It is zucchini season in Ontario! A low-fat cake made with grated zucchini and grated beet. It is so moist that you won't miss the butter. Once it is baked, the red coloured batter turns into a golden brown cake. This is my twist on my friend Enza's amazing zucchini cake recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
For the cake:
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup grated beet
3 large whole eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
For the Lemon-Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered icing sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest of a whole lemon
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly butter a 9-inch fluted cake pan.
Grate 1 medium zucchini, and a small beet in a food processor or by hand with a box grater.
In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.
In another mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in grated zucchini, grated beet and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir carefully. Do not over mix. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350F for approximately 50 minutes. Cake is ready when cake tester comes out clean.
Remove cake from pan after it has cooled for half an hour.
Beat icing sugar together with the lemon juice and lemon zest until it is smooth. Drizzle over the entire cooled cake.
TIPS:
1. When baking, it is important to measure ingredients properly and accurately. Always use the correct measuring cups and spoons. Use dry measuring utensils for powders and semi-solids (flour, sugar, grated zucchini and grated beet). Use liquid measuring cups for wet (oil).
2. When measuring flour, spoon flour, not pour into measuring cup. And level off with a knife or flat edge. Do not shake or tap cup before leveling off. Do not use measuring cup to scoop flour directly out of flour container. Even just a bit of extra flour will make the cake dense.
3. Never over mix a batter when combining the dry ingredients with the wet. Over mixing/beating/blending creates too much gluten and will produce a dense cake. Gently mix flour until it is just blended.
4. If you notice the cake starting to over brown before it is cooked through, cover loosely with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.
5. You can use a 10-inch bundt pan too, but note that the cake will not be as high.
6. Cooking times are always approximate, and are dependent on the size of pan that you use. The bigger then pan, the less cooking time. This is because the depth of the batter will be more shallow.
