High Altitude Lemon Zucchini Cake
An easy one-layer cake, made with fresh lemon zest and grated zucchini, drizzled with tart lemon icing.
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.
Notes
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
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