Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake with Ganache

Rich and chocolatey, allergy-friendly chocolate zucchini bundt cake topped with ganache made from coconut milk & vegan chocolate chips. 

I love this time of year. The weather is getting warmer, everyone spends more time enjoying the outdoors and farmer’s market start to open up everywhere. This season is especially wonderful because we are now in a new home that has 3 amazing garden beds and I’ve taken full advantage of them by planting a variety of herbs and vegetables. There is nothing like the taste of fresh, homegrown produce and I cannot wait to see what actually grows in my garden this year.

Until then, I’m relying on markets for my veggies and one of my favorites to buy would be zucchini. They are everywhere right now and I usually buy a ton. Some of them are eaten sliced and raw. Others are baked or added to a quick stir-fry but my favorite use of zucchini is by adding their grated shreds into breads. I was saving a few as per my daughter’s request to make the Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread from my early blog post but I decided to change it up a bit. How about chocolate cake?

I was searching for the perfect recipe and of course I couldn’t find a healthier cake recipe that was also allergy safe and  vegan so I adapted this one from King Arthur and then added a few little twists on it, like a chocolate ganache topping and a coconut cream whip. And as an extra bonus, if you are wanting a little less sugar or oil, this recipe uses pure cane sugar and plain applesauce instead. Now you really can’t say “no”.

Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Flour makes the one flour that most closely resembles traditional flour and tastes the least like sand. So if you’re wanting G-free, this is the way to go.

The recipe actually makes a good amount of batter and so I decided to use my mini bundt cake pan and left the remaining for a 9×9. It worked out beautifully since I had 12 individual cakes and about another 12-16 squares that were gone in no time! Cooking time was the same for either, which made it easy for me.

So next time you find yourself at the farmer’s market, pick up a few extra zucchini so you can whip up this chocolatey treat. If you have time, the chocolate ganache is well worth the few extra minutes. If you’re looking for more delicious recipes using veggies, check out these Sweet Potato Blondies from Healthy Seasonal Recipes. With a few little tweaks, you can make this allergy-friendly too.

The Recipe

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Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake with Ganache

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

A rich and chocolatey, allergy-friendly and vegan cake topped with ganache made from coconut milk & vegan chocolate chips. Zucchini is the secret ingredient!

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Ingredients

• ½ cup Earth Balance Soy Free butter
• ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 1/3 cups cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tsp ener-g egg replacer + 4 TB warm water, mixed together
• 3/4 cup vanilla coconut yogurt or Tofutti sour cream
• 2½ cups AP flour
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional, but worth it
• 2½ to 3 cups shredded zucchini (about one large zucchini)
• 1 cup Vegan chocolate chips
• Chocolate Ganache Topping
• 6 oz Culinary Coconut milk
• 9 oz chopped chocolate
• Coconut Milk Whip
• 1/2 C. Powder Sugar (can throw regular cane sugar in your blender and turn on high until powder forms)
• 1- 1 1/2 C. So Delicious Culinary Coconut Milk
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly coat your mini bundt cakes (or 9x13" pan) with baking spray
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, applesauce, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
3. Beat in the egg replacer mixture, until incorporated.
4. Stir in the yogurt or sour cream alternately with the flour, starting and ending with the flour. Stir in the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1 cup of chocolate chips.
5. If you find the batter is too thick, add in a little more yogurt or splash of coconut milk.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared tins no more than 3/4 full.
7. Bake the cake for 35 - 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a rack.
8. To prepare the ganache topping, heat the coconut and chocolate for 1 minute in the microwave. Wait 1-2 minutes then stir to combine. It may take a few minutes of stirring for the ganache to come together… but it will.
9. Allow to cool slightly then either dip the tops of cooled bundt cakes into frosting or pour over cake and smooth with offset spatula. Allow frosting to set for about 30 minutes before serving..if you can wait that long.
10. If making Coconut Whip, simply pour Coconut milk and vanilla into powder sugar. Whip until incorporated. Adding more milk if need. Refrigerate before serving to allow it to thicken a little more.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 340Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 163mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 2gSugar: 29gProtein: 5g

Nutritional information is only an estimate based off of using an online calculator. Numbers will change depending on brands used.