Grandma Shirley’s Chocolate Zucchini Cake
This delicious chocolate zucchini cake is by far my favorite thing to make from fresh zucchini in the garden. Did I just say chocolate and zucchini? I did. Don’t knock it till you try it. I do not think you will be disappointed.
This page contains affiliate links. Using these links, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
It may be the sole reason I grow zucchini in the garden. If I’m roasting squash, I prefer to use yellow squash, but for this chocolate zucchini cake I will grow zucchini!
I use this unique cake as a dessert treat for visiting guests or for delivering meals to friends. I’m not gonna lie we also will whip this up for our family alone to enjoy. After all my crew does to help me in the garden I like to give them special treats for payment from time to time.
Like I mentioned in my zucchini bread recipe post, I love using my Breville Food Processor for grating zucchini quickly and efficiently. Grated zucchini will freeze well if you are not quite ready to bake when the garden tells you the zucchini is ready. I hate when my garden bosses me around!
Don’t think about leaving the icing off this cake, as it makes the cake! The combination of sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla with the moist chocolate cake is divine.
How to Make Chocolate Zucchini cake
First, preheat the oven to 350° and then grease a bundt pan and sprinkle with cocoa. This is an important step to the cake coming out of the pan cleanly. If you don’t have a bundt pan get one, they are pretty. You can substitute the bundt pan for a 10″ tube pan, 2-9″ round cake pans, or 1-9″x13″. Those will work just fine, they are just less impressive.
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and sift this dry mixture twice. You don’t see the need, do you? Just trust me and sift twice.
Combine sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix well. I use my kitchen aid to mix these wet ingredients and then gradually add the dry ingredients. Beat the cake batter until combined.
For the last addition, and the key to the moisture in this cake, stir in the zucchini. Also if you are adding nuts now would be the time to stir those in, but I don’t usually use nuts when I make this cake.
Pour the batter into the greased and sprinkled bundt cake pan and bake at 350° for 60-90 mins. This cake sometimes rises over the pan when baking, but let it do it’s thing and bake it until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cake cool on rack 10-15 mins, loosen the cake around the edges and middle then invert pan on a serving dish and allow to cool. You may want to take a serrated knife and trim the cake bottom so it sits flat when you invert it on the serving dish. I typically trim it and do a little taste test to make sure it’s as good as I remember, and it always passes. 
For the icing, sift 1 cup of powdered sugar and combine it with 2 teaspoons of melted butter, 2-2 1/2 tablespoons of milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix the icing ingredients until smooth.
Drizzle the icing on the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake Printable Recipe
Grandma Shirley's Chocolate Zucchini Cake
I don't have a Grandma Shirley, and I can't find the original author of this recipe, but I wanted to share this wonderfully moist cake with the zucchini recipes. So thanks Grandma Shirley, this one is a keeper!
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups oil (or 3/4 cups oil & 3/4 cups applesauce)
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 cup finely chopped nuts , optional
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sift
- 2 tsp melted butter
- 2-2 1/2 tbls milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°, grease a bundt pan and sprinkle with cocoa.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Sift twice.
- Combine sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and beat until combined.
- Stir in zucchini and nuts if you are including them. Pour into tube ban or bundt cake pan. Bake at 350° for 60-90 mins until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cake cool on rack 10-15 mins, loosen cake around the edges and middle then invert pan on a serving dish and allow to cool.
- For the icing, combine the ingredients and mix until smooth. Drizzle on cake. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.
Enjoy!
More Recipes you will love:
For the entire library of recipes check out the Vittles Page.
Growing Squash in your Backyard Garden
If you’re just getting started with a backyard garden check out Gardening 101. To learn more about how we get started with our squash and zucchini plants head to the Farm to Fork Squash Page.
