ZUCCHINI & LEMON CAKE

This cake is rich in flavour and fluffy yet moist in texture. If you're into olive oil, walnuts and lots of warming spices, this is the treat for you!

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Inside view of zucchini cake showing moist texture and walnuts.

This cake is rich in flavour and fluffy yet moist in texture. If you're into olive oil, walnuts and lots of warming spices, this is the treat for you!

Hi guys! It's us here. It's been a while since we last posted a recipe... But we bring you cake, so we hope there are no hard feelings! We made the most our summer and enjoyed the sun and the waves whenever we found the time to do so, amidst all the working and planning. Lots of exciting things are happening for us soon, and that is where all our energy has been going into. Our blog calendar is back on track though, so you can expect to see a lot more of us from now on!

This zucchini cake has been on my (Rita) mind for such a long time. I'd been craving a sweet and tangy, deep flavoured cake for a while, when we got a visit from André's dad. He always brings us a generous amount of whatever is seasonal at the time, whether it is plums, tomatoes, mandarines... That time around, he came bearing a 1.5L bottle of the richest, most delicious olive oil, which had been recently cold-pressed from his latest batch of olives. Believe it or not, this is the best gift André could hope to receive, and it's extra special coming from his father. We treat it as a rare delicacy that is not to be wasted on mediocre confections! We don't often cook with olive oil (or any oils, as a matter of fact), but we do enjoy it raw, drizzled over salads, soups or pastas. As soon as I tasted it I knew I'd just found the perfect excuse to finally roll up my sleeves and get working on that zucchini cake I'd imagined! A little tweak here and there, and the cake finally matched my yearnings. Even though it's baked in a loaf pan, this is not the common zucchini loaf or bread... It is in fact, a cake in all it's glory. Crumbly, fluffy, slightly moist, sweet yet not too much. I could go on.

We love having a slice of this cake with a cup of tea or plain rice milk. We reckon the ingredients' list may be a little long and intimidating, but when you're a foodie just like we are, you like to bring out the big guns and play around with everything you've got. And trust us, these spices, flour, fresh produce and natural sugars... Taste a-mazing when brought together. Totally worth scavenging the spice section in the supermarket and spending a little extra on coconut sugar. Give this a go and let us know what you think!

Fresh zucchini being grated on a box grater for the cake batter.

All dry and wet ingredients for zucchini and lemon cake arranged in small bowls.

A small ceramic dish filled with spices ready to be combined.

Zucchini cake batter evenly spread in a lined loaf pan, ready to bake.

Freshly baked zucchini and lemon cake cooling in its loaf tin.

Animated gif with the step by step in the decoration process.

The cake topped with frosting, lemon slices, zucchini ribbons, candied ginger and chopped walnuts.

Finished zucchini and lemon cake topped with frosting and citrus garnish.

Close view of lemon slices used to decorate the zucchini cake.

Zucchini and lemon cake on a white table with bowls of walnuts and frosting nearby.

A slice of zucchini and lemon cake with frosting served on a white plate with a wooden fork.

Two plated slices of zucchini and lemon cake with frosting and lemon garnish.

A hand holding a fork with a bite of zucchini and lemon cake.

Zucchini & Lemon Cake

DRY INGREDIENTS

240 g wholegrain spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp allspice
¼ tsp vanilla powder
⅛ tsp Himalayan salt
75 g roughly crushed walnuts

WET INGREDIENTS

120 g coconut sugar
3 flax eggs (combine 3 tbsp ground flax seeds with 9 tbsp water and allow to rest for 5 minutes)
125 ml plant-based milk
80 ml olive oil
60 ml maple syrup
80 ml lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
225 g grated zucchini

LEMON & CASHEW FROSTING

130 g raw cashew nuts, soaked in water for a minimum of 4 hours
60 ml lemon juice
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
⅛ tsp vanilla powder

TOP WITH

crushed walnuts
candied ginger
lemon zest
grated zucchini
lemon slices

Instructions

Start by gathering, preparing and measuring all of the ingredients. This will improve your dynamic in the kitchen.

LEMON & CASHEW FROSTING

Rinse and drain the soaked cashews.
Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender and process for a few minutes, until the mixture becomes totally smooth. You may need to stop and scrape the sides of the container a few times.
Pour the frosting into a jar or airtight container and store in the fridge while you prepare the cake.

ZUCCHINI & LEMON CAKE

Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
Line a rectangular loaf pan with parchment paper.
Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Combine all the wet ingredients except for the zucchini in another bowl.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and fold until perfectly combined.
Gently fold in the grated zucchini to the cake batter, little by little.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes, still in the pan.
Remove the cake from the pan and allow to cool completely before serving.
Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

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4 Comments

Tuandoansays:

August 20th, 2023

I enjooyed reading this

Ashleysays:

September 11th, 2018

The batter has turned out to be more more of a very very dry dough (can't even mix with fingers)... Was there supposed to h3 added water I'm missing?

Rita Parentereplied:

September 11th, 2018

OMG yes sweetie, I'm sorry this didn't work out for you. I forgot to add the plant-based milk in the ingredients list! :O Had you not stopped by and left us this comment, I might have never noticed it. My bad! I hope you'll give this another go. :) xo

Discerning Mamasays:

November 10th, 2017

When I've had to substitute for spelt in several of our recipes, I have used a sorghum, teff, and tapioca blend, which is a little less intense than buckwheat. The teff is great about absorbing moisture without getting too dry. Without having made this recipe before, it might work to use 1 c sorghum, 1/2 c teff, and 1/2 c tapioca. If it is wetter than the recipe calls for, an extra tablespoon of teff might do it. I'd add it in very cautiously, as teff can suck up too much moisture, and end up making more of a cracker than a cake!

Rita Parentereplied:

November 24th, 2017

Woah, thank you so much for this insight! I don't think I've ever used sorghum or teff flour in a recipe... We normally use buckwheat, almond, oat and rice flours, but we'll definitely give this combo a go! :) xo

ReaderRitasays:

October 15th, 2017

This sounds absolutely wonderful; but I cannot have anything in the wheat family, meaning spelt flour is out for me. Can this be made successfully with any gluten-free flour? It sounds SO good...

Rita Parentereplied:

October 16th, 2017

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by :D We've tried this with buckwheat flour (just replace the spelt flour with an equal amount of buckwheat) and it worked wonders! It turned out crumbly and fluffly. However, buckwheat does have a very particular taste, and it'll be present in the cake. We have yet to give this recipe a go with a gluten free flour mix, which is usually a combination of rice flour and some sort of starch like arrowroot or potato starch. I don't see why it shouldn't work. Let me know if you try it! :) xoxo