Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Mocha Frosting

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake, a chocolate cake recipe that is moist and light, and you would never know that a summer squash is a secret ingredient. For the icing, I use a classic cocoa powder that makes it taste more like mocha frosting.

                                 

My neighbor sent over these two huge zucchinis last week, and I mean huge. Before I thought about it, I had started cutting into one when I wished I had taken a picture of them so you could see how big they were.

I could not decide what to make with them until I scrolled through the internet and found several recipes for Zucchini Bread.  I used one zucchini to make two recipes for zucchini bread, and one recipe makes two loaves each.

I changed the two recipes up and made one recipe with shredded apple and zucchini and one recipe with just zucchini. They turned out fantastic. We could not tell the difference between the recipe with an apple from the recipe with just zucchini. Four loaves of Zucchini Bread was more than my husband, and I could ever eat by ourselves, so I sent two loaves over to the neighbors to enjoy.  

My daughter's family came over a couple of days later, and they enjoyed a loaf.

Well, one zucchini down and one to go.  I wanted to make Zucchini Brownies today, but I decided to create a cake recipe instead using the dark chocolate cocoa powder I had in my pantry.

This morning Dr. Rosenfeld  on Fox News segment "Sunday Housecall" was saying that dark chocolate is good for you if you do not have serious health issues like heart disease, diabetes, etc.

The 

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake With Mocha Frosting

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside. 

In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer using the paddle attachment cream sugar, egg, oil, and vanilla. When the mixture is creamy add the zucchini and mix well. 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, soda, and salt, and add to the zucchini mixture. Mix well and pour into the greased baking dish. 

Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature and frost cake with the Mocha Frosting.


Mocha Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons half and half

In a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer using the whisk attachment, cream butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla. 

Add powder sugar alternating with half and half one tablespoon at a time until a creamy consistency for frosting a cake is reached.

Cook's Note:  Recipe adapted from: Tried-And-True Cooking With Heidi