Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache — The best zucchini cake ever!! Soft, moist, and you can’t even taste the zucchini! Tastes like a yellow bakery cake drenched in chocolate!!
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bundt Cake Recipe
It’s zucchini season and if you make one dessert with zucchini this year, this is the one. Ironically, if you couldn’t see the green flecks, you’d hardly even know zucchini was included.
Like bananas or pumpkin, zucchini is fabulous to bake with because it imparts so much moisture into baked goods and so it’s impossible to have a dry cake. Between the oil — which keeps cakes and muffins softer, springier, and more tender than butter — and the sour cream, this cake is supremely moist, soft, and fluffy.
Chocolate chips are woven throughout the cake and chocolate ganache is poured over the top. What your tastebuds tell you that you’re eating is super soft yellow bakery cake with chocolate galore.
The ganache is so easy to make and comes together in about 1 minute in the microwave. Chocolate chips, cream, and vanilla. It’s so simple to make but tastes so decadent and the ganache stays a bit soft and silky even over time.
I adapted the recipe from The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Chocolate Ganache, which has been a reader favorite for the past 5 years. It’s so good I even included it in my cookbook.
My family and I loved this chocolate chip zucchini cake and because it’s made with zucchini I kept telling myself it’s healthier. Which of course justifies eating seconds and thirds.
What’s in the Zucchini Bundt Cake?
For this zucchini cake with chocolate chips, you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Canola oil
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Shredded zucchini
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
And to make the chocolate ganache, you’ll need:
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Half-and-half or cream
- Vanilla extract
Can I Omit the Chocolate Chips?
If you’d like to make a classic zucchini bundt cake recipe, you may omit the chocolate chips. However, my family loves when I make this as a chocolate zucchini bundt cake loaded with chocolate chips and topped with ganache!
Do I Have to Peel the Zucchini?
No! You don’t have to peel zucchini before shredding it and adding it to the cake batter.
How to Make Zucchini Bundt Cake
Whisk together the wet ingredients, then add in the dry. Gently stir in the shredded zucchini, followed by the chocolate chips.
Turn the batter into a greased and floured 12-cup bundt pan. Bake the zucchini bundt cake until top has set, is lightly golden browned, or a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. Due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the toothpick test.
Once the chocolate chip zucchini cake has cooled, top with homemade chocolate ganache.
Do I Have to Make This in a Bundt Pan?
I baked the cake in a 12-cup Bundt pan, but it can be baked in a 10-cup Bundt because it’s not a very ‘tall’ cake and wouldn’t overflow a 10-cup pan.
You’d probably have success dividing the batter between two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans or as muffins but I haven’t played around with it.
How to Store Zucchini Bundt Cake
This zucchini chocolate chip bundt cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Can I Freeze the Zucchini Cake?
Yes, you may freeze the unfrosted chocolate chip zucchini bundt cake. It will last up to three months.
Tips for Making Zucchini Bundt Cake
You can use sour cream or plain Greek yogurt in this recipe — use whichever you have on hand! You can even use mayo, but be sure to omit the salt if you go that route.
I prefer using mini chocolate chips in this zucchini dessert, as they sink less and stay more evenly distributed within the cake.
Lastly, it’s important that you wring the zucchini out in paper towels before adding it to the batter or it could release too much water as it bakes, turning the batter too soupy and the cake may not set well.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ¼ cup sour cream, lite okay or Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini, loosely laid in measuring cup then wrung-out very well in paper towels (about 1 medium zucchini grated on the coarsest blade of a box grater)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, I prefer and recommend using mini-sized chips, but regular-sized may be substituted
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, I used regular-sized
- ¼ cup cream or half-and-half
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt or tube-cake pan very well with floured cooking spray making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- To a large bowl add the eggs, sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla extract and whisk to combine until mixture is smooth and silky.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix or cake will be tougher. Batter is thick by design to handle the moisture from the zucchini.
- Add the zucchini and stir to combine. It’s important that you wring the zucchini out in paper towels before adding it or it could release too much water as it bakes, turning the batter too soupy and cake may not set well.
- Add the chocolate chips (I find mini chips sink less and stay more evenly distributed within the cake).
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary, and give it a slam on the counter to release any air. Bake for about 38 to 42 minutes (I baked 40 minutes), or until top has set, is lightly golden browned, or a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. Due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the toothpick test. Because the moisture content in zucchini varies greatly, and due to climate and oven variances, baking times could vary; bake your cake until it’s done.
- Allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before inverting and releasing cake from pan and placing it on a rack to finish cooling. While cake cools, make the ganache.
Make the Chocolate Ganache:
- To a medium microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and heat on high power for 1 minute to soften chocolate; set aside.
- To a small microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup, add the cream (I used half-and-half) and heat on high power just until it begins to bubble and show signs of just beginning to boil (don’t actually allow it to boil), about 45 to 60 seconds.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate and let it stand about 1 minute. Whisk vigorously until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth and velvety.
- Add the vanilla and whisk to combine. Set aside for about 5 minutes, allowing ganache to cool and thicken a bit.
- Whisk mixture briefly before preparing to drizzle it over the cake. Ganache will set up a bit with time, but remains quite soft and drippy.
Notes
- Cake will keep for airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days. If the weather is very warm, you may prefer to store cake in the fridge so ganache stays firmer, noting that storing cakes in the fridge has a tendency to dry them out.
- Adapted from The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Chocolate Ganache.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Zucchini Dessert Recipes:
The Best Zucchini Bread — Super moist, tender, loaded with chocolate chips, and so EASY to make!! One bowl, no mixer, and THE BEST zucchini bread you’ll ever try!!
Blueberry Zucchini Bread — This blueberry zucchini bread is a quick, no-mixer recipe that’s sweet, but not too sweet. Each bite is bursting with fresh blueberries!
Zucchini Banana Bread — Soft, super moist, easy, no mixer needed! Jazz up regular banana bread by adding zucchini and it’s healthier, too!
Carrot Zucchini Bread – Fast, easy, one bowl, no mixer!! Super soft, moist, and tastes so good you’ll forget it’s on the healthier side!
Banana Zucchini Pudding Cake with Vanilla Browned Butter Glaze – The softest, moistest cake ever! So easy and the glaze is heavenly!
Blueberry Banana Zucchini Bread — This is an easy zucchini bread recipe that’s packed with bananas and juicy blueberries. I guarantee this will be your new favorite quick bread!