chocolate chip zucchini sheet cake with coffee frosting
This cake was one I fully expected to suck, but ended up becoming the opposite of suckage.
I sometimes write recipes and test them out with not much expectation the first time around. Zucchini is an ingredient I struggle to use because it’s finicky and moist (yeah yeah, go cringe) – last summer I swept through six trials of a cake that all flopped in different ways. Not the most redeeming time of my culinary life, though the cake tasted wonderful and I gave my mom a big hunk for her birthday. After awhile, sometimes a concept needs to go die.
So I was pleasantly surprised when trial one of this sheet cake was absolute bomb. J’s run club absolutely devoured it, and that’s alongside all the strawberry ice cream bars I sent with him, too.
This cake is all kinds of excellent. Soft, spiced base, plenty of chocolate chips, and the most incredible soft finger-licking buttercream infused with coffee flavor. Totally places somewhere on top of my shortlist of best cakes I’ve ever made.
This recipe was largely scraped up from my Spiced Carrot Sheet Cake, replacing the carrot with zook. The result is a wonderfully tender, rich cake that’s both wonderfully flavored yet light in texture. This treat is an awesome afternoon nibble with a cup of coffee, or something to share as a post-dinner morsel. Also quite easy overall, and stands up well if you need to prep it ahead of time.
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Zucchini
The most trying part of this recipe is grating and squeezing the living shit out of the zucchini. And really, that’s not even that hard, just kind of annoying.
I use my box grated to shred the veggies, then grab a handful of paper towels and really press all that water out of the pieces. You might need to repeat this a couple time to ensure that most of the moisture is no longer present. Also turns your towels a nice chartreuse hue. When all is said and done, you should end up with 1 1/2 cups of zucchini – I needed 2 big dudes for the job.
Then, you can start up on the batter. Most of the ingredients are very familiar to my cakemaking. First oil, sugar, and brown sugar, then eggs, vanilla, and Greek yogurt for a lovely tender crumb.
Then, mix in your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and some cinnamon for a lil spice.
A second key to a good batter is to toss your chocolate chips with flour before adding them to the cake. This helps prevent them from sinking to the very bottom and sticking to your parchment after you bake. Once you do that, swirl in the chips and the zucchini until incorporated, but take care not to overmix the batter, else it’ll bake up stiff.
Pour the batter into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan lined with parchment. Be sure some parchment overhangs the sides for easy grabbage. Bake that fucker until the center no longer jiggles and the toothpick does not emerge with a sticky wet mass attached. Plop the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely.
Buzz Buzz
Oh, this frosting. It’s like the fucking King Tut of frostings. I will be mummified with the recipe for this frosting. One of my favorites.
We’ve got here a succulent cream cheese base, infused with lots of vanilla and a hit of instant coffee. Considering how much sugar folks put in their frappuccinos and lattes, you might as well qualify this cake as a morning cuppa. Probably tastes better, too, if I’m totally honest.
I find it easiest to follow this order of operations with the buttercream. First, whip the butter and cream cheese together until fluffy. Then, add in your powdered sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee. Start the mixer on slow so you don’t have a snowstorm of powdered sugar on all your kitchen crevices; then, once it begins to mix nicely with the butter and cream cheese, flip that switch on high and let her rip until the buttercream is light, airy, and smooth.
Frost that cooled cake with heaps of the buttercream. I go hogwild with it because it’s almost as dope as the cake itself.
Here, you can wrap up the cake and set in the fridge for a few days, or slice it up and serve right away. Make sure you save a nibble or two for yourself!
I didn’t test it this way, but I’m betting you can swap out the zucchini for banana if you want to make a banana cake instead. If you do so, let me know!
If you want just a standard vanilla buttercream, you can omit the coffee. Perhaps if you have kids this is a wise choice. Or, use a decaf instant espresso? Also an option if little ones are involved in your thinking.
Maybe soon I’ll dream up some savory zucchini recipes, but least we’re dipping our toes in the world of our phallic vegetable friend. I made that sound real good, didn’t I?
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Summertime and the nommin’s easy:
Grown-Up Funfetti Cupcakes with Bourbon Strawberry Buttercream
chocolate chip zucchini sheet cake with coffee frosting
Ingredients
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated (about 2 large zucchini)
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
coffee cream cheese frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 3 – 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp instant espresso/coffee
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with parchment.
- Grate the zucchinis into a bowl. Squeeze excess moisture with paper towels or a clean tea towel – you may need to do this more than once to really get all the water out of the pieces. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups grated, squeezed zucchini.
- In a large bowl, beat the oil and sugars until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and Greek yogurt. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Do not overmix.
- Toss the chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of flour. Fold into the cake batter along with the zucchini.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap a couple times on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake for 30-35 minutes until an inserted toothpick emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Set the tray on a wire rack and let the cake cool completely.
- When the cake is cool (sunglasses and all), make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee. Start on low speed to incorporate the powdered sugar, then switch to high until the frosting is airy and soft, about 2-3 minutes.
- Lift the cake out of the pan by the edges of the parchment. Frost with the buttercream (or pipe patterns and shit, have fun with it). Slice and serve, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
