Spiced courgette cake - this delicious vegan zucchini cake is a great way of using up excess courgettes. It is incredibly moist, soft, warmly spiced and very, very more-ish!
It is also incredibly easy to make with just a few ingredients!
This vegan courgette cake is a great, easy bake to use up a few courgettes (zucchinis) if you have been blessed with a glut of them. Or just because you want a delicious cake to snack on that also has some hidden veg in it.
It is a lovely moist cake due to the grated courgette; because it is quite a bland vegetable the flavour doesn't really come through at all, it just provides a nice texture. Adding some cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and sultanas turns it into a lovely, simple snacking loaf that goes wonderfully with a cup of tea.
Ingredient Details:
Courgette (zucchini): It is important to weigh out your courgette rather than just adding one, otherwise your results could vary drastically. Use a regular sized grater, there is no need to peel it, and you don't need to squeeze out the excess liquid.
Oil: I use a mild olive oil but any neutral oil such as sunflower, rapeseed or avocado is fine.
Sugar: I recommend light brown soft but dark brown is also fine.
Cider or white wine vinegar – a little bit of vinegar reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise. You could swap it for lemon juice if you don’t have vinegar.
Vanilla extract– I like to add a dash of vanilla extract for extra flavour but you can leave it out if you don’t have it.
Plain flour: Just regular plain flour is best here. I don't recommend swapping it for wholemeal, it will make the cake too dense.
Baking powder and soda: A mix of the two provides the best rise and light, soft texture.
Spices: Feel free to use a spice blend such as pumpkin or apple pie spice instead of the individual spices.
Sultanas: You can swap these for raisins, chopped dates, dried cranberries or chopped walnuts.
How To Make Spiced Courgette Cake:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
- Step 1: Coarsely grate the courgettes then weigh out 350g into a large bowl, do not squeeze it out.
- Step 2: Stir in the sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract.
- Step 3: Stir in the spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, followed by the flour and finally the sultanas.
- Step 4: Pour the batter into a lined loaf tin and bake for 70 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
It is especially important that you weigh out the courgette after grating it. Most of the liquid in this cake comes from the courgette so if you have too much or too little it will make it either too soggy or too dry.
Be sure to use the coarse side of the grater to grate the courgettes; they will be too mushy if you use a fine grater.
The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
FAQ's:
Because this cake contains courgette, it doesn't keep for very long before you risk it going mouldy, about 2-3 days in an airtight container.
If it is warm out, store it in the fridge.
Yes this cake freezes well. Make sure that it has cooled completely first then wrap it well to avoid freezer burn and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost at room temperature.
Courgette and zucchini are the same thing; courgette is the British name and zucchini is the North American.
More Vegan Vegetable Cakes:
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Spiced Courgette (Zucchini) Cake (vegan)
Equipment
- 2 lb loaf tin
Ingredients
- 350 g (12 ½ oz) coarsely grated courgette (zucchini) (about 2 medium/large)
- 150 g (¾ cup) light brown soft sugar
- 110 g (½ cup) neutral oil (I use olive)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 150 g (1 cup) sultanas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Line a 2 lb loaf tin with baking paper.
- Coarsely grate the courgettes then weigh out 350g into a large bowl, do not squeeze it out.350 g (12 ½ oz) coarsely grated courgette (zucchini) (about 2 medium/large)
- Stir in the sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla extract.150 g (¾ cup) light brown soft sugar, 110 g (½ cup) neutral oil (I use olive), 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon vinegar
- Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, followed by the flour, making sure there are no dry lumps.3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), ¼ teaspoon salt, 300 g (2 ½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- Gently fold though the sultanas.150 g (1 cup) sultanas
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for about 70 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cover loosely with tin foil towards the end of cooking if the top starts to get too dark.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin before slicing.
Notes
- See post above for tips, details, storage instructions and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- It is especially important that you weigh out the courgette after grating it. Most of the liquid in this cake comes from the courgette so if you have too much or too little it will make it either too soggy or too dry.
Tanya
I'm not a cake person, but this looks like something I could get my teeth into- literally. Going to give it a go this weekend, thanks Hannah x
Witney Janet
I made this lovely cake today. I made it gluten free by using a mix of Gluten Free SR flour, Marks and Spencer, 180gm and Ground Blanched Almonds 120gm. I halved the raising agents.
It was delicious. I served it with some apricot coulis made from the leftover apricots from a tin I opened at the weekend.
Thank you.
Kat
I suppose I could use pumpkin instead of zucchini, right?
Hannah
Hi Kat, do you mean grated fresh pumpkin or tinned?