8.19.2010

Zucchini Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Way back last week I decided to make a small dent in our zucchini surplus by baking Mr. Geek a birthday cake. His sights were set on his favorite, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, however there was no way I was going to shred carrots when there were 2 huge zukes sitting on the kitchen counter {sadly, our zucchini plant has since succumbed to pesky cucumber beetles}.
Back to the cake. I dug out my copy of the Old Farmer's Almanac Everyday Cookbook, which has some really great, old-fashioned recipes in it, and found The Best Carrot Cake Ever. Since I believe everything I read in books (smirk), I knew I had to make this recipe. With my sous chef in place,
I began to shred the zucchini and prepare the ingredients.

The Best Zucchini Cake Ever (adapted from The Old Farmer's Almanac Everyday Cookbook)
For the Cake:
  • 1-3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups lightly packed shredded zucchini
  • 1 can (8 ounces) pineapple tidbits, drained
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional--I omitted them)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 9" round cake pans. In a bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, and vanilla just until combined. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the zucchini, pineapple, and nuts. Stir just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, place onto a rack, and let cool.
For the Cream Cheese frosting:
  • 6 ounces (2 small packages) softened cream cheese
  • 6 tablespoons softened butter
  • 1 teaspoon minced orange peel
  • 2 to 2-1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth. Frost onto the top of one of the cakes, then place the other on top and frost all the way around the sides and on the top.
Devour and enjoy!


13 comments:

blueviolet said...

Ok, that looks nom nom good! And honestly, if you put cream cheese frosting on anything, I'll eat it!

JDaniel4's Mom said...

My husband says he doesn't like zucchini. I bet I could get him to eat this.

WhisperingWriter said...

Looks pretty good!

I cheat and usually just make cakes from a box :)

Braley Mama said...

Oh baby! That looks so good, and your little helper looks so proud of himself!

Kari @ A Giveaway Addicted Mommy said...

I am so lazy ... can you just send me a piece? It looks so yummy and I know your food would be fantabulous!

katy said...

I love zucchini bread and I love cream cheese so this sounds like a winner to me.

Muthering Heights said...

That sounds SERIOUSLY delicious!!! I may have to pick up some extra zucchini at the Farmer's Market this week! ;)

For real though, do you ever cook anything that isn't over the top amazing? :)

Bonnie said...

oh man, I love zucchini cake! I didn't plant any zucchini this year because every summer I have people giving me so many zucchinis that I have more than enough. Well, guess what....no one gave me any zucchini this year! Eek! Ok, I learned my lesson...next year, I will plant my own!

Knit and Purl Mama said...

Thank you for the recipe! We are still hoping to get a few more zucchinis. We actually had WAY too many last year. This year it's the summer of cucumbers! LOL

Jennifer V. said...

OH MY THAT LOOKS SO GOOD! You had me at cream cheese frosting. Yum!

*ashley* said...

that does look good...i'm not SUCH a fan of zucchini so i'm kind of hesitant to make any recipes with them...i should probably get over this soon haha..though his first choice carrot cake sounds amazing too

Gem said...

zucchini cake just doesn't sound like something I'd try, but after seeing your post, I definitely want to try some now!

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