Olive Oil.
Zucchini.
Lemons.
Cake.
All things I love, not all things that I would typically put together into one recipe.
But here we are living our best lives with a super tender + moist olive oil cake studded with lemon and zucchini shreds, topped with a simple lemon + coconut butter icing.
It’s a little unusual but it’s totally perfect for dessert, an afternoon snack, or even breakfast with a cup of tea!
Let’s do this.
First, we shred zucchini and squeeze the living daylights out of it. Like, for real. Do you know how much liquid comes out of shredded zucchini? Enough to turn a cake into a soggy mess, that’s how much.
So just be sure to scoop up your zucchini shreds between your fists, imagine whatever is annoying you, and squeeze until you’re feeling calm again.
The zucchini gets mixed into the cake base of extra virgin olive oil, honey, eggs, and lots of lemon juice + zest. Almond flour and wheat flour help form a cohesive batter (use a whole grain flour like spelt, einkorn, or whole wheat, if you’d like!), and a little baking powder helps it get nice and fluffy.
All that’s left to do is stir together a simple, coconut butter based icing while the cake bakes. A few years ago I was searching for an alternative to powdered sugar icing that still had the same color and consistency, and came across a jar of coconut butter in the pantry, all nice and melty on a hot day. If you haven’t used it before, coconut butter is different from coconut oil in the same way that peanut butter is different from peanut oil. It’s a thick, drippy, spreadable white coconut paste that you could certainly just drizzle on this cake as is for an unsweetened topping, but I like to jazz up a bit with a few fun add-ins like lemon and honey, both of which help to make this icing slightly less coconut-flavored.
The recipe makes enough to spread a thin layer of icing over the entire cake, but I like to drizzle it over to up the pretty factor a bit.
Then, just cut into slices, grab a fork, and prepare to enter zucchini lemon olive oil cake bliss.
If you make this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your cake and share it with me on Instagram so I can see!
Zucchini Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Time: 60 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
Cake
- 1 small zucchini (to yield 1 cup, shredded and drained)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- Zest from 2 lemons
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (can sub spelt, einkorn, or white whole wheat)
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Icing
- 1/4 cup coconut butter, at drippy room temperature (if solid, warm before using)
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 3-4 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Zest from 1/2 a lemon
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8-inch cake pan with olive oil (I used a springform pan for easy cake removal).
- Shred the zucchini on a box grater, then scoop up the zucchini shreds between your hands and squeeze over the sink to remove any excess liquid. Measure out 1 cup of shredded zucchini, tightly packed. Save any excess to use in smoothies, omelettes, or toss into your dog’s food!
- Whisk together the olive oil, honey, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Add zucchini, flours, baking powder, and salt, and stir well to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 38-40 minutes, or until deeply golden around the edges and cooked through.
- Let cake cool in pan fully before removing and icing.
- To make icing, whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl, starting with the lower amount of lemon juice and adding more, as needed, to achieve a thick but drizzle able consistency. At first the icing might seize and be a bit clumpy, but keep whisking and it will smooth out! If needed, a few extra drops of water can help thin it out, as well.
- Top cake with a big drizzle of icing, slice into 8, and serve. Leftovers keep well at room temperature for 2 days, or in the fridge for 4. Bring cake back to room temperature before serving leftovers.
NOTES: any nut flour can be used in place of the almond, if needed. Make your own by pulsing nuts in the food processor until a flour-like consistency, being careful not to over-process or you’ll get nut butter!