Healthy Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

It’s that time of year where all of your neighbours who garden are giving you giant zucchinis because they have so many. In my neighbourhood, that’s us! We’ve got lots of zucchinis, even after sharing a few. My preschooler said that she wanted to give them all to the neighbours because she doesn’t like zucchinis. She didn’t know when she was asking for her second piece of this chocolate zucchini cake that there was zucchini in it! Both my little ones loved this chocolate cake so much and didn’t notice one bit that it was gluten-free, refined sugar free, and contained veggies.

Sometimes with gluten free cakes, they come out crumbly and dry. This one, thanks to the Greek yogurt and the zucchini, came out moist and delicious! The whole family enjoyed this one, and a slice of this cake alongside a cup of coffee is the perfect afternoon treat.

Recipe

Ingredients

Cake
2 cups of gluten free baking flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
¾ cup of cocoa powder
1 ¾ cups of coconut sugar
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons of instant coffee powder (optional)
½ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted grassfed organic butter, melted and cooled
⅓ cup of grassfed organic plain greek yogurt
4 pasture-raised eggs
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
3 cups of grated zucchini, excess liquid removed
1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Glaze
4 tablespoons of unsalted grassfed organic butter
½ cup of coconut sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of milk (any kind, I used oat milk)
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a large bundt pan with butter, then coat with some cocoa powder by adding a spoonful to the pan and turning and tapping the pan to fully coat it, then tap out the excess.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the GF baking flour, cocoa powder, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, instant coffee powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until fully incorporated. Fold in the grated zucchini and chocolate chips, then pour the batter into the bundt pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before turning over and tapping the pan to remove the cake. Let it cool to room temperature.
3. When the cake has cooled down, make the glaze by heating the butter, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, and milk in a small sauce pot on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the glaze is shiny and thick. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Set aside for a few minutes until the glaze is just slightly above room temperature. Place your cake on a serving platter and pour the glaze over the top.

 

Notes: I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free baking flour and did not need to add the xanthan gum that is suggested on the package instructions. Don’t wait longer than 15 minutes to turn over your bundt cake and remove from the pan because a cooled down cake will stick more to the pan. The glaze will thicken at room temperature so only let it cool a few minutes before pouring over the cake. If it gets too thick to pour, just heat it a little.

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Contributed by Melanie Maxwell, R.H.N.
https://www.vibrantlywell.com/