Light Lemon Zucchini Cake

Light Lemon Zucchini Cake

by Holly Hageman

Are your zucchinis pouring in from your own garden, neighbors and friends? It's my first year of planting summer squash and zucchini, which includes 4 zucchini and 2 yellow summer squash plants, and mine are overproducing this year (a wonderful problem to have!); so, I've frozen my fair share and bestowed them on friends and family, too, just like you. My kitchen garden sits on my deck in the form of 10 earthboxes with automatic irrigation. I grew up with my dad gardening half of our back yard, and I was the elected weed-puller. Since those days, I learned to love garden vegetables, but I like no-maintenance gardening, so this works perfectly for me! I just watch my herbs and vegetables grow, and when I'm cooking dinner it's easy to just walk out on my deck and cut or harvest the needed herb or vegetable - and it's on the table within the dinner hour.

I have discovered I love, LOVE, love certain zucchini recipes and really DISLIKE others. I've never been fond of the heavy textured spice zucchini cake and bread, sometimes loaded with nuts and chocolate to hide the taste of the squash. Why? Why hide the lovely and delicate taste of the vegetable when it can be enhanced and enjoyed in a dreamy, light cake?

I developed this recipe for lemon zucchini cake because I just couldn't find one light enough to suit my taste. I've made it 3 times in two weeks, now, and it has passed the test of the most un-adventurous stomachs in that time, plus I can't get enough of it myself.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour (King Arthur brand is my favorite!)

½ tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs ( I used 4 egg whites instead of two whole eggs to lighten recipe)

1/2 c butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

½ cup buttermilk (If you don't regularly stock buttermilk, using 1/2 c of evaporated milk and 1 Tbsp of powdered cultured buttermilk works just as well. I used this powdered option in this cake.)

1/4 c organic lemon zest (about two lemons)

2 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Frosting ingredients

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 TB cream cheese

3 TB butter

1 TB milk

1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Mix dry ingredients, except sugar, in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar, gradually add eggs. Beat until creamy. Add buttermilk to this mixture and blend all together.

Add dry mixture to the wet mixture and blend all together until well combined.

Fold in zucchini and lemon zest until it is mixed well.

Pour batter into two 8” rounds with greased sides and a parchment paper lining in the bottom.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

For cream cheese frosting, beat butter and cream cheese, add powdered sugar and milk; you may need extra powdered sugar if your liquids are a bit heavy because the frosting may be too loose to frost. Add powdered sugar by the tablespoon until frosting is of a consistency to be able to spread frosting on tops of both rounds.  Frost cake when cool. Stack cakes. I purposely don't frost the sides of my cake, as just a little touch of sweet frosting works for us. If you like more frosting and intend to also frost sides, you may want to make 1 1/2 - 2 batches of frosting.

 This recipe is also wonderful using orange zest, or adding a bit of fresh blueberries. Can also be served with homemade ice cream. My favorites are homemade chocolate or salted caramel.