Vegan Courgette Cake
Vegan courgette cake with lemon glaze - this easy, one-bowl, eggless and dairy-free courgette cake (zucchini cake) is moist, lemony and lightly spiced and is a great way of using up seasonal gluts.
Servings 8 people
Ingredients
Courgette Cake:
- 350 g (12.3 oz) courgette (zucchini) (about 2 medium)
- finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- 100 g (½ cup + 1 Tbsp) light brown soft sugar
- 80 g (⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp) caster sugar
- 120 ml (½ cup) sunflower oil
- 60 ml (¼ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used soy)
- 60 ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
- 260 g (2 cups + 2 Tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
Lemon Glaze:
- 85 g (⅔ cup) icing (powdered) sugar
- juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease an approx 11.5 x 21.5 cm / 4.5 x 8.5 in loaf tin and line with a strip of baking parchment. Make sure that you leave some overhanging on either side so that you can lift the cake out easily.
- Coursely grate the courgette and place the grated flesh in a clean tea towel over the sink. Firmly squeeze out most of the excess water. Weigh the leftover flesh, you should have about 240g left.
- Place the grated courgette in a large bowl along with the lemon zest, light brown soft sugar, caster sugar, sunflower oil, milk and lemon juice.
- Whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Stir until no dry lumps remain.
- Working quickly, tip the batter into the prepared loaf tin, spread it level and place in the preheated oven.
- Bake for about 70 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
- Once the cake is cool, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually stir in the lemon juice until you have a thick but pourable glaze.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake and serve. Store in an airtight container for up to four days.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them
- There is no need to peel the courgettes, the skin is very nutritious.
- 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.
- Make sure that you squeeze the excess moisture out of the grated courgette so you don't end up with a soggy cake.
- You can substitute the courgette for marrow.
- Swap the lemon zest and juice for lime if you prefer.