you like salted caramel? In the following post, I have a simple recipe for the sauce: Blueberry cheesecake. Of course, this chocolate cake recipe tastes good without all the side dishes ;-).
You really must try this chocolate cake recipe because the cake is
- moist
- super fudgy!
- very delicious
- with vegetables
- perfect for every occasion
- vegan
- easy to make
How do you like this recipe?
I would be very happy to get feedback from you! If you try this chocolate zucchini cake, please leave me a comment with a ⭐️ rating. Are you active on Instagram? If you post a picture of this recipe, please link it to me with @plantiful.heart so I can see your creation!
Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
- 200 gr Spelt Flour Alternative: Wheat Flour
- 150 gr Zucchini Shreds I used 1 Zucchini
- 150 gr Applesauce
- 150 gr Dates (pitted) Alternative: 100 gr brown sugar
- 100 gr Chocolate
- 70 ml Olive Oil Alternative: Coconut Oil
- 30 ml Nut Butter Alternative: Only 100 ml olive oil instead of using nut butter
- 25 gr Cocoa Powder
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Chocolate Glaze:
- 100 gr Chocolate (Optional)
Instructions
- If you want to use dates for this recipe then let dates soak in hot water for at least 10 – 20 minutes. Put them in a blender or chopper with some water and turn into a date puree.
- Before you make the dough, melt the chocolate in a water bath and grate the zucchini finely. To avoid too much liquid in the dough, squeeze the zucchini shreds.
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.
- Add the liquid ingredients: Applesauce, oil, melted chocolate, nut butter, date puree, apple cider vinegar, and stir in the zucchini shreds quickly. Mix everything together until you have a creamy dough.
- Grease the baking tin with some butter and spread the chocolate cake dough evenly in the baking tin.
- Bake the cake in the oven at 180° for about 40 minutes. By the way, with the toothpick test, you can find out if the cake is ready. The dough should not be liquid anymore!
- Then let the cake cool down and add a chocolate glaze or chocolate chips as desired.
Nutrition
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