Yes, you can ake it in a cake pan. No, the zucchini isn't obvious. if you want a more classic chocolate cake recipe, you can try this one.

I'm not sure how best to swap out the sugar for maple syrup without some trial and error.

Hey there,
I believe coconut sugar would work for this recipe. I haven't tried it personally but I would try a 1:1 ratio. You can omit the chocolate chips, that won't affect the cake. Coconut oil will work!

Thank you xx

SO - do I substitute the brown and white sugars in this recipe with the same amount of coconut or date sugar (or a combo of both)?

Also, I do not use chocolate chips. The two brands that I found, one you recommended and one I used a long time ago....well, neither are acceptable. Lol. Neither is organic...one has cane sugar as its first ingredient and one has soy lecithin which is a big no-no (contains microestrogens and is processed with hexane). So the chocolate chips are definitely out.

SO - will that affect the quality of the cake at all?

Third - I generally use coconut oil for baking (processed so coconut flavour is gone), I assume that will work, but thought I'd check in with you about it.

Appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

Totally! I was also considering maple syrup. For me honey is my most local option and the one with the least processing, but I understand why you probably won't be using it 🙂

Sounds great! I should try it again subbing out the granulated sugar. Molasses or brown rice syrup would probably work great too.

Sarah - I finally got the time to make this and...my goodness it's wonderful!!! We loved it! The zucchini made for super moist cakes and the flavor balance was superb. I did use cocoa flavored coffee bean ground espresso fine and it seemed to work well; although, as I continue to make this recipe I think I will let the coffee be my variable and see how it changes things...everything else I'm leaving exactly as you laid out. And the flax egg was super cool to see come together - looking down into my mortar at seeds floating in water I had no idea what to expect but as I ground it up and it gathered that sticky consistency I was elated! Thanks again for an awesome recipe. And since I now have molasses and you've just posted about molasses cookies, I know how I'm spending my Sunday!

I love getting comments like this! thank you for making me day. I'm glad it worked out well and it's great to know the finely ground coffee worked. I'll probably try it that way next time. Hope you like the molasses cookies.

I'm glad you found me! and well done representing vegans in Tasmania...must not always be easy.

Hey, I'm glad you found me! i use instant coffee because it dissolves better in the batter. If you were to use regular coffee I would suggest grinding it up very fine (like espresso fine) so that it disperses well. I would also change the amount to 2 tbsp since regular isn't as strong. let me know how it goes!