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 9x13-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 9x13-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).