Chocolate Zucchini Coffee Cake

 

I actually feel a bit guilty presenting this cake as a zucchini recipe. It’s a bit indulgent for an over-abundant vegetable vehicle. The zucchini is rather well-hidden, in fact. There’s so much chocolatiness and richness and cake-ness that the two whole cups of shredded zucchini can be your little secret.

This coffee cake is a simple adaptation of this Chocolate Zucchini Quick Bread. Quick bread batters, such as those for muffins, quick bread loaves, and coffee cakes, can usually be interchanged; baked into each other’s shapes, if you will. For example, I recently baked this zucchini bread recipe into 24 muffins instead of two 8-inch loaves. I guessed that the batter for the original chocolate zucchini bread loaves would fit in a 13 x 9-inch rectangular cake pan, and it worked so nicely, it made me look like I really knew what I was doing!

I also borrowed from another Archive recipe, this cappuccino coffee cake, for the crumb topping. It’s a sweet and chocolatey addition to an already sweet and chocolatey cake. The crumb topping works really well here, but you could make the cake without it. If you don’t top it with crumbs, you could frost your cake with something like the cream cheese frosting in this carrot cake recipe.

Despite having two cups of wholesome vegetables in the batter, this recipe doesn’t exactly make a virtuous dish. This is definitely a rich, sweet treat, made moist by some of that surplus zucchini. It’s certainly dessert-worthy, and is great on a coffee or tea break, but I’m here to tell you that it makes a delicious, if indulgent, breakfast, too! Just as a coffee cake should!

Chocolate Zucchini Coffee Cake with Chocolate Crumb Topping

For the crumb topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

For the cake:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

¾ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup canola oil

¾ cup plain yogurt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a small bowl, combine all of the topping ingredients, except the butter. Stir together to combine well.

2. Cut the butter into small pieces. Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, a fork, or with your hands until the butter is in very small pieces that are well-coated with the flour mixture. A clump of the mixture should hold together when squeezed. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter or spray with cooking spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk or sift together to combine well.

5. In another large bowl, beat the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together with a whisk until the mixture is smooth and pale. Beat in the oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract, continuing to whisk until very smooth.

6. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the dry mixture is moistened. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top. Squeeze the crumb topping into clumps and distribute it evenly over the batter. Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out without any wet batter clinging to it. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 26-20 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Zucchini Multigrain Coffee Cake, Carrot Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

One year ago: Lemon Layer Cake