Gingerbread cake is a classic but add zucchini and some lemon zest and you get a delicious and fast summer treat!
I think that the Gingerbread-Zucchini Cake was invented in summer. It must have been. In the Czech Republic, the summer break season is also known as the “Do you want a zucchini?” season. There’s zucchini everywhere, people make zucchini schnitzel, creams, baked zucchini… and I think someone just couldn’t handle it anymore one day and decided to bake a sweet cake with it.
I like making Gingerbread-Zucchini Cake in summer because this vegetable doesn’t have a strong taste and happily takes on the taste of other ingredients, adding moisture to the meal. So if you like moist cakes, you’re right here!
Unlike the usual gingerbread cake, I add some lemon zest and I think it would be great also with orange zest.
While gingerbread cake is very common in the Czech Republic (it’s called perník na plech – “baking tray gingerbread”), I think the gingerbread-zucchini cake is not so common but it’s also not uncommon to see desserts made from vegetables in Czech cuisine, mainly potatoes – for example, Potato Bábovka, Šišky, Patenty or Jabkance.
If you’d like to try other and more traditional Czech desserts, you’ll find them right here.
Gingerbread-zucchini Cake Recipe
Supplies
- 2 cups of semi-coarse flour (see Czech Flour Guide) – if you can’t get it where you live, just use all-purpose flour and its alternatives
- 2 cups of grated zucchini
- 1 cup of caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of oil (sunflower or rapeseed)
- 1 tbsp of cacao powder
- 2 tbsp of gingerbread spice
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- zest from 1/2 lemon, grated
- pinch of salt
Topping
- zest from 1/2 lemon, grated
- jam
- powder sugar
Other
- coarse flour and oil for the baking tray
How to make the Gingerbread-Zucchini Cake
In a bowl, combine flour, cacao, sugar, baking powder, gingerbread spice, salt and lemon zest. Add zucchini, eggs and oil and mix well.
Coat the baking tray with oil and flour and preheat your oven to 180°C/356°F. Pour the batter in the tray and bake for 20 minutes.
Let the cake cool down and spread jam (I love black currant jam for this) on the top of the cake and sprinkle with the remaining half of lemon zest. Or you can just dust it with powder sugar.
Just like the classic gingerbread cake, this gingerbread-zucchini cake is great with coffee or tee.
