Vegan Courgette Cake
An easy vegan courgette (zucchini) cake with a tangy lemon glaze. This recipe is made without eggs and uses and oil-based batter so it's really simple to make.
Servings 1 (2lb) loaf cake
Ingredients
- 480 g (4 ½ cups loosely packed) courgette (zucchini)
- ½ tsp fine table salt
- 165 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- zest of 2 lemons , finely grated
- 110 g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 80 g (⅓ cup) soy milk or other non-dairy milk
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 215 g (1 ¾ cups) plain white flour (all-purpose flour)
- 20 g (2 tbsp) cornflour (corn starch)
- 25 g (1/4 cup) ground almonds (almond flour)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) non-fan / 160°C (320°F) fan. Line a 2lb loaf tin with a sling of baking paper.
Salt & Squeeze the Courgette:
- Using the coarse side of a box grater, grate the courgette over a clean kitchen towel. Sprinkle with the salt and toss together to combine. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until the salt has drawn lots of moisture out of the courgette and it appears quite wet. Gather the edges of the tea towel at the top and twist together then twist and squeeze firmly over the sink to remove as much liquid as possible.480 g (4 ½ cups loosely packed) courgette (zucchini), ½ tsp fine table salt
- Unwrap the courgette and weigh out 200 to 230g of the squeezed, grated courgette (i.e. 1 cup packed, squeezed, grated zucchini). Discard any remaining grated courgette.
Mix the wet ingredients:
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub together with your fingertips briefly to extract some of the fragrance of the zest. Stir in 90g (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) of the vegetable oil, all of the soy milk and the vinegar.165 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar, zest of 2 lemons, 110 g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) vegetable oil, 80 g (⅓ cup) soy milk or other non-dairy milk, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- Add the 200 to 230g of squeezed, grated courgette to the bowl of sugar mixture and stir together. If you want to, use an immersion blender to blitz the mixture until smooth and flecked with green.
Mix the dry ingredients:
- Place the flour, cornflour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a separate bowl and stir together (I like to use a whisk). Drizzle in the remaining 20g (1 tbsp) of oil and rub the mixture together with your fingertips.215 g (1 ¾ cups) plain white flour (all-purpose flour), 20 g (2 tbsp) cornflour (corn starch), 25 g (1/4 cup) ground almonds (almond flour), 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Combine & bake:
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and gently stir together until combined (a whisk is helpful here) - a few lumps may remain, this is fine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 50-70 minutes, covering with foil after 40 minutes if it's looking too brown, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
I've given a range of 200 to 230g of grated courgette because I found in my tests that some courgettes are wetter (namely, marrows are much more watery!). So, I tested the cake with a range of weights of squeezed, grated courgette and found that 200-230g works best. You might end up with a bit more than 230g of courgette and, if that's the case, you can either discard the excess or use it for a pasta sauce or something similar.
I glazed my cake with a simple lemon icing - I used a mixture of 3/4 cup icing sugar, adding lemon juice a bit at a time until I got a thick but drizzleable glaze. It's really important to only pour the glaze onto the cake once it is completely cool, otherwise the glaze will slide right off the cake!
Flavour variation: for a different flavour, see the section below the recipe for variations