It seems like we have zucchini coming out of the woodwork these days! Everyone has it growing like mad in their gardens and no one can use it up fast enough. I happen to adore zucchini, but even I’ve been feeling a bit challenged trying to find some different and interesting ways to use it. And then, I found the recipe for this cake – Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze. The moment I saw it, I knew I had to make it.
This is not your typical, dense, leaden loaf of zucchini bread, people. No, no, no! It is cake. Real, honest-to-goodness cake, with a moist, light and delicate crumb drenched in a lovely sweet-tart lemon glaze. And, it is heavenly!
It all starts with the usual cast of cake ingredients, like flour, sugar and eggs. There are also a few special guest stars, like coarsely grated, fresh from the garden zucchini…
And, some fragrant, fruity extra-virgin olive oil. Yes, olive oil. In cake!
Let’s not forget the crunchy, yummy toasted pecans. How could anything not be wonderful with toasted pecans?
I’ll admit it doesn’t look like much before being baked, but just wait until it comes out of the oven…
And it gets a nice slathering of that delightful lemon glaze.
WOWZA!
Seriously folks, this was one of the tastiest cakes I’ve ever baked – and there was no chocolate ganache or Swiss buttercream in sight. Even Mr. “I Don’t Eat Sweets” SGCC indulged in two slices – and that’s saying something!
I have to say, I was a little leery about using extra virgin olive oil in a cake. I was afraid that flavor would be too assertive, but it wasn’t. In fact, if I hadn’t known it was in there, I wouldn’t have ever guessed. On its own, the cake has a slightly earthy, mellow quality to it, and is not overly sweet. The lemony glaze, however, is what really gives this cake its va va voom. A mixture of granulated and confectioner’s sugars is what supposedly gives the glaze its crunch. Although I thought the glaze was really delicious, I have to say I didn’t find it to be particularly “crunchy”. But, I didn’t care. It is a luscious glaze adorning a fabulous cake. Who could ask for more?
Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Glaze
adapted from Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (240 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cup (306 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (237 mil) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (438 g) grated zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)
- 1 cup (75 g) chopped pecans, toasted
For the glaze:
- 1/4 cup (59 mil) fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup (58 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (130 g) confectioners sugar
Directions
- Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Lightly grease a 10-cup Bundt pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, and olive oil together on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat in the vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined, then increase speed to medium and mix for 30 seconds. Mix in the zucchini and pecan pieces.
- Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smooth the top with a spatula and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Rotate the cake halfway through baking to ensure even browning.
- Make the glaze while the cake is baking. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and granulated sugar until combined. Then, whisk in the confectioners sugar until the glaze is smooth.
- Remove the baked cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place the wire rack over a piece of wax paper and flip the cake onto the rack. Using a pastry brush, brush the glaze all over the hot cake. Allow the cake to cool and the glaze to dry completely before serving.
- Store cake in a covered cake saver or covered with plastic wrap and consume within 2 days.
Serves 12.
Filed Under: Baking, Cakes and Cupcakes, Italian, Recipes
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On June 12, 2011 at 10:31pm, Ali said...
What a beautiful cake! I wish I had a zucchini plant, because after baking with zucchini for the past year I have really grown to love it in baked goods. It really lends such a yummy flavor and moistness to them, just like in your delicious cake here. I love that the glaze gives the cake a pop of flavor, to contrast it with the zucchini and olive oil. Stunning photographs as usual Susan.
On June 12, 2011 at 11:08pm, Susan said...
Thanks, Ali!
On June 12, 2011 at 10:45pm, Faith Kramer said...
Wow. Do you think this would work well as mini-bundts or cupcakes? How would you adapt to that?
On June 12, 2011 at 11:11pm, Susan said...
I think it would work great in mini-bundts. You would just have to reduce the baking time accordingly. Cupcakes would probably work too, but you might lose some of the moistness.
On June 13, 2011 at 5:07am, Rosa said...
Fantastic! This cake looks so delicious and smooth.
Cheers,
Rosa
On June 13, 2011 at 6:53am, Stacey said...
I love this cake! I can’t wait to make it. Your blog is fantastic. My recipe box is filling up. Thanks!! Love visiting you on a regular basis…
Stacey
On June 13, 2011 at 10:31am, Susan said...
Aww! Thank you, Stacey! I’m so happy that we found each other again!
On June 13, 2011 at 7:22am, Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...
I don’t know why I’ve never tried an olive oil cake, but I really need to do that, and this looks like a great recipe to start.
On June 13, 2011 at 10:33am, Susan said...
I think you would love this one, Lydia. It’s rustic and elegant at the same time. And, so delicious!
On June 13, 2011 at 7:28am, anh@anhsfoodblog said...
I do not know why I haven’t tried a zucchini cake yet. This looks lovely.
On June 13, 2011 at 10:33am, Susan said...
That’s what I thought. Try it!
On June 13, 2011 at 10:53am, Andrea Meyers said...
I love this cake (and the book)! I’ve been making it the last few summers and it’s always a hit no matter who eats it. The crunchy lemon glaze is just fantastic.
On June 13, 2011 at 10:55am, Chris @ TheKeenanCookBook said...
These are two ingredients I never thought to base a cake off of (and I’ve thought of many ingredients as an Iron Chef fan - sea urchin ice cream?). But these pictures look delicious. I’m going to have to try this so I can say I am “eating my vegetables” when I have dessert ^_~
On June 13, 2011 at 6:54pm, Susan said...
Sea urchin ice cream, eh? I might actually get my husband to try that one! 😉
On June 13, 2011 at 12:14pm, Helene said...
The only dessert that I made using zucchinis is a double chocolate cake. It was so moist. Yours look so yummy with that glaze.
On June 13, 2011 at 6:55pm, Susan said...
I’ve seen that, and almost made it. But, the lemon glaze won me over.
On June 13, 2011 at 3:19pm, The Food Hunter said...
The zucchini in our garden is out of control….this will be perfect to use it up. thanks for sharing.
On June 13, 2011 at 5:15pm, Susan said...
Yum, yum, yummie, yum, yum! Can’t wait to make this. I have zucchini coming out my ears.
On June 13, 2011 at 6:30pm, Greg said...
Great recipe. I plan to make it when I have zucchini coming out of the woodwork.
On June 13, 2011 at 6:56pm, Susan said...
Lol!
On June 14, 2011 at 9:37am, Yuri said...
Looooove the ingredients in this cake! My fav carrot cake is made with olive oil, can’t wait to try this recipe. That lemon glaze looks great too
On June 16, 2011 at 7:55am, Lorena I. said...
Mmmmmmmmm yum…… It looks delicious!!!!! I have tons of zucchini from our garden, so I’ll give this a try as soon as i can…. maybe now lol.
thanks for the recipe and kisses from Spain! 😉
On June 25, 2011 at 11:33am, Liz said...
I did a little tweaking and used some limoncello with the lemon juice for the glaze and I also used walnuts instead of pecans b/c I had some lying around. But an unplanned tweak - I made a mistake and added 1 1/3 cup of olive oil to the mix (I was multitasking at the time!) - but even w/ the extra oil, it tasted really good! My husband loved it too. Next time I will just use the 1 cup of oil though! Thanks Susan
On July 19, 2011 at 9:42am, Shannon said...
I can’t say enough about how FANTASTIC this cake was…my four-year old son and I made this together yesterday, and he loved it. I brought the leftovers to the office, and my co-workers (even the men!) wanted the recipe. I didn’t change a thing, and it was PERFECTION! Thanks as always for a great post.