chocolate zucchini carrot cakes with whipped cinnamon, ginger cream cheese topping
These little decadent chocolate cakes are full of healthy secrets. Whether you bake up my recipe for small cakes or make a larger cake, your picky eaters will never guess that you’ve cleverly used some summer zucchini and a carrot for good measure! Besides its chocolaty and moist goodness, the distraction will be the light and whipped cream cheese cinnamon, ginger topping – and its hint of orange…
I wanted to make snack size mini cakes but still incorporate some of summer’s last minute offerings before transitioning next week to the fall season. So, I’ve worked in both zucchini and carrots! At first glance, these probably look like cupcakes…but look one more time! Straight sides. I know – that doesn’t mean anything to many, and it really doesn’t alter the tasting experience. However, I have this “thing” for straight sided baked goods that are traditionally slightly sloped or ridged when it comes to home baking.
chocolate zucchini carrot cakes with whipped cinnamon, ginger cream cheese topping
These double-tiered cakelets are a mere 2½-inches in diameter and each layer is 1-inch. They can be baked in a snack cake pan, cupcake pans, sheet pan and then cut to size with round cutters or just bake it up as one big cake.
The whipped cream cheese topping/frosting is a bonus! You can forgo it altogether (but why would you?) and dust it with powdered sugar…or nothing at all! It’s that good to stand on its own all alone.
A couple of side notes about the ingredients:
- I’m using “light tasting” olive oil. Not only for my love of olive oils, but I wanted the health benefit of using olive oil without necessarily having a strong olive oil flavor in this recipe. There are now many brands carrying a “light tasting” version of olive oil that can easily be substituted for butter. Read from the olive oil company’s Web site(s) what their conversion is for their light tasting olive oil when using it in place of butter. It is not a 1:1 straight conversion. Also, it may or may not work well if you need to cream the butter with sugar, as it may affect the texture of your baked good.
- Instead of using buttermilk, we’re using low-fat 2% milk with a lemon juice. Let it have time to curdle before incorporating it into the batter.
- If you bake these up mini, use the mini-sized chocolate chips. The standard size chocolate chips would be disproportionate to the size of the baked good.
- Make sure the topping/frosting is cold before piping or spreading on cakes. Otherwise, it may not hold it’s shape and be too runny.
Also, as I mentioned some paragraphs back, I’m always on the lookout for straight sided pans when it comes to smallish cakes, tarts, etc. While I know you can achieve this look with cutters and pastry rings…I’m not happy about the idea of the excess cake that is left when baking a sheet pan and then using cutters. If that’s your thing too, take a look at this Wilton Non-Stick 12-Cavity Spool/Snack Cake Pan
print[save_recipe]- ½ cup low-fat 2% milk + 1 ½ teaspoons lemon juice (let this have time to curdle about 10-20 minutes)
- 1 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (plus more for dusting pans)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup extra light tasting olive oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 1 1/2 medium or 1 large)
- ½ cup peeled and finely grated carrots (about 1 carrot)
- 1 cup mini-semisweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped small
- 8 ounce block, light cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
- Whisk the milk and lemon juice together in small bowl and set aside (we want this to curdle).
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly spray 24 small cake molds with non-stick spray and dust with cocoa powder.
- Sift all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into medium bowl.
- Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Mix in dry ingredients alternately with curdled milk/lemon mixture in 3 additions each.
- By hand, fold in grated zucchini & carrots. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Pour batter 2/3rds full into prepared individual pans.
- Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes. When cakes are cool enough to handle, remove from their pans/molds and cool completely on a wire rack.
- While cakes are cooling, start working the frosting and refrigerate so when you assemble, it is cold.
- TOPPING/FROSTING: Beat in mixer on high until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- ASSEMBLY: Match up the small cakes by size and shape and pipe or spread frosting on top of one cake. Top with another cake and spread frosting on top of the second cake. The amount of topping/frosting you use may vary.
- Alternately, you don’t have to layer the small cakes and just frost the tops of the small individual cakes.
- To store: Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate cakes. © Images & content: Cristina A-Moore for TeenieCakes.com.
- Using 2 ½x 1½-inch round molds/cups for cakes.
- Note in the ingredients the “extra” cocoa powdered mentioned for dusting pan. If you’re using smallish non-stick pans, you may not need to dust it.
- When preparing the milk/lemon juice, make sure it curdles before incorporating it into the batter.
- Do not use the tubbed, whipped cream cheese. Use cream cheese that comes in a block. You’ll whip it up with the rest of the ingredients.
- Refrigerate the finished topping/frosting before piping or spreading on the cakes so it holds it’s shape (otherwise it will be too runny).
- If you bake these up mini, use the mini-sized chocolate chips.
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Kim - Liv Life says
I love adding healthy ingredients to things like this!! Serving it to a group of teenage girls when they have no idea makes me smile 🙂
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
This is the cutest cake that includes zucchini and carrot! Good idea to add chocolate into this delicious veggie combination! But I have to say I love the cinnamon and ginger flavor you added. Really genius!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Perfectly portioned and I love the cream cheese topping!
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
I like the combo of chocolate and zucchini too. These mini cakes look so pretty!
Juliana says
I love the idea of hidden carrot and zucchini in the chocolate cake…it just reminded me of hiding carrots in meat sauce when my son was little.
I love the sound of the cream cheese topping…so exotic!
Hope you are having a fabulous week Cristina 😀
russ says
Wow, these look fantastic! I would love a dozen. Beautiful pics, these are like little cakes. Would love these with a cup of coffee in the morning.
Jess says
Pretty mini cakes but even though they are small I would still eat two! Pinning!!