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 amazinglyย 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 benefitsย of this vegetableย 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 350ยฐF 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
- 2ยผ cups (450g) granulated sugar
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ยผ 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
- 3ยฝ cups confectioners' sugar
- juice of one lemon
- zest of one lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- โ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF. 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
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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!
This sounds like a wonderful recipe and I canโt wait to give it a try. I have a recipe for pineapple zucchini bread that is fabulous if you would like it.
Pls share, we don’t get blueberries in India.. and my son will love to eat bread with pineapple. ๐
I made this cake a few weeks ago and it turned out amazing! I only had a 9โ pan but it still turned out great! Would you recommend trimming the sides? I felt like mine was a little crispy. I just made it again today for a baby shower tomorrow and want it to be 100% perfect (will be making icing fresh in the morning)
I’d need to switch the flour to gluten free for my daughter..easy!
Will surely try this recipe
Can I use the equivalent of stevia instead of sugar?
I just baked Ding dong Cake.. from your recipes.. and truly I feel I am professional already.. i like baking since childhood but your recipes are simple and outcome was super.. look forward for more baking for my almost turning 5 year old son.
Only thing I want to retry this cake is the chocolate sponge didn’t come out too spongy.. not sure if that’s the way it should be or messed up with some ingredient. It had risen well, left the sides perfectly.. with the Ganache was too tempting.
Genia!!!! Saludos desde Argentina!!!!๐๐๐
I love blueberries and lemon,hope to make cake today. The macrons seem easy if I follow directions and ingreds exactly and I have all the supplies. Can I leave the food coloring out? Looking forward to baking on this cloudy day.
In this recipe you refer to one ingredient as buttercream. What is that? I’m very new to baking. Thank you.
I would add the zest of one lemon to the cake recipe for a little added zing. Also, if you rasp the lemon rind for the icing instead of zesting it, it will pipe through even a small tip (though not a closed star tip).
I made the blueberry zucchini cake and it was delicious!