Moist lemon cake (no butter, dairy-free)
Last week my sister told me about a chocolate cake recipe in which you’d substitute the butter or oil with grated zucchini, and since then it’s been on my mind and I really wanted to give this ‘technique” a try. I’ve heard about using zucchini instead of butter in a cake before but was quite sceptical about how it would turn out. I decided to try it in order to create a “healthified” and dairy-free version of my fondant lemon cake that is always a hit at home. And I must say it turned out pretty good! You don’t see, feel or taste the zucchini at all and you end up with a moist and light cake with a refreshing lemon taste. I decided to top it with a lemon icing since Arnaud is always on the sweeter side and it was his birthday, but really it’s delicious without the icing as well.
Note: I decided to peel the zucchinis just to avoid having some small green chunks in the cake in case it would look weird, but if you don’t mind feel free to leave the zucchini unpeeled, or simply use some yellow zucchini squash as you won’t have to peel it and it will get that perfect lemon yellow color.
Makes one loaf:
- 1 and ⅔ cups (200gr) flour of your choice (I used the unbleached all-purpose kind but feel free to substitute with whole wheat, rice, or any gluten-free flour mix)
- ½ cup (60gr) almond meal or flour
- 1 cup (200gr) sugar of your choice (I used a mix of brown sugar and coconut sugar which gave my cake a darker aspect -> use a lighter colored sugar if you don’t want your cake to look this dark)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- <optional> 1 to 2 tbsp poppy seeds
- Zest and juice of 2 large -or 3 small- lemons
- 4 eggs
- +/- 10-11oz (300gr) zucchini (about 3 very small or 2 medium or 1 regular), peeled or not. The ones I used were very small and dense, hence less “watery” than a large one which worked great for this recipe.
For the icing (optional):
- ¾ to 1 cup (100gr) powdered sugar
- ½ lemon
Start by combining the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl, and set aside. In fact I did that the night before so the sugar would have plenty of time to get all the zest flavors overnight, but you don’t need to do it so long in advance.
Grate the zucchinis (peeled or not) -if your grater has both coarse and fine grating surfaces, I recommend using the fine one. Place grated zucchinis in a fine strainer to allow the possible excess of water to escape, and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, almond meal, sugar with zest, baking powder, pince of salt, and poppy seeds if using. While mixing well, add in the eggs, lemon juice and then grated zucchinis (after having slightly pressed them to remove any excess of water), until you get a smooth cake batter. If it appears to be too “liquid”, add a little bit of flour, but normally you won’t have to. Pour batter in a greased loaf pan and place in preheated oven (360°f/180°c) for 1h to 1h10, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and take the cake off the pan as soon as possible. Place on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
<Optional> Make the icing: place powdered sugar in a bowl, the add in lemon juice a few drops at a time, mixing with a fork or a spatula until it gets the consistency of a thick icing “paste”. It must almost look too thick, as if it is too runny it won’t stick on your cake and will look watery and transparent -and that’s not what you want. You must be able to spread it on top of your cake with a knife or the back of a spoon (your cake should be completely cold before starting this step). Allow icing to set before slicing and serving.
Happy eating!
