Recipe: Heavenly Chocolate Zucchini Cake

What to do with a zucchini on steroids?  As the season gears up, that’s a common question among enthusiastic gardeners.  This recipe from grandma is really heavenly  (yummy chocolate) but fresh & trendy (orange zesty) and delicious in a bundt cake with simple glaze or cupcakes with rich cream cheese frosting (my fav!) , and surely the zucchini makes it healthy.  What do you do with the never-ending surplus zucchini?

Heavenly Chocolate Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Difficulty Rating: Flat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Cake Ingredients

3/4 cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup milk
2 cups grated zucchini (if you don’t have a Microplane box grater for this you’re missing a must-have tool)
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Cream butter & sugar until fluffy.   Add eggs and remaining wet ingredients.  Mix dry ingredients in a bowl & add to wet ingredients. Mix to combine well.

Grease & flour a 10 cup bundt pan.  Pour batter in pan and bake for 1 hour. or until toothpick comes out clean  Turn out of pan and cool before glazing.

Chocolate Glaze:

3/4 cups chopped semisweet chocolate or chips
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a double boiler over simmering water.  Stir until melted and smooth then add vanilla.

Spread warm glaze over cake and let drizzle down sides.

Cupcakes:

Scoop batter into 24 mufffin cups ( about 3/4 full) lined with cupcake papers.  Bake for 20-35 (depending on size) minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a rack before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

12 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
2 cubes butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound confectioners’ sugar

Cream the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in an electric mixer.  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.  Frost cupcakes with a generous amount of frosting.  May garnish with orange zest.