Zucchini Cake Recipe

This easy zucchini cake recipe is the perfect dessert that uses up extra zucchini from your garden, and adds nutrition to a sweet treat.

The zucchini – honestly, you don’t really taste it – but it sure does help keep your cake nice and moist. No chance of dryness here!

I love the combination of this moist, cinnamon-spiced cake with a bit of cream cheese frosting on top. Unbeatable in the summer months!

I like to use fresh zucchini in the summer when it’s pouring out of the garden, and then grate it with the skin on. You can also use frozen zucchini. I like to grate it, and then freeze it. Then for this recipe, thaw it out, and drain off the excess water before adding it. 

Ingredients for zucchini cake

• Four. All purpose flour, or a gluten-free blend are best for this cake.
• Baking soda for leavening.
• Salt – also for leavening, and flavor balance.
• Cinnamon for flavor
• Eggs
• Oil – I use light olive oil, you can also use whatever vegetable oil you prefer. 
• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Zucchini – we’ll shred it before adding it to the batter
• Pecans or walnuts – optional, but so good.
• For the icing, we’ll use:
• Cream cheese
• Butter
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla

I can see you asking “but if this has zucchini in it, shouldn’t be be using non-sugar sweeteners, and flour substitutes to make it healthier?” And I fear we’ve lost the plot a bit on what makes a dessert a dessert.

Desserts aren’t meant to be consumed in large quantities. They’re meant to be treats. It’s only our culture of overconsumption that has made them a problem. In the past, I have made a lot of “healthy” treats, and some of them, I won’t deny, are delicious, but I firmly believe now, that one of the best things you can do is keep your treats, treats, and make the bulk of your diet consist of nutritious, whole foods.

But, that’s a soap box, let me get back to the recipe.

Changes and Substitutions

There are a lot of tweaks you can make to this cake to make it your own. One is to add a bit of nutmeg, cloves, or ginger. I would start with maybe a quarter teaspoon of each – you don’t want to it to be overpowering. 

You can also add raisins, if you like them – think of it as similar to carrot cake. 

Lemon zest can also be added – I would add about a tablespoon. 

How to make zucchini cake

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Mix well, and set aside.
   
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together.
4. Stir in shredded zucchini.
   
   
5. Stir in dry ingredients.
   
   
6. Lastly, mix in pecans if using them.
7. Pour into a greased and floured, or parchment paper-lined 8×8 baking pan.
   
   
8. Bake in center of oven for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Remove from oven and let rest ten minutes.
   
   
10. Loosen cake from edges of pan with a butterknife, and turn onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
11. Beat icing ingredients together, and spread over cooled cake.
    
    
12. Sprinkle with pecans if desired.
13. Slice and serve

This cake makes a single layer, and can also be baked in round cake pans if desired, using a 9-inch pan. Alternatively, sheet cakes can be use used. Use a jelly roll pan, and reduce the baking time to 15-20 minutes for a sheet cake. You may also want to double the icing recipe to cover more surface area. 

More recipes for you:

• Chocolate zucchini Bread
• Zucchini Cheese Bread
• Oatmeal cake recipe
• Sour Cherry Cake
• How to freeze zucchini

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