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    You are here: Home / Courses / Desserts / Chocolate Courgette Cake

    Chocolate Courgette Cake

    6 June 2022 - By Michelle Minnaar
    This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Jump to Recipe

    This chocolate courgette cake is absolutely scrumptious! Light, fluffy and with a vanilla icing that’s out of this world, you’ll be amazed at how well courgette works when used as a cake ingredient.

    slices of chocolate courgette cake with buttercream icing and a dessert fork.

    So, get that apron on and get baking!

    Why you’ll love this recipe

    • The sponge is light and has a wonderfully chocolatey flavour
    • The vanilla icing is to die for
    • You can amaze your friends and family with the unexpectedly yummy taste

    Equipment needed to make this recipe

    There are a few key kitchen items you’ll need for this chocolate courgette cake recipe:

    • 20 x 35cm (8 x 14in) baking tin – you’ll need the right size loaf tin for this chocolate courgette cake recipe
    • Weighing scales – good set of kitchen scales is essential when it comes to cake-making
    • Measuring spoons – use measuring spoons when measuring out your ingredients, as they give you greater accuracy
    • Box grater – you’ll need this to grate your courgette
    • Mixing bowls – every baker needs a few quality mixing bowls to hand
    • Silicone spatula – a good silicone spatula gives you flexibility when mixing your ingredients
    • Hand whisk – a hand whisk is essential for whisking your wet ingredients
    • Sieve – you’ll need this for sieving your flour
    • Cooling rack – the all-important cooling rack for cooling your cake

    Ingredients you need to make this recipe

    There are a few special ingredients you’ll need to get hold of for this recipe:

    • Cocoa powder – you’ll need good quality cocoa powder for this recipe. Go for organic
    • Chocolate chips – high calibre chocolate chips really make a difference to the overall quality of this cake
    • Vanilla extract – again, good quality really pays off here. Extract instead of essence is the way to go, as you’ll really get that incredible vanilla flavour

    How to make chocolate courgette cake

    grated courgettes.

    Great the courgette. A food processor would make your life easier.

    mixing cake batter.

    Whisk the butter, oil and sugars together.

    mixing egg into cake batter.

    Whisk in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.

    ingredients to make chocolate cake batter.

    Gently fold in the dry ingredients.

    whisking cake batter.

    You should be left with a smooth chocolatey cake batter.

    adding courgette and chocolate chips to cake batter.

    Gently fold in the grated courgette and chocolate chips.

    Raw chocolate courgette cake batter in baking tin.

    Transfer the contents to a baking dish and bake.

    Baked chocolate courgette cake.

    Remove from the oven when cooked. A toothpick should come out clean. Cool completely.

    Mixing buttercream icing.

    Prepare the vanilla icing.

    Putting a buttercream icing on the chocolate courgette cake.

    Slather on the icing.

    Decorating Chocolate Courgette cake with walnut halves.

    Decorate with walnut pieces.

    What to serve with this chocolate courgette cake recipe

    This cake goes down spectacularly well with a cup of tea or coffee! If you want to pair it with a wine, go for a dessert wine or a dark-fruited red. You could even pair it with a delicious glass of Amarula cocktail!

    Popular substitutions for this recipe

    • You can substitute vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste
    • If you prefer, you can use coconut sugar in place of caster sugar and soft brown sugar
    • Use wholemeal flour in place of white flour for a slightly healthier alternative. You just need to add an extra ½ tsp of baking powder

    Variations for this recipe

    • For a gluten free chocolate courgette cake, use gluten free flour
    • Use slightly more or less sugar, based on your personal preferences
    • Add a teaspoon of mixed spice to give this cake a whole new dimension!

    Top Tips

    • Always use a good quality set of weighing scales to weigh your ingredients. The same with measuring spoons, which are more accurate than standard teaspoons. Precision really is key
    • Use room temperature eggs and butter. You’ll notice the difference
    • I used dark chocolate chips, you can omit them, or you can use milk or white chocolate chips if you like instead
    • For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract and not an essence. You can also use a vanilla bean paste
    slices of chocolate courgette cake with buttercream icing and a dessert fork.

    Do I use plain flour or self raising flour?

    As we use baking powder with this recipe, there’s no need for self raising flour. So, plain flour it is!

    Why use vegetable oil?

    Using vegetable oil in baking is a great way to make sure the cake comes out moist. This is because oil remains liquid at room temperature, whereas butter solidifies.

    Still, it’s hard to beat the taste of butter! So, for this recipe, I like to get the best of both worlds and use vegetable oil and butter.

    How do you grate courgette?

    Grating courgette is simple. You just need a box grater, then you can grate it by hand. You don’t even need to peel courgettes beforehand – just grate away!

    If you prefer, you can use a food processor with a grater attachment to grate your courgettes.

    How do you store chocolate courgette cake?

    This chocolate courgette cake needs to be stored in an airtight container. Keep it in a cool dry place.

    How long does it last?

    This cake will keep fresh for up to three days.

    Can you freeze it?

    If you want to keep it longer than three days, you’ll need to freeze it. Freezing this chocolate cake is certainly possible – although, keep it mind, you will lose some of the taste and texture.

    To freeze this cake, cut it into slices and place squares of baking paper between the slices. Then store in an airtight freezable container and freeze for up to three months.

    Can I make it in advance?

    Absolutely! You can make this cake up to three days in advance. If you do want to make it ahead of time, I recommend leaving the icing stage until you’re almost ready to serve it.

    More delicious chocolate cake recipes

    Chocoholics rejoice! If you’re one of the those people who can never get enough chocolate, here’s some more inspiration for you:

    • Black forest gateau – the kind of decadent chocolate cakes
    • Chocolate orange brownies – these little heavenly bites are very easy to whip up and nigh-on impossible to resist
    • African Prince pie – a chocolate dessert that’s fit for royalty
    • Chocolate concrete – an old-school classic that has stood the test of time. Serve it with this pink custard for a delicious blast from the past
    Print
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    Chocolate Courgette Cake Recipe


    ★★★★★

    5 from 1 reviews

    • Author: Michelle Minnaar
    • Total Time: 1 hour
    • Yield: 12 servings 1x
    • Diet: Vegetarian
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    This healthy Chocolate Courgette Cake is topped with a light vanilla icing and walnut halves. Perfect for tea time.


    Ingredients

    Scale

    Wet Ingredients

    • 120g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
    • 125ml (½ cup) sunflower oil
    • 100g (½ cup) caster sugar
    • 200g (1 cup) soft brown sugar
    • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
    • 125ml (½ cup) milk
    • 5ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

    Dry Ingredients

    • 350g (1¾ cups) plain flour
    • 8g (2 tsp) baking powder
    • 30g (4 tbsp) cocoa powder
    • 450g (1lb) courgettes, peeled and finely grated
    • 100g (3½oz) chocolate chips

    Vanilla Icing

    • 150g (⅔ cup) unsalted butter, softened
    • 10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
    • 375g (3 cups) icing sugar
    • cocoa powder, for decoration
    • 12 walnut halves [optional]

    Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/ fan 375°F/gas mark 4.
    2. Put the butter, oil and both sugars in a bowl and beat them together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and then the milk and vanilla. Set aside.
    3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together.
    4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. 
    5. Give the grated courgettes a squeeze to remove excess water. 
    6. Stir in the courgettes and vanilla.
    7. Tip the mixture into a 20 x 35xm (8 x 14in) baking tin lined with baking parchment. 
    8. Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the tin from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes.
    9. Place the cooling rack on top of the tin and slowly turn it over. Cover with a clean tea towel, set aside and let the cake cool completely. 
    10. Vanilla Icing: Meanwhile, whisk the butter, vanilla and icing sugar in a large bowl until fully combined. The icing should double in size and be light and fluffy. 
    11. Slather the icing on top of the cake, sprinkle with cocoa powder and decorate with walnuts. 
    12. Slice and serve immediately. Enjoy!

    Notes

    • Milk, as well as dark chocolate, chips will work in this recipe. 
    • Prep Time: 45 minutes
    • Cook Time: 15 minutes
    • Category: Dessert
    • Method: Bake
    • Cuisine: British

    Keywords: chocolate courgette cake, chocolate zucchini cake, chocolate courgette loaf, zucchini cake, vegetable zucchini cake, courgette cake recipe, summer cake recipe, courgette glut recipe, chocolate marrow cake

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @greedygourmet on Instagram and hashtag it #greedygourmet

     

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. chocolate shavings

      October 01, 2009 at 12:04 am

      That cake sounds amazing and what a cute photo of your son is adorable!

      Reply
    2. Adventures of Alice

      October 04, 2009 at 9:35 pm

      This looks delicious! I’ve made cookies and bread with courgettes, I’ll now have to try cakes! Thanks for sharing this recipes

      Reply
    3. WizzyTheStick

      October 04, 2009 at 10:19 pm

      Who can blame your son. Just look at that lovely picture. I want to dive right in it myself!

      Reply
    4. Carmen

      October 06, 2009 at 7:04 am

      This sounds yum. Have made courgette and walnut loaf before – that’s delicious, comes out kind of gingery and not dissimilar to carrot cake.

      Cooking with the kids so much stress yet so muh fun all rolled into one 😀 You can’t beat the expression on their faces 😉

      Reply
    5. Jonathan

      October 19, 2009 at 11:20 pm

      What a great recipe and I cannot believe what a cool picture of your son that is. Nice stuff.

      What’s the story about using courgette? Does it make it lighter?

      Reply
    6. Jonathan

      October 19, 2009 at 11:20 pm

      What a great recipe and I cannot believe what a cool picture of your son that is. Nice stuff.

      What’s the story about using courgette? Does it make it lighter?

      Reply
    7. Robyn

      February 24, 2010 at 12:40 pm

      Very interesting! I’m not normally a courgette fan but looking at Gabriel and the fun he’s having..

      Reply
    8. Samantha

      March 14, 2010 at 4:43 pm

      I have only tried making chocolate cake with beetroot and it tastes lovely (with a hint of maroon). Will have to give courgette a try then. By the way, Gabriel looked so adorable!

      Reply
    9. Renil M. George

      October 08, 2017 at 6:22 pm

      I love chocolate cake.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • michelle

        October 21, 2017 at 10:56 pm

        Me too. You don’t even taste the courgettes here 🙂

        Reply
    10. Serena

      November 30, 2019 at 1:33 pm

      sound super healthy!!!!!!! xoxoxoxo

      Reply

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