With all these zucchini experiments you might think that I don’t have any more huge zucchini in my kitchen any more. Oh but you’d be wrong. There’s still a big huge one on my countertop waiting to be played with. I’ve still got a Zucchini Brownie recipe coming for you…and in case you missed them…here are more zucchini recipes you might be interested in: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies and Bars; Cheeseburger Zucchini Boats; Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread and Muffins.
This cake was maybe my favorite of all the experiments. It was really, really good (and by was, I mean that every last piece is gone). Of course I happen to think cream cheese frosting makes everything good!
Whole Wheat Zucchini Cake
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups sucanat or rapadura
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
Stir together dry ingredients. Mix in zucchini, eggs and butter. Pour batter into a buttered 9×13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Allow cake to cool completely. Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting. Below are two recipe choices:
Sorta-Naughty (But at Least the Sugar is Unbleached) Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup melted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 t. vanilla
4 1/2 cups organic/unbleached powdered sugar
Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add vanilla. Beat powdered sugar in gradually until you reach the right consistency.
Not-So-Naughty (But Still Really Good) Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 ounces cream cheese
1 t. vanilla
4 T. honey
Whip cream until soft peaks form. In a separate bowl, stir cream cheese, vanilla and honey together until smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream.
Either frosting recipe is really good…the latter one is just a bit more natural and healthy.
If you like carrot cake…we all kinda thought this cake tasted a lot like carrot cake. Mmmm!
(If you don’t like carrot cake, then this cake tasted nothing like carrot cake.) You should totally try it. ;)
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
Thanks for posting this recipe! You’re right…cream cheese frosting makes any cake taste good!
I wish that eating with your eyes was as good as eating with your mouth!!
This looks great! I just shredded & froze 12 cups of zucchini. When my kids head back to school, this will be a good afterschool treat.
I made this for a potluck dinner tonight. It was wonderful. I ended up leaving with less than half the pan. Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe…and helping a sister out with all that zucchini I have laying around. :)
Yummy yummy yummy
I used 1 3/4 cup wheat flour and 1/4 cup wheat germ, it was fabulous and every one loved it.I did have to increase the baking time by 15 minutes ( probably would have been shorter if I could have kept from peeking and opening the door.)
i really love Cakes and i am always looking for some new cake recipes on the internet.*,.
I have seen first time in this kind of Cake and I hope to make it on Saturday. This looks very Yummy.
Would this recipe work as carrot cake (meaning, replace the zucchini with carrots)? I’m looking for a “healthy” recipe for my son’s 1st birthday this week, and thought this might work. Also, could you do it as cupcakes? Thanks so much!
Yes I think this recipe would work great with carrots. And also made into cupcakes!! :)
Thanks for this recipe. DS second birthday is coming up and I need a healthly recipe I could make with what I have on hand. I’m sure he’ll love it.
This is scrumptious! Since it has cream cheese frosting, does the cake have to be refrigerated?
Yes, it is best kept in the fridge.
Dear Friends: The zucchini seems really really “wet” — has a significant amount of moisture. When I baked the cake it took forever to cook thoroughly.
Should I be somehow sqeezing moisture out of the zucchini before I use it? If yes — then please advise how?
Many thanks!
If you are using frozen zucchini, then yes squeeze out some of the liquid. If using fresh zucchini, this isn’t necessary.
I just made cupcakes with your recipe, but I used carrots instead of zucchini for my sons first birthday. They are absolutely amazing! Thanks for your great recipes!
Does “T.” indicate tablespoon or teaspoon?
T. is tablespoon, t. is teaspoon, but I’ve edited the post so as to prevent any further confusion! I’ve been terrible about abbreviations and am trying to stop doing that!!
im pretty sure capital “T” is tablespoon and lower case “t” is teaspoon – this is common in measuring ingredients, so hopefully it is what Laura intended also.
just made this!!! SOOOOO yummy! kids loved it too!! thanks so much for all of your great recipes!!
Laura,
This cake is absolutely wonderful..I made cupcakes and a 8×8 cake size and i can not believe how great their are..Thanks for all you do for your and our families.
I was happy to find this, we have loads of zucchini and are running out of ways to use them all. This recipe looks yummy & I’ll be trying it tonight.
Hi Laura,
I noticed the link to the Powdered sugar you posted was like $4 a pound. I just wanted to pass it on that I make my own powdered sugar. Do you have a Vitamix? Most health conscious people do. This works best in a Vitamix, but I’ve never tried it in a conventional blender. Simply blend 1 cup organic evaporated cane juice with 1 tsp. arrowroot powder. If you’re using a vitamix, start on low and quickly go to high as you would make a smoothie. It takes about 30 seconds to blend up completely. You can strain the lumps through a sifter if you want. I use the same recipe for making cream cheese frosting but with my own homemade powdered sugar. I love your site! I will be checking out more. Thanks,
Laura
Thank you – yes! Since posting that recipe I had learned to make powdered sugar. It’s such good stuff!!! :)
This whole Wheat Zucchini Cake sounds wonderful..However, I don’t know what sucanat or rapaduca is?
and where do I get it…
Thanks,
Fran
Rapadura/sucanat is defined as “dehydrated cane sugar juice”. It is a very pure form of sugar, which retains many of it’s nutrients. I order mine from my health food co-op, Azure Standard or get it through Amazon. If you don’t have sucanat, you can substituted brown sugar! :)
I used 1 cup Agave syrup and 1/2 c stevia for sweetener and it was delicious! Made the cake that much healthier.
Hi, i live in Egypt and we don’t have whole wheat flour(only the brown whole flour which has a bitter taste) so can i use the all purpose flour? will it be also 2 cups??
and for the sugar can i use the confectionary sugar(same quantity or will it differ?) and if i want to make it healthier can i use honey or it will change the cake taste?
last thing , i have a picky children so does the zucchini taste appear in the cake?
sorry for these long list of questions, but i like the idea of making our food more healthy
(specially for my kids who refuse to eat vegetables and fruits:( so i hide them in the cakes)
so pls. help
Thank you
You’ll probably need a little more than the 2 cups of flour, but I’m not entirely sure. Yes, honey will be fine and nope, the zucchini doesn’t have a taste in this cake – it just adds the nutrition!
thank u so much for the quick reply, will give it a try
Thanks so much for your recipe. I made your cake and altered it to fit my taste. I cut down on the sugar (I actually used 1 cup of real sugar) and used 1/2 cup of applesauce in place of the butter. I also added a lot more cinnamon and added wheat germ, flax seed, walnuts and raisins…girl it was delicious! It was like a carrot cake and super moist. Thanks so much for posting your recipe, it gave me a great outline to start from. I thought I’d share how I’d altered your recipe and it worked in case you wanted to try it. It is always fun to experiment!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. We try to eat very healthful, but still love to have a dessert every now and then. I am going to try it today using 2 cups of carrots instead of zucchini, as we have an abundance of carrots right now. ~Jordan
How long do you let it cool?
Let it cool completely. That can take up to a few hours depending on your house and where you are letting it cool. :)
Just made this & it’s yummy! Try it with powdered sucanat frosting sometime for a less refined version. The molassesy, caramely flavor complements the cake well. : )
Can you use almond flour instead of whole wheat?
I would imagine so, but I haven’t tried subbing almond flour in this recipe so I can’t say for sure. :)