I first had a zucchini pecan cake in Bright, in the alpine region of Victoria. I was really taken by the bright green flecks of zucchini within the pale cake, and remember that it was a really lovely change to traditional carrot cake, particularly with its zingy lime zest topping. At the time I was with someone who doesn’t like cheese, including cream cheese, (which is weird), so I got to eat the entire slice myself. No great hardship for me! For a cake made of vegetable, it really was wonderful.

I think it’s fair to say that this has been one elusive cake. Having first eaten it in about 2018, I eventually made it during lockdown in 2020, and it was incredibly delicious, so much so that I thought that I had carefully, if not blogged about it, written it down somewhere special.

A little over 12 months later, and I desperately wanted to make it again. I was away from home at the time, and ask my cat sitter to look through my cookbooks to see if he could find it. Although he assured me that he searched diligently, he was unsuccessful. Frustrated, I accepted this answer, with a view to looking for myself when I returned home. However this was one of those terrible moments where it turns out that the other person is right and you are wrong... No recipe.

No matter I thought, I am a  resourceful girl and should be able to figure out how I made it last time. I thought that I had probably started with a carrot cake base, omitted the spice and swapped out the carrots for zucchinis. Unfortunately, the first recipe I tried, I mixed without my usual care, and wound up with a cake which had some bites which tasted like average cake, and some bites which tasted like baking soda. That one went in the bin!

The next one, however was the real deal. The recipe is below. For everyone!

Zucchini Pecan Cake

Makes one 20cm cake or one 10x25cm loaf.

ingredients

4 eggs
1/4 c sunflower oil
1/4 cup melted salted butter (65g)
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 cups grated zucchini

mixing

Line a 20 cm round pan or 10×25 cm loaf pan with bake paper.

Mix dry ingredients together, then add eggs, oil, melted butter, and vanilla. Add pecans and zucchini, mix well. Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 50-55 minutes, until the cake is no longer “whispering”.

Let cool, then frost with cream cheese frosting – there is enough frosting to split the cake and add a layer if frosting inside if you like.

Cream cheese frosting

ingredients

250g cream cheese, softened
50g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp icing sugar
Coarsley grated zest of one lime

mixing

Beat cream cheese and butter on high speed until smooth and fluffy. Add Vanilla and icing sugar.

Spread over cooled cake, sprinkle lime zest over frosting.

Enjoy! xx