Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Icing

I can do a lot of things well, but growing zucchini

is not one of them.  I know, I know, you probably

don't believe this, but I have lived in many different

homes and apartments and have had gardens

every time, but I never get more than a few

zucchini.  When I get them, I love to make a

chocolate zucchini cake recipe that I got in

college.

I love the moistness of the cake and the hint of cinnamon.

I decided I should add a little cinnamon to the frosting

to really accent the flavor of the cake.

When I make a cake I generally want it to be a show-stopper
so I make it three layers by doing 1 1/2 times the recipe.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe

2 5/8 C. sugar

3/4 C. butter

3/4 C. vegetable oil

3/4 C. buttermilk

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

3 3/4 C. flour

3/8 C. cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

3 C. finely grated zucchini

Cream the butter, sugar and oil until light.

Mix the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla.  Add it to

the sugar mix and beat well.

Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt

and cinnamon.  Blend into the batter.  Stir in the

zucchini.

Finely grate the zucchini.  It makes a better cake and the kiddies don't

notice it as much.  If you choose to not use the fine grate, only use 2 C.

Here is a trick I learned while I was teaching cooking classes at a

local grocery store.  My sister-in-law Michele was the coordinator

of the cooking classes.  She taught us to not grease your pans,

instead, cut parchment paper to fit the bottom of your pans.  If you

grease the sides, the cake batter sticks to the grease and the sides

rise differently than the middle.  You end up with domed cakes.

Bake the cake and let cool for 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife

around the outside edge.  Turn over onto a cooling rack.  I have

been doing this for years now and I never get a domed cake anymore.

Place in 3 8 inch or 9 inch round pans.

Bake at 350 30-35 minutes for the 9 inch pans and 35-40 minutes

for the 8 inch pans.

Cool 10 minutes then run sharp knife around the pan and

turn out onto a cooling rack.  Cool 10 minutes then

remove parchment paper.

Chocolate Cinnamon Frosting Recipe

1 1/4 C. softened butter

6 C. powdered sugar

1/2 C. cocoa

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3-5 T. water

Place ingredients in large mixing bowl.  Beat with the wire whip

attachment, adding water 1 T. at a time.  Add more water if

necessary.  Frosting should be smooth and able to hold a

swirl with the back of a spoon.

This is a larger than normal cake with the three layers

so it takes more frosting.

When assembling the cake, use 3-4 bamboo skewers to

keep the layers from  shifting.

Recipe for 9x13 inch pan

1 3/4 C. sugar

1/2 C. soft butter

1/2 C. oil

1/2 C. buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 C. flour

1/4 C. cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

1tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 C. finely grated zucchini

You can also add 1 C. semi-sweet chocolate

chips to the recipe, but with it being a 3 layer

cake I chose to leave them out as it would make

it so heavy.

Hope you enjoy this chocolate recipe.

I will be posting this on

Foodie Friday.

and

Pink Saturday.