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!
Is it 2 tblsp of lemon juice or 2 tblsp of zest?
We accidentally left the eggs out – and didn’t even miss them! The shredded zucchini gave structure to the cake, and it’s already supposed to be dense. Layers and slices held together as well as if we’d remembered the eggs. This totally works as an eggless cake.
cake turn out great; icing was a disaster, 1 cup butter insane – substituted a cream cheese frosting and turned out much better
I WAS WONDERING IF ANYONE HAS TRIED TO SUBSITUTE FOR THE SUGAR. WANTING TO MAKE THIS FOR BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR 1 YEAR JUST NOT WITH ALL THAT SUGAR.
I made this for my county fair-/Best of Show!!
Thank you for the recipe!
That’s a lot of sugar, if I cut it down by half will it be alright or a substitute for it!!??
I have made this cake a few times and always halve the sugar it’s delicious
Thank you for letting us know, Dawne. Did seem like a LOT of sugar. Not that I’ve baked cakes often, but DO bake sweet quick breads, with not much sugar. As a diabetic, I shouldn’t eat ANY of these … but, sometimes one HAS to have something GOOD to eat, instead of cardboard …. 😀
Can you use frozen blueberries for this recipe?
I used frozen blueberries – I put them in a glass measuring cup and microwaved them for one minute. Then I let them sit and cool and thaw while I mixed up the batter. The blueberry juice did make the batter a little grey when I mixed them in, but once the cake was baked, it turned a nice golden color and not grey at all!
Good to know, Nina. All I have is frozen blueberries — 12 pounds of them!! OjO Trying to find varouis recipes to remove them from my freezer, without throwing out all those goodies 🙂 Between BAGS of frozen, shredded zuchinni, frozen bananas, cranberries, blueberries, pineapple — my freezer i very healthy 😀
You had us at lemon!
Can this be made in a bunt pan? I would assume so, but I would like to make sure. I think it would look beautiful enough to eat in a bunt form.
This sounds really delicious and something new to try. Thank you for sharing this.
Simon