When zucchini is in season, there's no better way to use it up than with a cake! This one-bowl wonder of a recipe goes together in a pinch and uses olive oil to moisten the entire dessert. Flavored with orange, it's the best of late summer produce with a simple, sweet glaze!
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan, fit parchment in the bottom, grease the parchment, and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until smooth. Whisk in the sugar until the mixture becomes slightly thick and pale yellow, 2-3 minutes. Add the olive oil, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, almond extract, and orange zest. Whisk to combine and fold in the shredded zucchini.
Once the zucchini is folded in, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use the whisk to combine gently, allowing the wet and dry ingredients to fall through the tines of the whisk until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the batter until even on top. Place in the preheated oven and bake until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean, 50-60 minutes.
Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and set it on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Once slightly cooled, remove the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely.
Once the cake is cooled, prepare the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, orange juice, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add more orange juice to thin or more powdered sugar to thicken. Slowly pour over the cooled cake and spread evenly on top. Slice and serve.
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Notes
When zesting any citrus, like orange, in this case, hold the fruit in your palm. Take the grater and run it all over the citrus, keeping it steady. Let the grater do all of the moving. Since the grater will be face up, all of the zest will collect and can then be dumped into the batter.
Small zucchini work best in baked recipes. If you do not have a small zucchini, make sure to slice the zucchini in half and remove the seeds from the center. This will reduce the water content of the zucchini and ensure that the cake does not come out too wet.
For this cake, mix everything by hand. Sometimes, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer can lead to over-mixing. Since this is a simple one-bowl cake, mixing by hand is just the correct amount.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 304kcal
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