Zucchini Pecan Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

July 6, 2012 in cake


My husband’s birthday was a few weeks ago and I had planned to make his favorite carrot cake in jars to ship over to him but I just couldn’t get my *ahem* together in time. I’ve been thinking about carrot cake since then.

Well this week I bought a zucchini to make this and then… well, I just can’t manage to get a real dinner cooked these days. No big though, right? Nine months of sandwiches and cereal won’t kill the kids. But anyway, I had that zucchini that needed to get used and realized I could make a spicy, carrot cake-like cake with it. Mmmhmm.

What’s not to love about this cake? It’s slightly spicy but not so much that it screams WINTER! at you so it’s perfect for all that zucchini that you have growing in your summer garden. And by the way, if you have anything growing in your summer garden, I am insanely jealous. I bought a basil plant a few weeks back – next day it was dead.

One year ago: Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
Two years ago: Roasted Garlic and White Cheddar Pasta

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Zucchini Pecan Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

For the cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1½ cups all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups grated zucchini (about 8 ounces)
¾ cup chopped pecans
For the frosting:
½ 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

    To make the cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 9-inch cake pan with parchment paper. Coat parchment paper and sides of pan with nonstick spray.
  2. Sift together flour, baking powder, coarse salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in medium bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl; fold in flour mixture, then grated zucchini and pecans. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
  4. Bake cake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes. Cool cake completely in pan on wire rack, about 1 hour. Cut around sides of pan to loosen. Turn cake out onto platter; peel off parchment paper and flip rightside up.
    5. To make frosting:
  5. Beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Spread over cooled cake. Cut cake into wedges and serve.
http://fakeginger.com/2012/07/06/zucchini-pecan-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

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