This incredible Courgette Cake is so light, moist and flavourful you won't believe it's made from a vegetable. Topped with a creamy and smooth lime cream cheese frosting you'll savour every mouthful!
A Courgette Cake is not too dissimilar from Carrot Cake in the way its made. The extreme moistness from this loaf comes from a combination of sunflower oil and, of course, the star ingredient: courgette.
Or, zucchini, depending on where in the world you are.
Loaf cakes are my very favourite thing to bake at the moment. Just like my Red Velvet Loaf Cake and Date and Walnut Cake this Courgette Cake is incredibly moist and tender.
You will love this recipe because...the cake is moist
and vibrant it looks impressive. Packed full of flavour. Very easy and quick to make!
The cream cheese frosting on this cake finishes it beautifully. The zesty lime pairs amazingly well with the cake and the pistachios on top add the perfect amount of nutty crunch.
What does it taste like?
Just like Carrot Cake doesn't really taste of carrots, Courgette Cake doesn't actually taste of courgettes! The courgette is there to improve the structure and texture of the cake and not because we want it to taste like vegetables.
This is the type of cake you'd expect to see on offer in a National Trust coffee shop. Well, instead of paying £3.00 a slice you can make your own for a fraction of the cost!
As a novice gardener, this is also an amazing way of using up homegrown courgettes. Which are surprisingly easy to grow and give an abundant crop in case you were wondering.
Anyone that grows courgettes will be searching the internet every summer trying to come up with interesting ways to cook and bake with them.
Courgette cake can be easily made in one bowl. You can use a freestanding mixer like a KitchenAid or an electric handheld whisk. It can also be made by hand with a good old-fashioned balloon whisk.
The method is very forgiving and it's super quick and easy. This loaf cake will turn out perfectly every time, you'll want to bake it again and again!
Top Tips for baking with courgettes
- The recipe calls for 200g of grated courgette. This is about 1 medium courgette but as they can grow in different shapes and sizes it's important to weigh the courgette after it's been grated. If you overload the cake with courgette it might be soggy.
- Smaller courgettes are sweeter than the larger ones, so bear that in mind when choosing which courgettes to bake with.
- I don't recommend squeezing the water out of the courgette unless it's excessively watery. The water content of the courgette is what makes the cake extra moist.
- Use the largest side of the grater and don't chop them up or the texture won't be the same.
- There is no need to peel the courgette, you want some pretty flecks of green in the cake!
Can this be made as a round cake?
This courgette cake recipe can be easily adapted to a two or three-layer 20cm round cake.
You will need to add a third of the ingredients on. To do this divide the weight of each ingredient by two then multiply by three.
For example:
200g (brown sugar) divided by 2 = 100 X 3 = 300 = 300g
For the frosting, use double the amount of ingredients.
Follow these instructions and you will have the correct measurements to make and frost a 20cm cake.
I hope you enjoy making and eating this lovely courgette cake as much as I did!
More loaf cake recipes you'll love
- Date and Walnut Cake
- Strawberry Loaf Cake
- Carrot Cake Loaf
- Malteser Loaf Cake
- Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake
- Biscoff Loaf Cake
- Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake
- Chocolate Chip Banana Loaf Cake
The Greatest Courgette Cake Ever!
This incredible Courgette Cake is so light, moist and flavourful you won't believe it's made from a vegetable. Topped with a creamy and smooth lime cream cheese frosting you'll savour every mouthful!
Ingredients
For the courgette cake
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 200 ml sunflower oil
- 200 g plain flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- zest 1 lime
- 200 g grated courgette, approx. 1 medium courgette
For the lime cream cheese frosting
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 100 g full fat cream cheese
- zest 1 lime
- juice ½ lime
- 250 g icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
- 1 handful pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC Fan/Gas 4/350ºF Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
- Add the sugar, eggs and oil to a large mixing bowl and beat until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder and beat until you can no longer see white streaks of flour.
- Add the lime zest and grated courgette and fold into the mixture by hand until it's evenly mixed together.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. You can add foil to the top of the cake in the last 10 minutes of baking time if it's looking too brown.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes then transfer it to a wire cooling rack.
To make the lime cream cheese frosting
- Add the butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) beat for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Don't worry if there are still some lumps of butter.
- Swap the paddle attachment for the balloon whisk. Add ⅓ of the icing sugar. Whisk on a low speed until the icing sugar has incorporated then add another ⅓ of icing sugar and repeat. When all the icing sugar has been added, turn the speed up to high and whisk for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the lime zest and juice and beat until fully incorporated.
- When the loaf cake has completely cooled, spoon the cream cheese frosting on top of it and use an offset palette knife or similar to smooth it over the top. To decorate, sprinkle over the pistachios and a final grating of lime zest.
Notes
Oil
I used sunflower oil, however, you can use any flavourless oil such as groundnut (peanut) or vegetable (canola) oil.
Pistachios
I used pistachios on top of the frosting. If you would like them in the cake you can add 65g to the mixture at the same time as you add the courgette.
Cream cheese frosting
You can substitute the cream cheese for mascarpone if you wish.
The consistency should be smooth, creamy and spreadable. It should not be runny or it will slide off the top of the cake. You are aiming for the consistency of easily spreadable butter. If you need to thicken the frosting you can add icing sugar 25g at a time. If it's too thick add a splash of milk or cream. You can also put it in the fridge to set for a bit if it's still too runny.
Gluten-free option
My gluten-free sister had great success making this recipe with Dove's Farm gluten-free flour and ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum.
Storage
Store in the fridge in an airtight container or wrapped well. Bring to room temperature before eating.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 505Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 59mgSodium: 96mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 1gSugar: 44gProtein: 3g
Helen
Absolutely delicious, thank you for the recipe. Love all your loaf cake recipes x
Amy Treasure
My pleasure! So glad you enjoyed it x
Emily
Made this for our jubilee street party and oh my god was it delicious. People were a bit sceptical when I told them courgette was in there. They all went back for seconds though
Julie
This cake is brilliant. So easy to make and tastes delicious. Keeps in the fridge well too. Only downside is we keep eating it!
Katie
This looks delicious! I have the loaf in the oven now as a practice for my Mum’s birthday next weekend! Just wondered if it’s possible to bake this in advance and freeze it?
Rob
This was a disaster! The scaling up for the 20cm didn't work for me, I ended up with a raw cake that has gone in the bin. Looking for other recipes but I know courgette cake can be amazing but not on this occasion!
Rhoda Kirwan
This looks amazing. I've grown courgettes this year and I have a bumper crop so looking for some courgette recipes. This sounds like the perfect solution. I have a question, could I use a gluten free flour as an alternative? I have a son who has coeliac disease but I know would love this. Thanks, Rhoda
Julie
Can it be frozen?
Katie M-B
Just made this cake today - super easy and delicious.,my topping was too runny but my mistake as I added the lime juice too early.