This Lemon Courgette Cake recipe is super easy to make and tastes great topped with a zesty cream cheese glaze. A great way to use up your courgette glut!
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Courgettes (that’s Zucchini to you my North American friends) are the only vegetable I have managed to grow successfully at home. A little TOO successfully!
Courgettes are quite easy to grow even if you aren’t much of a gardener and in most cases you end up with masses of them!
This easy Courgette loaf cake is a fab way to use them up (other than my Spinach Zucchini Soup that is).
Courgette Cake Ingredients
- Light and mild olive oil or melted coconut oil
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Two medium courgettes (zucchini)
- Lemon juice and zest
- Flour (all purpose / plain) or you can use Spelt flour
- Baking powder
- Cream cheese, lemon juice, elderflower cordial and icing sugar for the glaze
ESSENTIAL TOOLS
- Food processor (I love my Magimix)
- Microplane Zester – I can’t live without mine and use it almost daily!
- Small Loaf Tin and loaf tin liners
HOW TO MAKE COURGETTE CAKE
This cake is super easy to make! You can whip it up in a blender or a food processor in under 10 minutes or you can make it by hand.
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
In a food processor
Blitz the courgettes and lemon juice in a food processor / Nutribullet until you have a fairly smooth purée.
Add the olive oil, eggs, sugar and lemon zest and pulse again to combine.
Finally, add the flour and baking powder and pulse until you have an evenly mixed batter.
Pour batter into a lined loaf tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until risen and spingy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
By Hand
Combine the oil, eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and whisk vigorously using a wire whisk.
Grate the courgettes or stick them in a mini chopper with the lemon juice and blend them. Stir in the courgette purée into the bowl.
Sift in the flour and baking powder. Mix well to combine and transfer to your loaf pan to bake. Simple!!
Cream Cheese Glaze
This courgette cake is not very sweet and you can certainly leave it plain and eat it for breakfast if you like!
If you prefer a little sweetness then mix together cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and elderflower cordial until you have a pourable glaze.
Drizzle the glaze over the cake and decorate with chopped nuts and lemon zest strips.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST COURGETTE CAKE
Most courgette / zucchini cake recipes require you to grate the vegetable and then squeeze out the moisture before mixing into the batter. This recipe does the opposite – the courgette is blitzed into a purée the consistency of applesauce before using.
Storing and freezing
Store your courgette cake in a cake tin or airtight container for up to four days. It will keep lovely and moist – such a treat with a cup of coffee!
If you want to freeze it then make sure it is completely cool first (do not add glaze). Wrap well in a layer of kitchen paper and two layers of aluminum foil and freeze for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
MORE LOAF CAKES YOU MIGHT ENJOY!
HAVE YOU MADE MY EASY COURGETTE CAKE RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Easy Courgette Cake (Zucchini Cake)
Equipment & Tools
Ingredients
Courgette Cake
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) light olive oil or melted coconut oil
- 2 large eggs
- 150 g (¾ cup) sugar
- 1 lemon zest only
- 2 medium courgettes (zucchini) you will need 200g (¾ cup) purée
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 200 g (1 ½ cups + 2 tbsp) plain flour ( all-purpose flour)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
Glaze
- 100 g ( 3 ½ oz) cream cheese full fat
- 100 g (¾ cup) icing sugar
- 2 tbsp elderflower cordial
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
To Decorate (optional)
- 2 tbsp chopped pistachios
- lemon zest
- edible flowers
Instructions
In a food processor
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line a 1lb loaf tin with baking paper (or a cake liner).
- Blitz the courgettes and lemon juice in a food processor / Nutribullet until you have a fairly smooth purée.
- Add the olive oil, eggs, sugar and lemon zest and pulse again to combine.
- Finally, add the flour and baking powder and pulse until you have an evenly mixed batter.
- Pour batter into a lined loaf tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until risen and spingy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
By Hand
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line a 1lb loaf tin with baking paper (or a cake liner).
- Combine the oil, eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest and whisk vigorously using a wire whisk.
- Finely grate the courgettes or stick them in a mini chopper (with the lemon juice) and blend them.
- Stir in the courgette purée and then sift in the flour and baking powder. Mix well to combine and transfer to your loaf pan.
- Pour batter into a lined loaf tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until risen and spingy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
Glaze and Decorate
- Mix all the glaze ingredients together until you have a pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cooled courgette cake.
- Sprinkle with the chopped pistachios and zest and enjoy!
Milly says
Mine came out not very lemony and quite dry, also the crust of the cake was very brown and crunchy I thought it would have been softer, my courgette was partially frozen not sure if this made a difference. It would be nice sandwiched and covered with some buttercream
Lucy Parissi says
Yes the frozen courgette would have made a big difference