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With warm, cozy spices and an irresistible orange cream cheese glaze, this zucchini cake is without a doubt the BEST way to put your summer zucchini harvest to use. So moist and delicious!
If we’re being honest with ourselves – zucchini bread is basically cake. And if zucchini bread is basically cake, then shouldn’t we just bake it in a Bundt pan, slather it in cream cheese glaze, and call it a zucchini cake?
The answer is YES, yes we should.
Looking for more zucchini as dessert recipes? Try our chocolate zucchini muffins.
Ingredient Notes
- Cooking spray
- All-purpose flour – Measure this by lightly spooning it into the measuring cup vs. scooping.
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg – For warm, cozy flavor, similar to zucchini bread or carrot cake.
- Sugar
- Salted butter – room temperature, please and thank you.
- Oil – Any neutral oil you like to use for baking will work.
- Zucchini – You can use another variety of summer squash, like yellow squash, too.
- Eggs – Let these come to room temperature; they’ll mix in more smoothly and hold more air when beaten.
- Orange zest – You’ll need the juice for the glaze, but zest the orange first—it’s easier that way!
- Vanilla extract
Orange Cream Cheese Glaze
- Cream cheese – Use the kind that comes in a block, not a tub.
- Butter – room temp for this.
- Powdered sugar – if you’re out, do you know you can make your own? Try our tutorial.
- Vanilla extract
- Orange juice – Freshly squeezed has a much different flavor than bottled. It’s so worth it!
How to Make Zucchini Cake
*I’ll walk you through it here with some photos and tips, and you’ll also find a printable recipe card at the bottom of the post with exact measurements, etc. You can also click “jump to recipe” to skip down.
Preheat your oven to 350˚F and coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Add the butter, sugar, and oil to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high using the paddle attachment until the mixture is light and fluffy. No stand mixer? Use a deep bowl and a hand mixer.
Reduce the mixer speed to low. Mix in the zucchini, eggs, orange zest, and vanilla.
Add the flour mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer and mix until just combined.
Transfer the batter to the Bundt pan and smooth the top.
Bake the zucchini cake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
While the cake bakes, beat the cream cheese and butter in the stand mixer until it’s fluffy. Add the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time, then mix in the vanilla and orange juice.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then invert it onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once the cake is cool, carefully transfer it to a cake plate. Pour or spread the frosting over the zucchini cake and serve.
Storage
Cover the zucchini cake lightly with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container. You can keep it at room temperature for a few hours, but after that, refrigerate it; it will keep for about a week. Let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
To freeze: I recommend freezing the cake on a parchment-lined baking sheet until the frosting is solid, then wrapping it in plastic and placing it in a freezer bag or airtight container. You can freeze individual slices or the whole cake. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Soften the butter and cream cheese before starting the recipe. Softened butter will blend in more smoothly with the rest of the batter and it holds more air when whipped; the same is true of cream cheese and you won’t get those little lumps of unmixed cream cheese in your frosting.
- If your powdered sugar is lumpy, go ahead and sift it first. It’s easier to not have lumps in the first place than to have to try to break them apart after you’ve mixed your frosting.
- Wring out the zucchini well after you shred it. Zucchini has a high water content, so if you don’t wring it out, your cake will be too wet and won’t bake properly. Wrap it in a clean kitchen towel (that you don’t mind potentially turning green) and wring it until no more liquid drips out.
- Let the zucchini cake cool completely before frosting. If you try to frost a warm or even a slightly warm cake, some of the frosting will slide off and the rest will melt into the cake. Is it still delicious? Yes. Does it look good? No!
- If you don’t have a Bundt pan, you can use a 9×13 baking dish and bake the zucchini cake for 35 for 40 minutes.
Orange Cream Cheese Glaze
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Make Zucchini Cake
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Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.
cooking spray
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Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
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In the bowl of a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment, cream together sugar, butter, and oil. Mix on medium-high until light and fluffy.
3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup salted butter, 1/3 cup oil
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Reduce the mixer to low and add in the shredded zucchini, eggs, orange zest, and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
2 1/3 cups shredded zucchini, packed, 2 eggs, 2 tsp grated orange zest, 1 tsp vanilla extract
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Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
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Spoon cake batter into the bundt pan. Smooth the top of the batter.
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Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
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Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Place a wire baking rack over the top of the cake, and invert both the pan and rack together to release the cake.
Make Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
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While the cake is baking, combine cream cheese and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium until soft and fluffy.
3 oz cream cheese, softened, 3 tbsp butter, softened
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Reduce the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time.
3/4 cup powdered sugar
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Add in the vanilla extract and orange juice and slowly increase the mixer speed to medium or medium-high until well combined.
1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/3 cup orange juice
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Pour/spread the frosting over cooled cake that has been transferred to a clean plate.
- No bundt pan? You can use a 9×13 baking dish. Bake cake for 35-40 minutes.
Calories: 313kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 4gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 231mgPotassium: 158mgFiber: 1gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 405IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 39mgIron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
