Chocolate cake is one of those simple recipes that is a crowd-pleaser most of the time.
However, if you’re looking to make it slightly healthier, there is a vegetable you can use to “add some hidden nutrition”. It also makes the sponge “super moist”, according to Kat, the woman behind the food blog The Baking Explorer.
Kat shared her recipe for a chocolate courgette loaf cake, which is also lower in fat and sugar as it substitutes butter for oil and caster sugar for light brown or coconut sugar.
After giving this recipe a try, I found that it came out deeply chocolatey, beautifully rich and moist, and you cannot taste the courgette at all, I promise.
Taking around 20 minutes to prepare, this cake took one hour to cook in the oven.
Ingredients
For the cake
165g self-raising flour
One teaspoon of baking powder
175g coconut sugar or light brown soft sugar
One-quarter teaspoon of baking soda
35g cocoa powder
200g courgette grated, one large courgette
100g chocolate chips, dark or milk
Three eggs
100ml vegetable oil
One teaspoon of vanilla extract
40g natural yoghurt
For topping (optional)
35g chocolate, dark or milk
Method
I started by preheating my oven to 160C Fan/180C/Gas Mark 4 before greasing and lining a loaf tin.
In a large mixing bowl, I combined the self-raising flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and sugar until well combined.
I then grated the courgette and squeezed it over the sink to release any extra liquid, then added it to the bowl along with the dark chocolate chips and stirred everything together.
In another bowl or large jug, I whisked together the eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and yoghurt.
After, I poured the egg mixture into the bowl of flour and grated courgette and stirred everything together until well combined.
The next step was to pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for one hour and 10 minutes; however, I found that one hour was plenty of time.
Make sure to check on the cake after one hour by inserting a skewer in the centre – if it comes out clean, it is ready. Then leave to cool fully.
To decorate, I melted the chocolate chips in the microwave. To do this, blast it for 30 seconds, stir, then blast in 10-second bursts, stirring in between each one until melted, then drizzle it over the cake.
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in a cool place and eat within three days.
The cake tasted delicious on its own, but it would go beautifully with a dollop of coconut yoghurt and some fresh berries.
If you’re someone with a sweeter tooth but want the added nutrition, I’d recommend using milk chocolate chips or an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract.
