Perfectly moist and sweetened with honey, this chocolate zucchini cake is one of my favorite cakes ever. And that chocolate ganache glaze is truly what chocolate dreams are made of.
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How are you, my friends?
I am doing great and even better after recipe testing and perfecting this honey-sweetened chocolate zucchini cake recipe during the last several weeks. I’ve told you this before, but chocolate REALLY makes me happy.
It sure has helped having buckets and buckets of zucchini coming out of my garden every few days. And there haven’t been any complaints from the eating crew either. Instead looks of pure happiness appear when yet another chocolate zucchini cake shows up for dessert two and three days in a row.
Yep. Those green slimy veggies are well disguised amidst the chocolate. Chocolate always makes things better, doesn’t it?
And like zucchini tends to do in baked goods, the moisture in this cake is amazing. And adds to the whole enjoyable eating experience. Even the leftovers the next day, which have inevitably ended up as my lunch, are still as moist and delicious as can be.
And I love that you can grate those long green beauties right into the cake batter without needing to squeeze any moisture out of them at all. It makes for a really quick prep time so you can get eating this cake even quicker. And you will appreciate that once you taste it. The quicker it can get in your belly, the better.
I hope you’ve got yourself a source for zucchini my friends because this one really deserves your undivided attention. As in Make. This. Now.
Trust me, it’s so good.
Honey-sweetened chocolate zucchini cake
Let’s talk about honey cakes for a second. I believe this is the first true honey cake I’ve shared on this blog, but honey cakes are made all the time at my house. You will be seeing a lot more in the near future as I perfect the others that we make all the time.
Honey has a bad rep for being heavy in cakes. But really that only happens when you substitute it in wrong. After dozens of trial cakes, we’ve learned how to sub honey in for sugar and make the lightest, most beautifully textured cakes. And this chocolate zucchini cake is a prime example of that.
Yes, my friends honey cakes can be amazing. Believe me.
I’ve mentioned this before, but make sure you use raw honey in all my recipes. The regular honey you buy at the store is actually not pure honey. Often honey from the store has been watered down or mixed with corn syrup so it turns out different and will especially affect the texture of the cake. So try to find a source for raw honey. It will make a huge difference.
I’ve included an almost-no-sugar frosting recipe with this cake that we love. In full disclosure, there is a tiny bit of sugar in the chocolate chips, but if you use dark chocolate chips it’s not much at all. You can also frost this cake with the German Chocolate Frosting that I posted a little while ago. There’s even a honey-sweetened version of that if you want a dessert that’s 100% naturally sweetened.
I’ve made this cake in both pyrex and aluminum 9×13-inch pans as well as a bundt pan (aff. link) and ALL were delicious. The cooking time is very similar although the bundt may take a few minutes more.
If your tastes at all match mine, then this chocolate zucchini cake will be an amazing addition to your favorite zucchini recipes. Enjoy.
Chocolate Zucchini Cake {Honey-Sweetened}
Perfectly moist and sweetened with honey, this chocolate zucchini cake is one of my favorite cakes ever. And that chocolate ganache glaze is truly what chocolate dreams are made of.
Ingredients
For Cake:
- 1 ½ cups (7.5 ounces) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (2 ounces) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (12 ounces) raw honey
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 cups (10 ounces) shredded zucchini
For Chocolate Glaze:
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup (6 ounces) dark chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons (2.25 ounces) raw honey
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a bundt or 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray or butter and set aside.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, add the eggs, honey, buttermilk and oil and whisk well until mixture is smooth. Stir in zucchini. Add dry ingredients through a sifter into the wet ingredients (see note). Whisk to combine just until no more dry spots remain. Be careful not to overmix.
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Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake in preheated 325 degree F oven for 40 to 50 minutes or cake no longer jiggles and inserted toothpick comes out clean. For bundt cake, after removing from oven let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes and then invert onto cooling rack or plate to cool. Cake can be frosted with glaze warm or cooled.
For Chocolate Glaze:
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Heat cream in microwave or on stovetop for a couple of minutes until scalded (temperature between 100 and 130 degrees F).
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In a heat safe bowl, add chocolate chips, honey, butter, and vanilla. Pour warm cream over top and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir until well-mixed together and chocolate is glossy. Frost cake with warm glaze.
Recipe Notes
1. If your dry ingredients have clumps (due to clumpy cocoa powder) after whisking together, adding the dry ingredients through a sifter into the wet ingredients will get rid of the clumps. This is optional, but will make for a nicer textured cake.
2. I’ve made this recipe in a bundt pan, a pyrex glass 9×13-inch pan, and an aluminum foil pan. In each case, the baking time is very similar, but may vary by a few minutes, give or take.
3. Make sure you use raw honey. The regular honey you buy at the store is actually not true honey. Often honey from the store has been watered down or mixed with corn syrup so it turns out different and will especially affect the texture of the cake (since it will have a lot more water in it than raw honey).
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
Made this cake for a bday and everyone really liked it. I was just wondering why the cake didn’t rise up nicely like a typical cake. I used a Bundt pan and all my ingredients were fresh, the amount of baking powder in the recipe only called for a 1/4 teaspoon, wondering if this might be the reason?
Hmm..do you use rumford aluminum free baking powder? That might be it. I’ve never had a problem with the rise on this and made it many times. It could be your honey was not raw also. If it has too much water content I can see it needing more flour likely to allow for a proper rise.
This cake was delicious and your recipe was perfectly written! Thank you. I made it for my book club when we read MAD HONEY book. They raved and I shared your web site.
Thank you Shagopi!
Thank you Heather for this new family favorite! Keep the honey sweetened recipes coming. (And I have a glut of maple syrup around, hint hint.) Works great with gluten free flour, too.
Thanks Maria! I haven’t experimented much with maple syrup but someone needs to!!
This recipe is outrageously good.Made it for my daughter’s birthday as she is sugar free & fancied using the zucchini from the garden.
For the glaze omitted the choc. chips & stirred some butter, a bit of honey & cocoa into the hot cream.(The glaze recipe would have been way too sweet.)It was perfect & everyone loved it!
For the cake alone….5 stars.
Thanks Sara. I agree the glaze is super decadent, but I love it that way. 🙂
I just made this for a friend recovering from surgery…I will deliver tomorrow, so I need to refrigerate it after glazing? My hunch is yes but wanted to make sure.
So far everything tastes great! And I am almost done processing our honey from the hive so it’s fresh and raw!!
Thank you 🍯
Hi Julie, I usually refrigerate it if it’s more than about 24 hours. Glad you like the recipe. ☺️that’s awesome about your fresh honey
It’s SO good! Not too sweet, and it doesn’t make me feel yucky when I eat it. Honestly this might legitimately be the first thing I’ve made since starting to bake without sugar (~6 months ago) that I haven’t immediately wanted to throw in the garbage.
I used coconut oil instead of canola oil, subbed King Arthur Measure For Measure gluten-free flour one-to-one, and subbed ‘vegan buttermilk’ (which for the uninitiated is just where you curdle a bit of plant-based milk with vinegar or lemon juice). I also sprinkled in a bit of instant coffee to help bring out the chocolate. That sounds like a lot of substitutions but I’m experienced enough with my own dietary restrictions that I knew they would work, and they did! The cake ended up needing the full 50 minutes (maybe a bit more), unsurprising since I used a bundt pan.
I didn’t make any glaze or frosting but if I did I think I’d go with vanilla — it’s already pretty rich (maybe especially since the depth of bundt pans leads to relatively dense cake), and I think I’d rather cut that with a lighter flavor than intensify it with more chocolate.
Overall five stars for sure!! Thanks for the recipe, Heather 🙂
Thanks for sharing your feedback and substitutions Claire! So glad they worked out.:)
Can I use greek yogurt instead of buttermilk?
Hi Deka, I think it would work to sub half Greek yogurt, half milk for the buttermilk. Greek yogurt on its own would probably be a bit too thick. Let me know how it turns out!
This is my new favorite chocolate cake. Not even my favorite “healthy” chocolate cake. Give me this one every time, zucchini and all. We’ve made it with no frosting for breakfast (shh, don’t tell anyone) and tonight with the frosting for dessert. It was delicious both ways. 40 min. bake time was just right in my glass 9″x13″ pan, and unlike the author of this blog I live at sea level…I left all the leavening measurements the same and it baked up great! Last time I used special raw honey from the farm market. This time I used Sam’s Club honey. Both worked very well. Thanks Heather!
Oh I’m so glad you left a comment Rebekah. And mums the word here as far as cake for breakfast goes haha. Hey it has zucchini in it. 🙂 I agree this does not taste at all like a healthy chocolate cake. I’m also glad to know it works at different elevations and that different honey brands work as well. Thanks again for letting me know. Now I’m super jealous I don’t have a piece of this sitting in front of me right now.
Hi Heather, can I make this without using the zucchini?
HI Melissa, I’ve never tried this particular recipe without zucchini. 🙂
I am so excited to make this cake with honey (raw) tonight. My mom has been suffering with a stomach issue and any sugar accept honey and especially sugar and fruit gets her stomach so upset but she loves dessert and sweets so this made her so happy 😊 Thank you
Thanks Lisa! Hope you and your mom love it 🙂
Where do you get your raw honey? Would love to try this. Thanks!
Hi Mindy we buy it from a local guy here in bulk (5 gallon buckets—we use a lot!) I think he also sells it in smaller quantities. Send me an email thecookstreat at gmail dot com and I can give you his info if you’re interested.