Vegan courgette cake

Vegan courgette cake

vegan courgette cake cross section

Happy weekend! I hope the sun is out for you! We are back to an average temperature of 20° C and fairly frequent cloud coverage… While I miss the heat I am not too upset about this weather change as we are going to be bathroom and toilet less for the next two weeks – something that’s certainly more of an issue when it is relentlessly hot. Our contractor – who seems like a really nice guy and someone who really takes pride in his work – is starting on Monday.

I have high hopes as we ‘interviewed’ quite a few contractors and bathroom renovation companies before we settled on our man. He was really friendly, approachable, exact and I’ve been emailing him a fair bit to run various fixtures and ideas past him and he has always been very responsive and helpful.

After a lot of thinking, measuring, planning and searching we’ve settled on pastel peach pink geometric tiles on the floor and the side of the bath, oversized matt white tiles on the walls, brushed brass fixtures and medium green walls. What we are most excited about is our vanity unit as we made it ourselves and we cannot wait to see it put together. We bought a second-hand Mid-Century chest of drawers with brushed brass handles, got a local stone supplier to cut us a piece of quartz that will be our water resistant countertop and purchased a beautiful countertop basin that will go on top. We are yet to pick up the quartz but the basin, the taps and the chest of drawers look beautiful together. We cannot wait to see it all done and we have been living with a sub par bathroom for almost 3 years now.

When it comes to today’s recipe, I hope you are in the mood for some baking? As courgettes (zucchinis) are very much in season right now, I made a moist vegan courgette cake topped with creamy lemon frosting and chopped pistachios. It’s too good to resist even though I am trying my best not to constantly munch on baked goods (which is a challenge when you bake for a living). The cake itself is really easy to make, all you need is a grater, one bowl and a sieve! The cream is a little more involved but you can always top it with a simple lemon icing instead. It went down really well in our house and I hope it will go well in yours too 😉 . x

vegan courgette cake ingredients

vegan courgette cake wet ingredients

vegan courgette cake dry ingredients

vegan courgette cake batter

vegan courgette cake top down

vegan courgette cake slice

makes
2 lb / 1 kg
PREP
30 min
COOKING
50 min
makes
2 lb / 1 kg
PREPARATION
30 min
COOKING
50 min
INGREDIENTS
CAKE

WET INGREDIENTS

  • 150 g / ¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar*
  • 50 g / ¼ cup refined coconut oil or vegan butter block, melted and cooled
  • zest of 3 lemons + 60 ml / ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
  • 60 ml / ¼ cup soy (or other) milk
  • 240 g / ½ lb / packed 1½ cups, coarsely grated courgette / zucchini

DRY INGREDIENTS

LEMON ICING (quick and easy)

  • 50 g / scant ½ cup icing sugar
  • approx. 3 tsp lemon juice

LEMON FROSTING (make a day ahead)

  • ½ tsp lemon extract (optional)
  • zest of small lemon + 35 ml / 2½ tbsp lemon juice
  • 25 g / 2 tbsp refined coconut oil, melted
  • 100 g / ½ cup silken tofu
  • 135 g / 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for 30 min
  • 4 tbsp / ¼ cup sugar (icing sugar is best)
  • chopped nuts, for decoration

METHOD
CAKE

  1. Set the oven to 175° C / 350° F. Grease a 1kg / 2lb cake tin with a bit of oil or line it with a piece of baking paper.
  2. In a large bowl mix all the wet ingredients together.
  3. Place a sieve over the bowl with wet ingredients and sift the first three dry ingredients in. Fold them into the wet ones using a spatula and a gentle clockwise folding motion until no flour pockets remain.
  4. Finally fold in ground pistachios until you get a uniform, thick but still pourable cake batter.
  5. Transfer the batter into a baking tin. Bake for 50 mins (depending on your oven) – it’s done when a toothpick comes out clean of any crumbs. Let it cool down completely before removing from the tin and icing.
  6. Once cool, remove from the tin and decorate with icing or chilled frosting and chopped nuts.

LEMON ICING

  1. Whisk the icing sugar and lemon juice in a medium size bowl until fully combined. Add the lemon juice gradually to avoid lumps in your icing.
  2. Spoon icing over the cake starting from the middle so that it drips down to the sides creating pretty drizzle marks.

LEMON FROSTING (make a day ahead)

  1. Place all the ingredients in a blender in the order they’ve been listed – liquids first. Blend until super smooth. Depending on your blender, you may need to add a tablespoon of plant milk but don’t add too much as the icing won’t be firm enough.
  2. Place the mixture in the refrigerator overnight to firm up.

NOTES
*SUGAR: You can use 180 ml / ¾ cup maple syrup or other liquid sweetener instead but if doing so, skip the plant milk entirely.

*PISTACHIOS: I ground mine very finely, in a coffee grinder, and sifted before using.

Please be aware that 1 kg / 2 lb tins vary enormously between brands so I recommend measuring the volume of the tin you intend to use first. For this recipe, I used a 2 lb cake tin that holds approximately 1250 ml / 5 cups of liquid (to the brim). The batter should fill no more than 2/3 – 3/4 of the tin or else the cake may not raise.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
383
19%
sugars
27 g
30%
fats
20 g
28%
saturates
8 g
41%
proteins
7 g
14%
carbs
48 g
18%
*per serving
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5.0
6 reviews, 8 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Seema:
Hi looks lovely. Could I use oat flour?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank Seema! I have not tried but I would say that it is likely to make it a little crumbly so I would add 1 tbsp of flax egg mixed in with 3 tbsp of water to help it stay together. Also, baking time may need to be adjusted to suit oat flour. Hope this helps! Ania
maisiesbookjourneys:
What a cake! It’s light, flavoursome and extremely easy to make. What more could you want? I made it with GF oat flour and a fresh courgette from the garden, I couldn’t have wished for better results. Will I be making this again? Defiantly! It’s one of those recipes you won’t tire from. Move over banana bread, courgette cake is here! 😁
    Ania
    Ania:
    Yay! Thanks so much, I'm delighted to hear that it was such a success and that you are planning to make it again, Maisie! Ania
Aimee:
Hi Ania,
Can I just use coconut sugar instead of caster sugar? Sure I can... Just confirming!
Will let you know turn out!
Aims x
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Aimee,
    Yes, sure you can. It will give you a darker colour and a slightly less shiny crust, but will work just as well. Hope you'll enjoy it! Ania
Suzanne Carlino:
Made this cake yesterday to bring to a BBQ and it was a real hit! A great way to use up extra courgettes from the garden. The flavour was light and lemony and the texture was very good and extremely moist. I did bake it for 10 minutes longer than suggested as it was still a bit pale after 50 minutes. I'll definitely make this again.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you for your kind words, Suzanne. I'm delighted to hear that this cake turned out to be such a success at your BBQ! In terms of baking time, ovens do vary so I'm glad that you went with your baking instinct and kept it in for a little longer as it sounds like it still came out nice and moist. x Ania
vanessa:
This is one of the best lemon cake I have tasted so far! My son hates courgettes… he did not notice them and almost ate half of the cake… The texture is amazing and it tastes wonderful! I used rice flour and coconut milk and the result was perfect.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much, Vanessa! I am delighted to hear that it was such a hit with you and even your courgette-hating son too :) x Ania
Reichel Wellswim:
This was such a tasty cake! I was a little bit doubtful as I used more marrow than courgette, but it didn't matter. Thanks!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Reichel! And thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. x Ania
Jivan Dios:
Just wonderful! And perfect timing now that we have so many zucchinis!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! Ania
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