Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

It is obviously no secret that I love cake. I could eat cake every single day, multiple times a day.

Over the years, I have made a million different types of cake, well not really a million, but you get the drift.

As a kid/teenager and into my early adulthood and was living at home in good ole Ira, Texas, my parents always had zucchini in the garden. After awhile, the plain-Jane ways of consuming the bucket-loads of squash just wasn’t quite cutting it.

Why not combine my love of cake with the abundance of zucchini? This is where this recipe originated from. Rich chocolate, a cinnamon punch, and the zucchini lending a hand to create a moist cake: what’s not to love?

Ingredients

• vegetable oil spray
• flour
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 (3.9 ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups gently packed shredded zucchini
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust it with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then increase the speed to medium and beat the batter until fully smooth and thick.
3. Fold in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula, and place the pan into the oven.
4. Bake the cake until the top springs back when pressed with a finger, for about 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer the Bundt pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for about 15 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edges of the cake, shake the pan gently, and invert the cake onto a wire rack.
5. Let the cake cool completely, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir together 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and dust the spiced sugar mixture over the cooled cake. Slice and serve!

Keep it fresh: Store this cake in a cake saver, at room temperature, for up to one week.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust it with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.

Place the cake mix, pudding mix, 2/3 cup milk, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until the ingredients are incorporated. Scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula and continue to beat the cake batter on a medium speed for 1 minute longer. The batter should look smooth and thick.

 Meanwhile, grate 2 cups of loosely packed zucchini. Fold in the shredded zucchini and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. Mix well.

Pour the batter into prepared Bundt pan, smoothing over the top with a rubber spatula, and place cake in the oven. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes, or until the top springs back lightly when touched with a finger.

Once cake is cooked through, remove from oven and transfer the Bundt pan to a wire rack, and let cake cool for 15 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edges of the cake, shake the pan gently, and invent the cake on a wire rack to cool completely, 20 to 25 minutes more.

To serve: stir together 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and dust the spiced sugar mixture over the top of the cooled cake.

Store this cake in a cake saver, at room temperature, for up to one week.