Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s to the garden I go! And come back with loads of zucchini. And then bake with it. It’s in my blood people. This Lemon Blueberry Cake with loads of gorgeous Zucchini is going to be your new favorite dessert!! Don’t miss my 50 Best Cake Recipes if you want to be inspired!
Lemon Blueberry Cake
This cake is seriously amazing. The combination of lemons and blueberry is timeless, and adding in zucchini (courgettes)is the BEST way to add moisture! I used whole fresh blueberries in the cake and then added copious amounts of lemon flavor and zest to the cake and frosting. I think you will find that this cake is just plain perfect. Try my Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls for more of this timeless combination.
Zucchini in Baking
Some folks wonder why do I use zucchini in baking. First off, I love zucchini. It works amazingly as a savory side or is incorporated into desserts. No, you cannot taste the zucchini itself when you are baking, but you do reap the benefits of this vegetable that is packed with moisture.
This cake is moist! Like amazingly so. I popped my cake into the freezer right after baking only because I wanted a nice clean cut. But I do recommend eating when it is still warm and the zucchini bits are lounging around the bursting blueberries in a delightful way.
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Yes, you can! I do recommend allowing them to thaw first. The cake may also be tinted more of a blueish color as the thawed blueberries will bleed a bit more.
Can I Make this Into Bread?
Absolutely. Pour batter into 4 mini loaf pans and bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes or until an inserted toothpick is removed with crumbs, but no wet batter.
More Zucchini Treats
Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups finely shredded and lightly drained zucchini
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature
- 1 cup (224g) vegetable oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups (450g) granulated sugar
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pint fresh blueberries, you can reserve a few for garnish if so desired
Lemon Buttercream
- 1 cup (226g) butter, room temperature
- 3½ cups confectioners' sugar
- juice of one lemon
- zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans with butter and flour or use non-stick baking spray.
- Grate a large zucchini (or two small zucchini) and place in a clean dish towel. Life the edges of the towel up and squeeze some of the extra moisture out, but you do not want the zucchini to be dry. You will want 2 total cups of shredded zucchini after it has been drained. Set aside.
- In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini.
- Slowly stir in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gently fold in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans.
- Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Lemon Buttercream
- Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat until well combined.
- Add lemon juice and vanilla and continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minute or until creamy.
- Fold in zest (If you are piping this buttercream, I recommend leaving out the zest).
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
If you like this cake be sure to check out my other amazing Zucchini Recipes!
Like these Double Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes. Seriously the best chocolate cupcakes, ever!
A friend posted this on FB, and it looked so good I had to try making this — it is DIVINE!! I forgot to add the salt, but it still came out perfectly. I am not kidding, your cake recipe is one of the best I’ve ever had! Thank you for this delicious recipe. I shared it with family & neighbors who all seemed to rave about it as well 🙂
I am so thrilled you enjoyed it!!!
What a different and delightful cake. The cake consistency is perfect and with the lemon buttercream frosting it is quite the dynamic duo. I made it last week, brought half to work and it disappeared. At home my husband ate a piece every night for 3 nights and even paired it with a side of ice cream. My only regret was that I craved it the very next night after it was devoured by all. Round 2 is in the oven as I type. My new favorite!
i misplaced this recipe, could you please send to me.
thanks,
diane
Planning to take this to my company picnic on Sunday. Will be baking it Saturday evening. I’d love to make the two layer round but am expecting around twenty people at the picnic and want dessert to feed everyone. How many servings is the round? A standard 8 slices? Maybe 10? Wondering if I should bake in a 9×13 pan instead to make it stretch or if I need to double my recipe. Had really hoped to have the two layers with frosting in between. Any suggestions to make it go further??
Hi Carrie! You can feed 20 people with this cake as is, but there will not be left overs. 😉 When you have a tall and impressive layer cake you can cut the slices a bit smaller to make it last longer. I also have a recipe up for the cupcake version of this cake if you wanted to have extra on hand, just in case! 🙂
I love your blog. And I love that your give credit to where you found your recipes.
I know a year too late, but I made this for breakfast at work today in a 13×9 pan. It killed! thanks for sharing!
Made according to recipe, but baked as cupcakes (350 for 20 minutes) and they are delicious! I did have to make another half batch of frosting, but that is just fine with me! Thanks for a great recipe!
My daughter and I baked this yesterday, with modifications. When we poured 2 1/4 cups (!!!) of sugar into the bowl, it seemed excessive. We started over, with 3/4 cup of oil and LESS THAN HALF the sugar with 1 cup. I planned to make the icing as-directed, so that added enough sweetness. Also, we baked it in a 9×13 with no problems. It’s lovely and yummy (and nobody missed the 1 1/4 cups of sugar).
I baked this “zucchini blueberry” cake yesterday, and it was a big hit. Congratulations for a great recipe that I will continue to use. Thanks!
I rarely bake anything ( I live alone and have a weakness for sweets), but the photo looked so beautiful I couldn’t resist. I made the cupcakes a couple of weeks ago & frosted most of them. Gave most of them away to the neighbor and froze some that I did not frost. They were awesome! I have a bounty of zucchini and will be making another batch tonite. This time I will not frost them and will pop them into the freezer. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
This cake has such great potential. Is there any way I can cut some of sugar? Seemed way sweet.