Chocolate Zucchini Cake

By Gail Foley

I mixed up a couple of recipes for chocolate zucchini bread and chocolate zucchini bars and came up with this cake that everyone seems to love. So, I've made it several times since then with several different toppings – a dusting of powdered sugar, a peanut butter, buckeye topping and melted chocolate chips.

1 cup butter

2 oz. dark chocolate

2½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups white sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk (or soured milk – ½ cup milk + 1 ½ tsp. white vinegar, let it set a bit to curdle)

1 small ripe banana

2 cups fresh grated zucchini (if frozen, thaw and squeeze out a bit of the juice)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with canola oil spray.

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat or in microwave, whichever technique is preferred.

In medium mixing bowl, lightly fold together flour, salt, cocoa, baking soda and cinnamon.

In large mixer bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, combine butter, chocolate, sugar, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and banana. Fold in zucchini. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread in prepared baking dish.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

While still warm, sprinkle with a bag of milk chocolate chips, spread with a knife to cover as they melt. OR

Mix up your favorite buckeye filling (peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar), warm it up a bit to soften, and spread over warm cake. OR

Let cake cool completely and dust with powdered sugar. OR

Use your imagination – Chocolate frosting, Cream cheese frosting, Buttercream frosting, etc.