This tender and decadent Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake has plenty of shredded zucchini, deep chocolate flavor with a hint of cinnamon and cloves, and rich chocolate ganache on top.
I love the point in the summertime when fresh garden zucchini is plentiful for making delicious recipes both sweet and savory! This yummy cake recipe is actually what inspired my Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.
Some yummy zucchini baking recipes include my Simple Zucchini Bread or zesty Zucchini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. One of my favorite savory zucchini recipes is Zucchini Fritters served with sour cream or a tangy lemon black pepper aioli.
⭐️ Why You Need to Make This Recipe
- Texture - This chocolate bundt cake is so incredibly moist and tender from the oil, buttermilk, and plenty of shredded zucchini in the batter.
- Flavor - The cake boasts deep chocolate flavor with a hint of cinnamon and cloves topped with rich semisweet chocolate ganache.
- Serving - The depth of chocolate flavor makes this cake great served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
🧈 Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make this chocolate zucchini bundt cake.
Ingredient Notes
- Oil - Using oil in cake batter makes for an extremely moist texture that stays soft for days.
- Buttermilk - You can make homemade buttermilk for this recipe.
- Cocoa - I use and recommend Dutch-processed cocoa powder for a depth of smooth chocolate flavor.
- Zucchini - Grate 2-3 medium-sized zucchini with the skin on (wash well before grating). I prefer using a smaller grater setting for this but a larger one would work too.
- Chocolate Chips - Any kind of semisweet chocolate may be used to make the ganache but chocolate chips are easy and most cost-effective.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with measurements
📃 Instructions
Step 1: Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, oil, milk, and grated zucchini.
Step 3: Mix the combined dry ingredients into the wet ingredients just until combined and pour into a prepared bundt pan.
Step 4: Bake in a preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the pan and let cool fully before topping with the ganache.
Step 5: Heat whipping cream until scalding and pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute.
Step 6: Whisk until smooth and fully combined. Let cool and thicken before spreading over the cooled cake.
💡 Top Tip
You could bake this cake in a regular 9X13-inch cake pan instead of using a bundt pan. Reduce the baking time to 35-45 minutes if using a regular cake pan.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Bundt cakes are typically very moist and dense and they are baked in a fluted tube pan with a hole in the middle.
I recommend using a homemade cake release made from a combination of oil and flour brushed into the pan for an easy release after baking.
Yes, you could bake this cake in a greased 9x13-inch cake pan instead of a bundt pan.
Store cake covered well at room temperature for up to 4 days.
🍫 More Recipes with Ganache
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this Zucchini Chocolate Bundt Cake or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and write a little note telling me how it went in the comments below. Thank you!!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 10-cup bundt pan
- mixing bowls
- measuring cups & spoons
- whisk
- grater
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cocoa
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- ¾ cup oil
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
For the Chocolate Ganache:
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
To make the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan * with a combination of 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon of flour mixed together and brush all over the inside of the pan.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, oil, and milk until fully combined. Add the shredded zucchini and stir in. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir just until the flour is incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the greased pan and smooth out the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate to finish cooling before spreading on the ganache. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!
To make the Chocolate Ganache:
- Heat the cream in the microwave or on the stove until it is very hot to the touch. Pour over top of the chocolate chip in a bowl and let sit for 1 minute before whisking to fully incorporate. Fill a piping bag with the ganache and pipe over the cooled cake or spread over the cake with a spatula.
Notes
- You could bake this cake in a greased 9x13-inch cake pan instead of a bundt pan.
Lori
I made this cake for company. It was so chocolaty!! It was certainly a big hit with our friends.
Naomi
That's fantastic to hear!! Thank you for leaving a review!
Naomi
Taryn Johnson
The flavours in this recipe are amazing. 😍 Instead of making a bundt cake, I actually turned the batter into cupcakes (for built-in portion control 😜) and baked them at 350 for 20 minutes. Perfect! (Especially good when warm right out of the oven.)
Naomi
That is such a great idea - thank you for sharing! I'm happy to hear that you loved this recipe!
Naomi
Lisa M Daly
A classic. I can't wait to have a slice! I added a tsp of vanilla, chocolate chips, and used buttermilk instead of regular milk. I also used light brown sugar instead of dark, because that's what I had on hand
Naomi
Very good substitutions, Lisa! Thank you for reviewing this recipe!!
Naomi