This fool-proof Lemon Zucchini Cake is incredibly moist, bright, and packed with lemon flavor. Grated zucchini creates a tender cake as it melts into the batter offering a subtle sweetness.
This cake is topped with a smooth sweet lemon buttercream that extenuates citrus in every bite. It's the perfect way to burn through your summer zucchini stash while making a bakery-style lush dessert, and get some veggies in at the same time - Almond Carrot Cake can help you get your veggies in too!
A Quick Glance At The Recipe
- ✅Done in: under an hour!
- 🛒Ingredients: 12, mostly pantry staples.
- 🍽️Serves: 15 slices.
- 💪Difficulty: Easy - Mix it up and bake!
- 👩🍳Cook Method: Bake
- ⏰Make Ahead Friendly: Yes! Easily freeze the unfrosted cake.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Lemon Zucchini Cake delivers big flavor using pantry staples.
- Use up the abundance of zucchini from the garden.
- Added moisture from zucchini without heaviness.
- Lemon frosting cuts the richness of the cake. Can also be used on Lemon Ricotta Cookies.
- Stays moist for days!
Jump to:
Recipe Ingredients
- Zucchini: 3 large cups of grated zucchini should make a dent in your stash.
- Lemons: Always use fresh lemon juice and zest for the strongest flavor in baked goods. The lemons intensify the sweetness but also cut through the sweetness with a burst of acidity.
- Butter: I always use unsalted so I can control the salt in both the cake and frosting for that perfect balance.
- Sugar: Both white and brown make the best tasting cake, and powdered sugar will whip up nicely into the frosting.
- Olive Oil: Using oil instead of butter in this lemon zucchini cake adds tons of moisture and keeps the flavor light. I use this trick for Chocolate Banana Bread too.
- Staples: Baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and flour!
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon gives the zucchini cake a nice warm spice.
- I also enjoy adding ½ teaspoon - 1 teaspoon of cardamom. It blends and balances the acidity from the lemon for a beautiful flavor combination that is also used in Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake.
- Almond extract can be used in place of vanilla for a lighter almond taste.
- Vegetable oil, canola oil and coconut oil can be subbed for olive oil in a 1:1 ratio.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How To Make Lemon Zucchini Cake
Step 1: Whisk dry ingredients together and set aside.
Step 2: Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Step 3: Add dry to wet and stir.
Step 4: Fold in shredded zucchini.
Step 5: Spread batter in prepared pan.
Step 6: Bake until golden and a tester comes out clean.
Step 7: Whip frosting in a stand mixer until fluffy.
Step 8: Spread frosting over cooled cake and serve.
Expert Baking Tips
- Do not squeeze excess water out of the shredded zucchini. This lemon zucchini cake recipe keeps the excess moisture from the zucchini to make the cake ultra-moist.
- Spray your pan with non-stick cooking spray then line it with parchment paper for easy removal and cutting. I use this trick for all of my cakes and breads like Banana Coffee Cake.
- Make sure your cake is completely cooled before adding frosting.
- Ingredients should be at room temp to be able to mix completely.
- Lemon Zucchini Cake is best served at room temperature so make sure to let it sit out on the counter for 30-60 minutes after coming out of the refrigerator before eating.
Why Zucchini Works In Cake
So...why put zucchini in a cake? It may seem odd, but zucchini is an optimal baking ingredient and I'll tell you why. Zucchini gives the following things to baked good:
- Extra moisture
- Fluffy texture and added volume. No dense feeling.
- A tender crumb
- Subtle sweetness, barely detectable but there.
- A few other reasons to add zucchini to your cakes, muffins, and breads:
- If you grow zucchini, you know at the end of the summer you have a ton to use up!
- Extra serving of veggies in your sweet treats, adding fiber, vitamins and minerals.
- It's mild flavor doesn't change the flavor of your final product. It can essentially be added to anything without altering the flavor enough to notice.
Recipe FAQs
Lemon Zucchini Cake can be stored on the counter, covered, for up to 2 days or in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Yes, you can! Zucchini cake be frozen for up to 2 months.
Double wrap the cake in plastic wrap then wrap it with a layer of heavy duty aluminum foil or place the cake in an airtight container. From there you can place it straight into the freezer.
Let the Lemon Zucchini Cake defrost in the fridge overnight then come to room temp on the counter before serving.
Box Grater - When using a box grater there are several different shredding sized. I like to use the large hole of a box grater when making this Lemon Zucchini Cake recipe.
Hand Grater - This is essentially the same thing as the box grater without any size options. There is one size on a hand grater and it works just fine for this recipe.
Food Processor - You can use your food processor with the shredding attachment. This can work but for me it shreds the zucchini a little larger than I'd like it for this cake recipe.
If you have a garden in the summer months and grow zucchini, then it's likely you may have an over abundance of it. Luckily you can freeze it very easily!
Follow these easy steps to freeze your shredded zucchini:
Wash and dry the zucchini. Cut the ends off.
Grate the zucchini using a box grater, hand grater or food processor with the shredding attachment.
Place the shredded zucchini into a large bowl lined with paper towels. Squeeze all of the juice out of the zucchini.
Place the zucchini into freezer safe resealable bags. Press all the air out of the bag then seal.
Freeze the zucchini by lying the bags flat in the freezer. Once frozen you can nicely stack them to save room.
Zucchini will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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📖Recipe
Lemon Zucchini Cake
Equipment
- 1 13x9 baking pan
- 1 stand mixer optional
- 1 box grater or hand grater
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup olive oil
- 4 large eggs room temp
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 2 lemons
- 3 cups zucchini grated, NOT DRAINED
Lemon Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temp but not warm
- 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Mixing the Dry Ingredients
- Preheat the oven to 350°F then line a 13x9 (metal) baking pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl then set aside until needed
Mixing the Wet Ingredients
- In a separate large bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to combine both sugars and olive oil
- Mix in the eggs one at a time, scraping down sides between each addition
- Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Blend until fully incorporated
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet using a rubber spatula
- Fold in the shredded zucchini
- Pour cake batter into prepared pan then bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with only a few crumbs
- Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack
Making the Lemon Buttercream
- Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 1-2 minutes
- Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt. Mix on low until combined
- Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes until buttercream is light and airy
- Top the fully cooled cake with frosting
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Use a box grater, hand grater or your food processor to shred your zucchini. I prefer using the large holes of a box grater.
- You can freeze any extra grated zucchini! See the FAQ section below for instructions.
- Use the paddle attachment or the whisk attachment to make your lemon buttercream frosting. The whisk adds more air to the frosting so I usually end up stirring it vigorously with a rubber spatula afterwards to get some air out. The paddle will add less air to your frosting. It's a personal preference which you prefer.
- DO NOT squeeze the zucchini. Leave all the moisture and water in it so that you have a nice moist cake.
- Use room temperature eggs! If you forget to take the eggs out ahead of time you can just place them in a bowl of warm-hot water for about 5 minutes.
- Don't skip out on the lemon zest. A little lemon zest adds SO MUCH lemon flavor to this amazing cake!
- Room temperature butter for the lemon buttercream should not be warm. It should be soft but not greasy with a SLIGHT chill to it in the center of the stick.
- You can use round cake pans to make a layer cake, a Bundt pan for a Bundt cake or even a loaf pan (2) to make this into a Lemon Zucchini Bread recipe! Keep in mind bake times will be slightly different. Less time for the round cake pans or the loaf pans. Slightly more in a Bundt pan.
- You can add a teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients for more of a spiced cake. I like to do that when we get closer to the fall!
- Enjoy this gorgeous cake with a cup of coffee or cup of tea!
Emily
This is one of my favorite cakes ever! Making it again today and trying with cinnamon for the first time. Really a simple recipe but it delivers so much on flavor!
Krista Stechman
Let me know how you like it with the cinnamon!
Amy
Perfect summer cake! This turned out so delicious!
admin
I'm so glad you like it! I agree, great for summer!