Ultra rich and decadent chocolate zucchini cake that’s undetectably healthy, vegan, dairy free, Paleo, and gluten free. This is the ultimate healthy zucchini recipe in the form of a moist and chocolatey slice of heaven!
In my oh so humble opinion, there is nothing more decadent than a slice of chocolate cake. Three tiers. Extra chocolate buttercream frosting.
Now, a slice chocolate cake with hidden vegetables? And that’s vegan? And gluten free? And Paleo, yet you’d never know?!
That’s more like it 😉
This decadent, triple layer healthy chocolate zucchini cake is everything you’d ever want in a cake: it’s moist, ultra rich, fudgy yet light, and sooooo incredibly chocolatey that you’ll think, Maybe I should put my fork down before it’s all gone… but truly just can’t because it’s just so dang good!
But hey, there’s zucchini in it so that helps right?! Not that you’d be able to tell 😉
Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Cake Ingredients
So what the heck goes into a vegan and Paleo chocolate zucchini cake recipe that makes it still taste like the classic?!
Well, let’s go over the ingredients you’ll need for this vegan chocolate zucchini cake recipe:
- Shredded zucchini
- Cassava flour
- Coconut sugar
- Cacao powder: go for cacao over cocoa- much richer taste, and more benefits!
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Dairy free milk mixed with apple cider vinegar: I highly recommend pea milk here, as it has more protein than other dairy free milks. The brand I use is Ripple, but feel free to use whichever you prefer! You can also use coconut milk (not cream) or almond milk!
- Vegan butter
- Espresso powder: this is optional but highly recommended
- Vanilla
- Leavening agents: ya know, your standard baking soda and powder!
Now, let’s get to work on this layered zucchini cake!
How to make chocolate zucchini cake
What I love about vegan cakes in general is that they can look really elegant and fancy while still being easy and doable for all baking levels. All tiered cakes are is stacking one layer on top of the other. Not that hard at all!
The cake
The trick to making a decadent and moist, yet still sturdy and fluffy vegan chocolate zucchini cake is all in the zucchini, so we’ll go over that in the tips section below.
For now, we’ll make the cake just like you would any other vegan chocolate cake.
Sift together the cacao powder, cassava flour, and coconut sugar, then whisk in the leavening ingredients.
Fold in the wet and continue mixing until all the clumps have disappeared.
Add in the zucchini and mix it all together!
Pour the chocolate zucchini cake batter into three 6-inch springform pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
And then allow the cakes to cool completely before starting the buttercream. I’ve had one too many cakes topple over because of my lack of patience in the cooling process ha! Don’t let that happen to you!
How to make vegan chocolate buttercream
A cake is simply not complete without the buttercream, but if you’re vegan, then you can’t use butter.
Thankfully, they have some wonderful vegan substitutes, such as Miyoko’s Vegan Butter or Forager Project Vegan Butter, that is what I heavily rely on to make my vegan buttercream frostings.
With this vegan buttercream frosting in particular, we’re making it entirely refined sugar free, so I make my own powdered coconut sugar by pulsing the coconut sugar in a food processor until its a fine powder. You can use regular powdered sugar if desired.
Once all of the layers have cooled completely, I start to make the chocolate buttercream.
Beat the softened (yet still cool) vegan butter in a large bowl. Sift in the cacao powder and powdered coconut sugar (that’s the kicker! No refined sugar in here!) in increments while you beat. Add in a little dairy free milk for consistency and then frost the cake!
I use about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of frosting per layer, and then I love to do a scraping over icing along the sides. I’m not sure why I love this look so much, but I do!
Tips for making Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Making a healthy chocolate cake is one thing, but making a healthy chocolate zucchini cake that you wouldn’t even know contained a speck of a vegetable?!
Now that’s another.
It’s definitely easy if you follow this recipe, but here are a few extra tips that I think really add to making the best vegan chocolate zucchini cake that even non-vegan eaters will go ga-ga over!
- I recommend using a box grater to shred the zucchini. This will save you some arm work (and hopefully be bit safer!) than using a handheld grater.
- Dry the zucchini before folding it into the vegan chocolate batter: If there is one thing you do, please please please make sure that you’ve pat the zucchini! It doesn’t have to be completely dry, but if it’s still leaving a paper towel sopping wet, it’s too wet. This is key for texture. Cassava flour generally likes moisture, but too much and you’ll get a gooey inside- not what you want for a chocolate zucchini cake!
- I personally recommend pea milk as the dairy free milk because I like that there’s some added protein in there, but feel free to use either regular coconut milk or almond milk! I do not recommend using coconut cream or light coconut milk.
- Create a homemade Paleo powdered sugar for your Paleo vegan buttercream! To do this, I pulse the coconut sugar in a mini food processor until it’s a powder. This takes about 2-3 minutes tops, and it fluffs up just like powdered sugar! It honestly makes for the ultimate Paleo chocolate zucchini cake.
- You can make this a three tiered or a two tiered chocolate zucchini cake: If you go for a two tier cake, I recommend using two 8-inch cake or springform pans.
Can you freeze vegan chocolate zucchini cake?
Yes! You can freeze the chocolate zucchini cake in slices with the buttercream on, then allow it to come to room temperature for about 2 hours when ready to consume. It will last about 1 month in the freezer.
You can also store this layered zucchini cake on the counter or in the fridge. If you store the cake on the counter, cover it, and it will keep for up to 3 days (though it won’t last you that long ha!).
If you store the cake in the fridge, make sure you allow it to unthaw for 15 minutes before consuming, as cassava flour tends to toughen up a bit in cooler temperatures.
This is truly my favorite way to use up that last bit of zucchini you have from your summer farmer’s market trips 😉
Every single person who tried a slice (we have many people who come through this house- kids, adults, friends, extended family!) was shocked when I told them that this healthy chocolate zucchini cake was indeed vegan and Paleo!
No one knew!
So if I were you, I’d give this healthy chocolate zucchini cake a go 😉 But do me a favor, don’t tell anyone our little secrets (that it’s dairy free, gluten free, Paleo, and vegan!) until after their first bite! Just watch their jaws drop!
Let me know if you give this cake a go in the comments below, and as always, I’d absolutely love to see your beautiful recreations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy chocolate cake baking!
More healthy vegan cake recipes:
The Ultimate Vegan Vanilla Cake
Healthy Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Flourless Vegan Chocolate Cake
Healthy Vegan Apple Crumb Cake
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Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Ultra rich and decadent chocolate zucchini cake that’s undetectably healthy! Completely vegan, dairy free, Paleo, and gluten free, it’s a moist and chocolatey slice of heaven!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups cassava flour
- 1 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 1/4 cups pea milk, coconut milk, or almond milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, patted dry
Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups vegan butter, softened
- 1 cup cacao powder
- 2 cups coconut sugar, pulsed in a food processor to make into a powder
- 2–4 tbsp dairy free milk (I like coconut milk, pea milk, or almond milk)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line three 6-inch springform pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, sift together cassava flour, cacao powder, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, optional espresso powder, and sea salt.
- Add in unsweetened applesauce, dairy free milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract. Mix either with a spoon or hand mixer until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in zucchini and mix again until the zucchini is evenly spread throughout.
- Divide batter evenly amongst the 3 pans and place into the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes before leveling out.
- Let cool completely before frosting.
- When ready to prepare the vegan buttercream, use a hand mixer to beat the softened vegan butter until it’s whipped and it begins to increase in volume.
- Sift in cacao powder and continue to beat.
- Slowly add in coconut sugar in 1/2 cup increments until it becomes a nice and thick buttercream. To help with the consistency, add in a tbsp of dairy free milk at a time until it reaches a soft, moveable yet firm consistency.
- Frost each layer and serve! Store in the refrigerator to keep the buttercream from melting, and let it sit out on the counter for 15 minutes to soften.
Keywords: chocolate zucchini cake, vegan chocolate zucchini cake, gluten free chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini cake recipe, vegan zucchini cake
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Chocolate zucchini cake is one of my favorites! Love how moist and yummy your cake looks!! 🙂
★★★★★
Aw thank you Ela! That means the world to me 🙂 Enjoy!
I love this recipe! Hoping there is a way to substitute cassava flour for almond maybe or anything else GF? I haven’t seen it yet in Moscow but hoping it starts popping up in health stores!
Hi Liza!!
Aw thank you so much!! I’m so happy to hear that! As for a substitute for cassava, I completely understand! I believe that oat flour would also work, since it tends to like to absorb liquid as well, but I would add in a tsp of xanthan gum to it for binding. Almond flour could potentially work if done in 3 parts almond flour, 1 part coconut flour, but I haven’t personally tried this out myself! If it were me, I would do 2 1/3 cups almond flour, 2/3 cup coconut flour. My favorite 1:1 gluten free baking flour to use is by Bob’s Red Mill (literally called Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free Baking flour), I’m not sure if you have that in Moscow, but that would be my top recommendation!
Well mine is nowhere near as gorgeous as this masterpiece, but WOAHHHH it tastes freaking amazing! No hint of zucchini, just pure chocolatey, creamy yumminess 🙂
★★★★★
Aw I’m sure it was wonderful! So glad you enjoyed!!
My husband is fatally allergic to nuts (all incl coconut) and peas and seeds. Is there any substitute you can think of for the PEA Milk? Thank you, if love to make this gorgeous dessert for him (well, me, too!!)
Hi Gina! Absolutely, you can swap in oat milk if that works! I would also swap out the coconut sugar for regular cane sugar- if you want to minimize the refined sugar, you can use 3/4 cup regular cane sugar in place of the 1 cup coconut sugar (usually a 25% decrease in sugar is unnoticeable!). For the buttercream, I haven’t found a nut free/coconut free substitute, so my only guess would be that part needs to contain dairy (i.e. a regular butter), but if you know of a nut free/coconut free/dairy free spread, please let me know and I can add it to the notes section! Please let me know how it goes if you end up trying it!
Any suggestions for replacement of cassava and applesauce for those on low FODMAP diet?
Hi there! So I’m not a professional when it comes to recipes that are low FODMAP, but my suggestion for replacing the cassava would be 2 1/4 cups almond flour and 3/4 cup coconut flour because I read (not sure how accurate this is so you know this better than me!) that gluten free flours tend to be low FODMAP. For the applesauce, you can replace it with coconut oil or olive oil or lactose/dairy free yogurt! All at a 1 to 1 ratio 🙂
I hope this helps! Again, I’m not an expert on low FODMAP, so if these don’t fit your diet, I’m so sorry!
Can I replace cassava with whole wheat flour?
Absolutely! Just keep in mind that whole wheat flour can sometimes be a bit grittier- it will still taste amazing, but you can use white whole wheat flour for a closer texture! It’s still a 1:1 ratio though, so both will work 🙂
Hey, I only have coconut flour on hand, do you know if I can sub the cassava for coconut flour? If yes, what ratios should I use? Thanks 🙂 (love your recipes btw)
Hi Tiffany! Aw thank you for the sweet words 🙂 For this recipe, I wouldn’t sub the cassava flour with the coconut flour- cassava is 1:1 with all-purpose flour in this recipe though!
Hi, I have my cupcakes of this recipe in the oven and cannot wait to see how they come out. I was unsure about how much apple cider vinegar as I saw it in the instructions, but not in the ingredients list. I used 1 teaspoon. Does that sound about right?
Oh yes that’s perfect!! I’m so sorry that was missed, let me edit that!
First of all, I just have to say that these photos are some of the most gorgeous and mouthwatering pieces of food photography I’ve ever seen. Second, I am SO impressed with this cake! I used all-purpose flour instead of cassava and it turned out perfectly soft and fluffy! It tastes just like the box-mix chocolate cake my family always made for birthdays when I was a kid, but the ingredients in this cake are WAY better, obviously. I was worried that the cake would be dry since it’s so low in fat, but the applesauce and zucchini really did the trick and kept it moist. I’m so happy to have a reliable chocolate cake recipe on hand now. Thank you so much for sharing your magical creations!
★★★★★
Oh my goodness, Mimi, this comment brought me to tears!! Literally I create these recipes to bring back the memories of childhood, I’m so so happy it brought you there!! Enjoy and thank you so so much for your beautiful words!!
I’m looking forward to making this cake for a friends birthday, it sounds heavenly and looks BEAUTIFUL. I wanted to give these a go with cupcakes prior, any adjustments you would recommend? TIA!
Hi Adrienne! Aw I’m so happy to hear it! You can definitely make them into cupcakes 🙂 You’ll end up with 24 cupcakes though, so if you’d like, you can cut the recipe in half to just make a dozen!