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Zucchini Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

An incredibly moist, delicious zucchini cake with a lemon curd filling and cream cheese frosting. Adapted from Nigella Lawson's courgette cake recipe.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, british
Keyword: courgette, lemon curd, tart, zucchini
Servings: 8
Calories: 423kcal
Author: Emily Clifton, Nerds with Knives

Equipment

  • 2 x 8-inch cake pans, greased and lined with parchment paper

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1 1/4 lb green or yellow zucchini (courgettes) (3 to 4 medium zucchinis)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence or paste
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup plus one tablespoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose or cake flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • zest from one lemon or lime

For the filling

  • 1/2 cup lemon curd

For the frosting

  • 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar sifted
  • 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice from one lemon or lime (use zest for cake)
  • 2-3 tbsp lightly chopped pistachio nuts

Instructions

To bake the cake

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF
  • Grate zucchini (don’t peel them) using a food processor fitted with the grating blade or the coarse side of a box grater. Don’t go too fine or they can turn into a wet mush. When you’ve grated them, put them in a sieve over the sink to drain. If they seem very wet, you can squeeze the liquid out with a tea towel.
  • Put the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a bowl and beat them until creamy. Sift in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and continue to beat until well combined. Now stir in the grated zucchini.
  • Pour the mixture into the pans, and bake for 30 minutes until slightly browned and firm to the touch. Leave in their pans on a rack for 5 – 10 minutes, then turn out and let cool on the rack until your filling and icing are ready.

To make the frosting

  • While the cake is cooling, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth, add the confectioners’ sugar, beating well to combine, and then stir in the lemon juice to taste. Keep at room temperature.

Assemble cake

  • Put one cake on the plate and spread with completely cooled lemon curd. Put on the top cake and smear it thickly with the cream-cheese icing. The icing will firm up if it's chilled. Scatter chopped pistachios over the top of the zucchini cake just before serving to keep them crunchy.

Notes

Use this recipe for Seriously Lemony Lemon Curd or use a good jarred one.

Nutrition

Calories: 423kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 250mg | Potassium: 265mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 582IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 2mg
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