Welcome to the world of zucchini cocoa cake. It’s fluffy and it’s healthy! It is a chocolate cake that packs incognito veggies and makes your indulgence that much more awesome.
Apparently zucchini & chocolate is a famous combination in the world of cakes. I decided to try it out, but gave it an even healthier spin (no dairy and no sugar). The zucchini makes the cake wonderfully moist, and gives it the texture of any old fashioned cake (where a ton of butter is used to achieve the same effect). I love making this cake as a healthy snack that I can have for a couple of days. A healthy snack is especially handy during the weeks when I’ll know I’ll be busy and tempted to eat something chocolatey in order to endure the stress. So instead, I eat this, which is basically like eating vitamins but then with a cocoa flavor ;).
You’ll need
Prep time: 15 min
Baking time: 40-50 min
Eggs, 2
Zucchini, 300g, grated/very finely chopped
Honey, 6 tbsp, or you can use maple syrup
Flour, 450g, wholegrain, self-rising, use buckwheat or oatmeal flour* for a gluten free version
Cocoa powder, 50g, organic, sugarfree
Cinnamon, 3 teaspoons
Walnuts, 50-100g depending on how much you love them, roughly chopped – or use pecans or almonds
Salt, pinch
Parchment paper & baking dish
*Oatmeal flour can be made by blending oatmeal flakes for 30sec in any (simple) blender
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Mix the eggs, salt and honey in a bowl until smooth mixture. Mix the flour, cocoa and cinnamon in another bowl until well mixed. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir well until smooth. Then add zucchini and again stir well until smooth. At last, add the chopped walnuts and mix slightly until they are somewhat spread through the mixture. Place the parchment paper into the baking dish. Pour the cake mixture into the baking dish. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the cake becomes firm. To test whether it’s done, poke it with a toothpick in the middle. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done! Let cool under a kitchen towel and enjoy!
P.s. this is not a very sweet cake. It’s more focused on the moisture, texture and cocoa flavor. If you would like a sweeter cake, or have someone coming over who’s not as much of a fan of healthy food as you, consider making a chocolate glazing. Melt (lactose free) dark chocolate and pour it over the cake. Let cool down, then refrigerate for about 1hr until the chocolate topping has set. 🙂