This high altitude lemon zucchini cake is an easy one-layer cake, made with fresh lemon zest and grated zucchini, drizzled with tart lemon icing.
You might also love these recipes for walnut zucchini bread, lemon olive oil cake, and lemon poppy seed cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. Just whisk together the wet and dry ingredients to quickly make the cake batter.
Not Too Sweet. I really liked that this lemon zucchini cake was not excessively sweet, with the lovely summery flavors of lemons and zucchini allowed to shine.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Lemon. You’ll need a fresh lemon, since you’ll be using the lemon zest in the cake batter and the lemon juice for the icing.
- Zucchini. Two medium sized zucchini will be plenty for this recipe. Note that after grating the zucchini, you’ll need to press it with paper towels to absorb some of the moisture. This will help prevent the cake from being overly dense.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar, until fragrant.
- Grate the zucchini with a box grater, and weigh out 8 ounces (1 1/2 cups packed grated zucchini). You’ll need 1 1/2 – 2 small zucchini to get enough. Now press the grated zucchini with paper towels to absorb some of the moisture, until very little moisture transfers to the paper towels.
- Add the grated zucchini to the bowl of sugar and lemon zest, along with the eggs, oil and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and whisk (or use a spatula, as the batter is thick), just until combined. Spread the batter into the pan.
- Bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes.
- Turn the cake out of the pan onto a serving plate or cake pedestal.
- For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and drizzly, then drizzle over the warm cake. Wait several minutes for the icing to set.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Variations
Note that when making this recipe for layer cakes, you’ll likely need to slice a small portion of the domed tops off the cakes so they are level for filling and stacking.
- 6-Inch Layer Cake. For a small layer cake that serves 8 people, divide the batter between three 6-inch cake pans, and bake. Frost the cooled cakes with lemon buttercream.
- 8-Inch Layer Cake. For a standard layer cake that serves 16 people, double the cake recipe and divide the batter between two or three 8-inch cake pans, and bake. Frost the cooled cakes with lemon buttercream.
- 9×13 Sheet Cake. Double the recipe and bake the cake in a 9×13 inch baking pan.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common questions with cake making, so that you can be successful in your own baking! I also suggest reading these comprehensive posts on making Perfect American Buttercream, How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost Layer Cakes and How to Use Piping Bags.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Pressing the grated with zucchini with paper towels helps to remove excessive moisture, which helps to keep the cake from being overly dense.
You Might Also Like
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High Altitude Lemon Zucchini Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 8-inch round cake pan
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 8 oz grated zucchini (1 1/2 cups packed)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar, until fragrant.
- Grate the zucchini with a box grater, and weigh out 8 ounces (1 1/2 cups packed grated zucchini). You'll need 1 1/2 – 2 small zucchini to get enough. Now press the grated zucchini with paper towels to absorb some of the moisture, until very little moisture transfers to the paper towels.
- Add the grated zucchini to the bowl of sugar and lemon zest, along with the eggs, oil and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and whisk (or use a spatula, as the batter is thick), just until combined. Spread the batter into the pan.
- Bake the cake for about 30-35 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes.
- Turn the cake out of the pan onto a serving plate or cake pedestal.
- For the icing, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and drizzly, then drizzle over the warm cake. Wait several minutes for the icing to set.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.
can l use a cupcake pan ,small bunt pan or 8×8??