Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Name: Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, ( melted, divided); ⅔ cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder, (sifted, divided); 1½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour* ((see notes)); 1½ teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1½ cups granulated sugar; 4 large eggs; 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 cup sour cream; 2¾ cups grated zucchini

Jun 19, 2022 · by Valentina · 34 Comments

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A Chocolate Zucchini Cake that's gluten-free, rich, delicious and has an amazingly soft texture. It's so good that it doesn't even need a frosting or glaze. It's perfect as is!

one slice of Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake on pretty golden plate with whole cake in backgaround and 2 fresh zucchini

This Chocolate Zucchini Cake is so good!

If you're gluten-free you'll be thrilled, and if you're not, you won't even notice a difference.

Moist, rich and super chocolatey -- everyone loves it!

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake

unsalted butter
cocoa powder
gluten-free all-purpose flour (I always use Cup4Cup and love it!)
baking powder
baking soda
salt
granulated sugar
large eggs
pure vanilla extract
sour cream
zucchini

How to Make it

- Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 10 inch bundt pan. Then sprinkle it lightly with a tablespoon of cocoa powder.

- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir to blend.

- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix on high until it's a thick and pale yellow. Then add the sour cream and mix until it's smooth.

- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet, and add the melted butter.

two piles of grated zucchini -- one has been drained of liquied and is smaller, on a green cutting board.

Above: The grated zucchini pile on the left is straight out of the food processor, and the pile on the right started as the same size, but has been wrung out with my hand to drain it of any excess liquid.

- Use your hands to "wring out" the grated zucchini, to remove any liquid, and then fold it into the batter. Now, pour it into the prepared bundt pan.

- Place it in the preheated oven and bake until the cake no longer jiggles when the pan is moved, and it's starting to crack on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

top view of whole Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cakein bundt pan

- Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then invert it on a large platter. Let it cool for about an hour before slicing and serving.

(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

You can add chocolate chips to this cake. I've made it with and without and while both are excellent, the chips add a little pizazz. I'd use about 1 cup of semisweet chips.
Baking times can vary depending on the thickness of your bundt pan, how your oven is calibrated, if you open the oven door, etc.
This recipe will also make about 2 dozen standard-sized chocolate zucchini muffins. (Use paper liners in the pans, rather than butter and cocoa powder, as you would for the bundt cake.)
Do you have to make it gluten-free? Nope, you can use regular all-purpose flour if you want. (Use about 2 extra tablespoons of it if you're substituting the Cup4Cup.)
It's important not to skip the step of removing excess liquid from the zucchini. You will sort of wring it out, like you would a cloth. The zucchini will still add moisture, but with too much liquid, the cake could become soggy.
Grating the zucchini in a food processor with the grater attachment is the easiest method, but you can also use a hand grater.

Food processor filled with grated zucchini.

Can you make it ahead?

Ideally, this cake should be made the day before, or about six hours before you want to serve it. It will however, still be very good a few days later.

Storing the Cake

Room temperature. In a tightly sealed container, or wrapped tightly will with plastic wrap, the cake can be kept at room temperature for two days.
Refrigerator. In a tightly sealed container, or wrapped tightly will with plastic wrap, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Freezer. Sealed tightly, you can store the cake for about a month in the freezer.

What does zucchini do in a cake?

Zucchini cakes (and zucchini breads) do not taste like the vegetable. Zucchini is naturally moist and in baked goods it behaves somewhat like oil, so it makes it very moist.

This Gluten-Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake tastes mostly like deep, rich, luscious chocolate!

I hope you love it!

More gluten-free cake recipes: