Chocolate Zucchini Cake

If you think zucchini doesn’t belong in cake, this recipe is about to change your mind.

Shredded zucchini disappears into a cocoa batter enriched with both butter and oil, plus buttermilk for tang and tenderness. Brown sugar gives it a deeper, more caramel-like sweetness than white sugar alone, and a good hit of cinnamon runs underneath all that chocolate.

Chocolate chips go on top before baking so they melt into a gooey crust.

This is a keeper. It stays moist for days, which is rare for a sheet cake.

Kitchen Tips

• Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Fine shreds dissolve too completely and you lose some of the moisture benefit.
• The batter is thick. Stir the zucchini in by hand rather than with a mixer to avoid overworking the flour.
• Bake low and slow. The lower oven temperature keeps the cake from doming in the center and drying at the edges.
• No frosting needed. The melted chip topping handles that job.