After reading the title, most of you will think I’m crazy using squash in my chocolate cake. I was wanting to trial a zucchini chocolate loaf since my mum’s neighbours gave her a HUGE zucchini and she had no use for it. Bringing it home, I realized it was NOT a zucchini but rather some form of squash – the skin was very tough and the flesh was more similar to squash/pumpkin than anything else.

I was determined to make a something sweet and baked out of it so I grated the squash and made a cake instead of loaf so I could use up most of this massive squash. What I ended up with was a SUPER moist cake that didn’t appear to have more than 3 cups of veggies in it! I did adjust the recipe a bit and ended up with the below concoction. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (500 mL) white sugar – use 1.5 if you like it less sweet
• 1 cup (250 mL) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
• 2 teaspoons (10 mL) baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon (4 mL) salt
• 3 1/2 cups (875 mL) squash, grated – cup packed lightly
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup (250 mL) vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) water or strongly brewed coffee (cooled)
• 1 cup (250 mL) chocolate chips (optional)

What to do: 

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a large bowl.
3. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and mix until well incorporated (approx 1 minute)
4. Transfer to a 9″ x 13″ baking dish (floured or lined with parchment paper)
5. Baking for 40-50 minutes or until a tooth pick is inserted to the center of the cake and comes out clean.
6. Cool for 20 minutes.
7. NOM!

Tips and Tricks:

• Use zucchini or other squash-like vegetables as your main veggie source. Be creative and try other options!
• I prefer lining my baking dish with parchment. It makes cleaning a LOT easier.