Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Make the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt or tube-cake pan very well with floured cooking spray making sure to get in all the nooks and crannies or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
2. To a large bowl add the eggs, sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla extract and whisk to combine until mixture is smooth and silky.
3. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix or cake will be tougher. Batter is thick by design to handle the moisture from the zucchini.
4. Add the zucchini and stir to combine. It’s important that you wring the zucchini out in paper towels before adding it or it could release too much water as it bakes, turning the batter too soupy and cake may not set well.
5. Add the chocolate chips (I find mini chips sink less and stay more evenly distributed within the cake).
6. Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary, and give it a slam on the counter to release any air. Bake for about 38 to 42 minutes (I baked 40 minutes), or until top has set, is lightly golden browned, or a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter. Due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the toothpick test. Because the moisture content in zucchini varies greatly, and due to climate and oven variances, baking times could vary; bake your cake until it’s done.
7. Allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before inverting and releasing cake from pan and placing it on a rack to finish cooling. While cake cools, make the ganache.

Make the Chocolate Ganache:

1. To a medium microwave-safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and heat on high power for 1 minute to soften chocolate; set aside.
2. To a small microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup, add the cream (I used half-and-half) and heat on high power just until it begins to bubble and show signs of just beginning to boil (don’t actually allow it to boil), about 45 to 60 seconds.
3. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let it stand about 1 minute. Whisk vigorously until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth and velvety.
4. Add the vanilla and whisk to combine. Set aside for about 5 minutes, allowing ganache to cool and thicken a bit.
5. Whisk mixture briefly before preparing to drizzle it over the cake. Ganache will set up a bit with time, but remains quite soft and drippy.