This Chocolate Cake Roll is a chocolate lovers dream! This delicious cake recipe is a great way to use fresh garden zucchini. It is moist cake full of chocolate flavor and filled with a lip smacking spiced cream filling.
This moist chocolate cake is a great recipe for chocolate lovers. It is also great way to grace the dessert table to celebrate birthdays, potluck, family reunions, or just because. It is elegant enough for those special occasions yet easy enough for any weeknight dessert.
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❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
✔️ It is a delicious recipe that allows you to use that overabundance of zucchini from the garden.
✔️ The spiced cream filling in this chocolate zucchini cake recipe has a slight hint of heat from the cayenne pepper and it pairs perfectly with the chocolate flavor.
✔️ If you have a lot of zucchini, this cake will be one way your family won't complain about the overabundance!
🥘 Ingredients
Fresh zucchini
🔪 Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the sheet pan by coating it with solid shortening, then lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the prepared pan. Coat the top of the parchment paper with shortening.
- Shred the zucchini using the side with the large holes of a box grater
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.
- In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk and mix well.
- Stir the drained zucchini into the chocolate cake batter
- Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading the batter out to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cake springs back when gently touched or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Immediately turn the sheet cake onto a cotton towel dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Peel off the parchment paper and roll the cake up, jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Cool the chocolate zucchini cake completely on a wire rack.
- In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon and cayenne pepper until fluffy. Beat in confectioners’ sugar.
- Unroll cake; spread filling to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up again and refrigerate until serving.
- Sprinkle lightly with confectioners sugar just prior to serving.
For the spiced cream
- In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon and cayenne pepper until fluffy. Beat in confectioners’ sugar.
To assemble
- Unroll cake; spread filling to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up again and refrigerate until serving.
- Sprinkle lightly with confectioners sugar just prior to serving.
🙋 Recipe FAQ's
A cake roll is basically a swiss roll without the chocolate coating. It is usually a sponge cake that comes together and bakes up quickly is filled with a cream or spread with jelly and rolled.
To roll a cake, it should have cooled at least 15 minutes on the cotton towel or cheesecloth that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Starting at a short end, roll the cake inward, to make the shape of a log. Set aside until cool and ready to fill.
A cracked cake is usually the sign of a dry cake. It is likely there was not enough moisture in the batter and possibly too much flour. It also could have cracked it the cooling time is not adhered to, as a hot cake can crack when trying to roll it.
💭 Tips
- Grate the zucchini and let it sit in a strainer to drain.
- Put a small amount of vegetable shortening or butter on a paper towel and rub the shortening over the bottom of the sheet pan. This will help keep the parchment placed on top adhered to the sheet pan.
- Find a large cotton towel that is as large as the jelly roll pan, if not a little larger. You will want to be sure the towel you use has no fibers on it that would stick to the cake. Cheesecloth can also be used.
- Measure the ingredients and have them all ready to use when needed.
📖 Variations
- Add ½ teaspoon nutmeg to your the cake batter along with the cinnamon or instead of.
- Instead of cayenne pepper in the cream, add a pinch of chipotle powder.
- Eliminate the cayenne pepper and add ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg in its place.
- Use almond extract in place vanilla extract in the spiced cream.
- Make chocolate glaze and pour it over top of the cake.
- Add ½ cup chocolate chips (mini) and 1 teaspoon of espresso powder to the batter.
🍽 Equipment
Powdered sugar spoon for sifting
🏫 What I've Learned
Cake rolls only look hard. This elegant looking dessert is so easy to make and the hardest part is allowing the cake to chill after it has been rolled with the filling.
The zucchini adds moisture to this sponge cake recipe, assuring the final product will not be a dry cake.
Rolling the slightly warm cake with cheesecloth is what makes the cake flexible enough to fill and roll back up without breaking.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this chocolate zucchini roll with a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream, a hot cup of coffee, or hot tea.
Storage
Store this Chocolate zucchini cake wrapped in plastic wrap to help it keep its shape. Store in the refrigerator up to 5 days, in the freezer up to 3 months.
Related Recipes
Another recipe for chocolate lovers, this Chocolate Zucchini Bread is absolutely delicious and goes great with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
If you love rich chocolate cake, you will love this old fashioned recipe for my Nanny's Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake.
Everyone loves these Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Chocolate Banana Zucchini Muffins are a perfect portable breakfast with good for you ingredients.
Sugar and spice makes these Zucchini Spice Cookies nice (and delicious!).
Cupcake fans will love this chocolate espresso cupcakes recipe!
When you make this recipe, please comment below and let me know what you think. I'd love it if you tag me on Instagram @grumpyshoneybunch or #grumpyshoneybunch so I can see your photos!
If you love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Zucchini Cake Roll with Spiced Cream
Equipment
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Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded zucchini
For the Spiced Cream
- 8 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 6 tablespoon butter , softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare the sheet pan by coating it with solid shortening, then lay a piece of parchment paper on top of the prepared pan. Coat the top of the parchment paper with shortening.side. Cool the chocolate zucchini cake completely on a wire rack.
- Shred the zucchini using the side with the large holes of a box grater.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Using an electric hand mixer on medium speed, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk and mix well. Stir the drained zucchini into the chocolate cake batter.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading the batter out to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes, until the cake springs back when gently touched or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Immediately turn the sheet cake onto a cotton towel dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Peel off the parchment paper and cool for 15 minutes.Roll the cake up, jelly-roll style, starting with a short side.
For the spiced cream:
- In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla, cinnamon and cayenne pepper until fluffy. Beat in confectioners’ sugar.
To assemble the cake:
- Unroll cake; spread filling to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up again and refrigerate until serving.
- Sprinkle lightly with confectioners sugar just prior to serving.
Claudia says
Awesome chocolate roll I would love some a must try and thanks so much for the shout out
Christine knapkins_com says
Hi Grumpy, Your Chocolate Roll recipe has been selected by Knapkins to be featured in a Recipe Guessing Game. Please share the following link with your friends and fans. To play, go here: http://knapkins.com/guess_games/438?source=blog Congrats again!! 🙂
CookiePie says
Beautiful cake - and I love the "secret ingredient"!!
Reeni says
I definitely think you should be compensated! Haha, maybe a little tip jar to help you pay for the ingredients!? Baking supplies are so expensive. The zucchini roll looks scrumptious - I love your secret ingredient!
Bizzy B. Bakes says
I love that the filling is cream cheese which is my favorite. I used to make different kinds of rolls but not for years. Yours certainly proves that I should start, once again.
If you have a moment, I would be happy if you would link this to Bake with Bizzy.
http://bizzybakesb.blogspot.com/2011/08/bake-with-bizzy_31.html
teresa says
this is amazing, i love the cayenne pepper. whoever thought to put zucchini in a cake was a genius!
Nutmeg Nanny says
Delicious! I would love a glorified hoho 🙂
Lisa~~ says
Love the addition of cayenne, sounds wonderful!
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Inspired by eRecipeCards says
YES YES YES!!! I have been adding cayenne pepper for awhile. No one can taste it and it adds a little extra something that sets you apart!!! Try 1/8th tsp next time you make oatmeal scotchies... HUGE!!!
Thanks for the validation!
Oh, and your recipe looks delicious!!!
Aggie says
I have never tried a cake roll! This looks so delicious Shelby! Have a great weekend!
honeyb says
Mmm! I've always wanted to try a cake roll and never have.
After we moved back near family, they told me they would gladly be my guinea pig at anytime. Nice to have people to bake for--I think my family (husband especially) get tired of all the stuff I make. pbbtttt
Shelby says
Thats right Deeba - the only place there is butter is in the cream cheese filling...
Deeba PAB says
Right...I love this! I've read the recipe 3 times {no butter/oil}? WOW!! I stopped making my last chocolate zucchini cake as it had way too much butter. Bookmarking this, and loving your guinea pigs! Sounded like fun!