If you got a garden and have planted zucchini once, you may be familiar with the problem that at some point in summer, it feels like all of your zucchini plants are packed with fruits at the same time. Enough to feed a whole soccer team ;P In cases like that, it’s good to have recipes at hand to use all those zucchini. Something like this delicious Zucchini Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Ideal to get rid of some of these green fellas.
It’s time for another »Bake Together – The Baking Surprise« with Andrea from Zimtkeks & Apfeltarte. Once a month we get together and bake (or sometimes cook) something based on a theme we chose. In the end, we surprise each other with the results – hence the »surprise«. We often come up with very different recipes, but in some cases, our results were also very similar. What will it be like this time? Who knows…?
This month’s theme is zucchini – the name of the cake probably gave it away already. Without the title, it would have been more difficult to guess the main ingredient of the cake here, I guess. Or can you say it’s made with zucchini only from the pictures? I don’t think so ;P Most people would probably think it’s something with pistachios because they are visible on top of the cake. But those are only there to confuse you.
The chopped pistachios on top of the cake are really just there for decoration purposes. They are delicious and green and are much better suited to decorate a cake compared to zucchini shreds or something like that. However, the main players in this cake are the zucchini and limes. No matter what it looks like at first. Together with all other ingredients, you get a very tasty and moist cake that is perfect for a coffee date on the terrace.
Many people will, of course, be asking themselves »Can you taste the veggies?«. The answer here is quite clear. No, you can’t taste it. It would be silly to go to the trouble of baking a sweet dessert, and then let it taste like roasted veggies from the oven. The courgettes give a cake a great texture and make sure that everything is nice and moist (and stays that way for a long time). Yes, I said moist, because the cake is moist.
The combination with the cream cheese frosting on top makes this cake super tasty and refreshing. It’s the perfect addition and decoration for this type of cake. Frostings can be a bit sweet sometimes – I reduced the sugar here already quite a bit, but in my opinion, it’s still sweet.
In case you prefer it to be less sweet, you can reduce it even more… I assume 2 tbsp. of sugar would be fine as well.
I got more loaf cake recipes here on the blog – quite a few, to be honest. Two of my favorite cakes are a simple Coconut Milk Loaf Cake and my Easy-peasy Lemon Loaf Cake.
Both of them are super moist and very delicious! You should try at least one of them, otherwise you will miss out on something really delightful.
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
For the cake batter:
3.5 oz. (100g) sugar (fine)*
3.5 oz. (100g) brown sugar*
6.3 oz. (180g) sunflower oil*
4 medium eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 3/4 cups (230g) spelt flour*
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
7 oz. (200g) zucchini, grated
2 organic limes, zest & juice (divided)
1 tsp. confectioners’ sugar
For the decoration:
2.5 oz. (70g) confectioners’ sugar
1 oz. (30g) butter, at room temperature
8.8 oz. (250g) cream cheese
1 organic lime, juice & zest
some chopped pistachios (optional)
Für den Teig:
100g Zucker (fein)*
100g brauner Zucker*
180g Sonnenblumenöl*
4 Eier (M)
1/2 TL Vanille Extrakt*
230g Dinkelmehl (Type 630)*
2 TL Backpulver
1/2 TL Salz
200g Zucchini, geraspelt
2 Bio-Limetten, Schale & Saft (aufgeteilt)
1 TL Puderzucker
Für die Dekoration:
70g Puderzucker
30g weiche Butter
250g Frischkäse
1 Bio-Limette, Saft & Schale
einige gehackte Pistazien (optional)
DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23x12cm loaf tin* with baking parchment and grease lightly. Grate the zucchini, place it in a clean kitchen towel, and press out as much water as you can. Zest the limes finely. Collect the juice of one lime for the batter. Set aside.
2. Add both sugars and the sunflower oil to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Next, add the vanilla extract and mix it in. In a separate bowl, mix the spelt flour with baking powder and salt. Add to the large bowl and mix until just combined. Add the grated zucchini, lime zest, and juice and fold in. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin and bake for about 45-55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake gets too dark, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil and continue baking. Take the cake out of the oven and let cool down for 15 minutes inside the baking tin.
3. Mix the remaining lime juice from the batter with the teaspoon of confectioners’ sugar. Poke several holes in the cake using a wooden skewer, then drizzle the lime-sugar mixture all over the cake. Let the liquid soak in, then lift the cake out of the baking tin and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
4. For the frosting, mix confectioners’ sugar and butter in a large bowl until well combined. Add the cream cheese and lime juice and mix until well combined. Frost the cooled cake with this mixture and decorate with lime zest and some chopped pistachios (optional).
1. Den Ofen auf 180°C (350°F) Ober-/Unterhitze vorheizen. Eine 23x12cm Kastenform* mit Backpapier auslegen und leicht einfetten. Die Zucchini raspeln, in ein sauberes Küchentuch geben und so viel Flüssigkeit wie möglich herausdrücken. Die Schale der Limetten fein abreiben. Den Saft einer Limette für den Teig auspressen. Zur Seite stellen.
2. Beide Zuckersorten und das Sonnenblumenöl in einer großen Schüssel verrühren. Die Eier einzeln hinzugeben und jeweils gut unterrühren. Vanille Extrakt dazugeben und unterrühren. In einer separaten Schüssel Dinkelmehl mit Backpulver und Salz vermischen. Alles in die große Schüssel dazugeben und nur kurz unterrühren. Geraspelte Zucchini, Limettenabrieb und den Saft 1 Limette dazugeben und unterheben. Den Teig in die vorbereitete Form füllen und etwa 45-55 Minuten backen – mit einem Holzspieß testen, ob noch Teig kleben bleibt, und den Kuchen erst herausholen, wenn dieser sauber herauskommt. Sollte der Kuchen während des Backens zu dunkel werden, einfach mit einem Stück Alufolie abdecken und weiterbacken. Den fertigen Kuchen aus dem Ofen holen und etwa 15 Minuten in der Backform abkühlen lassen.
3. Den Saft der zweiten Limette für den Teig mit dem Teelöffel Puderzucker vermischen. Mit einem Holzspieß kleine Löcher in den Kuchen stechen, dann die Limetten-Zucker-Mischung über den Kuchen träufeln. Die Flüssigkeit kurz einziehen lassen, dann den Kuchen mitsamt Backpapier aus der Form heben und auf einem Kuchengitter komplett abkühlen lassen.
4. Für das Frosting den Puderzucker und die weiche Butter in einer großen Schüssel gut verrühren. Frischkäse und Limettensaft dazugeben und gut unterrühren. Den komplett abgekühlten Kuchen mit dem Frosting bestreichen und mit Limettenschale und einigen gehackten Pistazien dekorieren (optional).
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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.
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Zucchini Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 00:20
- Cook Time: 00:55
- Total Time: 03:00
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Method: -
- Cuisine: International
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The perfect cake if you got too many zucchini from the garden waiting to be used: Zucchini Lime Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting! So good!
Ingredients
For the cake batter:
3.5 oz. (100g) sugar (fine)*
3.5 oz. (100g) brown sugar*
6.3 oz. (180g) sunflower oil*
4 medium eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 3/4 cups (230g) spelt flour*
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
7 oz. (200g) zucchini, grated
2 organic limes, zest & juice (divided)
1 tsp. confectioners‘ sugar
For the decoration:
2.5 oz. (70g) confectioners‘ sugar
1 oz. (30g) butter, at room temperature
8.8 oz. (250g) cream cheese
1 organic lime, juice & zest
some chopped pistachios (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 23x12cm loaf tin* with baking parchment and grease lightly. Grate the zucchini, place it in a clean kitchen towel, and press out as much water as you can. Zest the limes finely. Collect the juice of one lime for the batter. Set aside.
2. Add both sugars and the sunflower oil to a large bowl and mix until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Next, add the vanilla extract and mix it in. In a separate bowl, mix the spelt flour with baking powder and salt. Add to the large bowl and mix until just combined. Add the grated zucchini, lime zest, and juice and fold in. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin and bake for about 45-55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake gets too dark, cover it with a piece of aluminum foil and continue baking. Take the cake out of the oven and let cool down for 15 minutes inside the baking tin.
3. Mix the remaining lime juice from the batter with the teaspoon of confectioners‘ sugar. Poke several holes in the cake using a wooden skewer, then drizzle the lime-sugar mixture all over the cake. Let the liquid soak in, then lift the cake out of the baking tin and let it cool down completely on a wire rack.
4. For the frosting, mix confectioners’ sugar and butter in a large bowl until well combined. Add the cream cheese and lime juice and mix until well combined. Frost the cooled cake with this mixture and decorate with lime zest and some chopped pistachios (optional).
Notes
Let the baking begin!
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