All summer long I’ve been searching aimlessly for zucchini recipes due to a ginormous surplus of them growing in my garden this year. There is such thing as TOO MUCH ZUCCHINI! I’ve become one of those people – the kind that take their zucchini to their workplace and coerce others into taking it home with them just to get rid of it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, so I figured I better come up with another way. Devin Alexander came to my rescue! This Chocolate Chocolate Zucchini Cake is decadent but light-tasting, exactly what I’m always searching for in a dessert! As you probably know, zucchini takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. So just imagine this recipe – with its cocoa powder, chocolate chips, cinnamon and vanilla yogurt. Yep, it’s that good! So eat it up!
My Cake!
Chocolate Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Devin Alexander
(Healthy Decadence)
Ease-Factor Rating: 3. If you know baking procedures at all, you probably understand by now that dry ingredients mix together, wet ingredients mix together, then the two are combined. Same goes here, just add in a bit of extra sifting for the dry stuff and it’s cake! Ha – sorry, couldn’t help it…
Ingredient Search: I happily realized after looking at the ingredients list that I had most of the stuff on-hand. Fat-free vanilla yogurt doesn’t last very long in my casa thanks to, well, me – but everything is found within 5 minutes at the grocery store thanks to the fantastic baking aisle!
Vitals: Per serving (Makes 24): Calories = 135; Protein = 3 g; Carbs = 28 g; Fat = 1 g saturated; Trace of cholesterol; Fiber = 1 g; Sodium = 121 mg. Note that the fiber count is only 1 gram, but consider the fact that most desserts have nilch and you’ll realize this is still a sweet deal!
Taste: Light and chocolatey, I REALLY like the sweet treat of the chocolate chips scattered on top of the cake! Some of them fall to the bottom during baking and others stay afloat, so you get that added bite of gooey chocolate when you least expect it. YUM! As I mentioned before, it has a very light texture so you don’t feel an ounce of guilt for eating it. Plus it lasted WAY longer in the fridge than I expected it to. Devin says for a couple days, but mine lasted 5 (just ate the last piece last night!).
Ingredients:
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1/2 cup fat free milk
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass dish or cake pan with non-stick spray. In a medium measuring cup, stir together the milk and the vinegar. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt into a medium bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with beaters, mix the egg whites with the sugar on low speed until they are well combined. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla and milk mixture until they are just thoroughly blended.
Gradually add the sifted flour mixture, stirring it in until it is blended. Then using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in the zucchini until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out dry (a few crumbs are okay). Remove the cake to a cooling rack. Allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes and cut it into 24 equal pieces. Serve immediately or store in an airtight plastic container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Makes 24 servings.
