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“It was everything you (and several comments) promised! I’ve passed it on to my sisters, who’ve become your followers, too, just because of this cake (and its frosting)!” ~Nancy
blueberry zucchini cake is a feast for the senses
You might have seen I am Baker’s cake around, it’s a stunner. Amanda’s blueberry zucchini cake is a gorgeous 2 layers, fit for a celebration, but in true tvfgi style, I turned it into a casual blueberry zucchini sheet cake. No less scrumptious, just a little more user friendly. Eat it with your hands, in your lap, off a paper napkin, whateves, but definitely try it, it’s absolutely delish.
what you’ll need
- eggs
- vegetable oil
- vanilla extract
- granulated and confectioner’s sugar
- shredded zucchini
- all purpose flour
- salt, baking powder, and baking soda
- blueberries
- butter
- fresh lemon juice
best pan for a blueberry zucchini cake
Instead of using round cake pans, I baked the batter in my 9×13 USA pan, I love it, it’s got a wonderful heft to it, and cooks nice and evenly. I don’t like to bake in glass if I can avoid it because it tends to cook hot, and the edges can get overdone. I used this pan to bake my favorite Pecan Praline Pumpkin Cake and my Brown Sugar Peach Cake, too, and I’m always thrilled with the results.
BAKING TIP: Converting a layer cake to a 9×13 pan is easy — since the depth of the batter will be comparable, there are no changes necessary except to watch the baking time carefully. It will probably take a little longer in the 9×13 pan, so check with a toothpick to be sure.
how to make a blueberry zucchini cake
- Whisk the wet ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, then fold in the shredded zucchini.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and then fold into the wet ingredients, just enough to combine.
- Fold in the blueberries and bake.
- The batter is luxurious and silky — and since it uses oil in place of butter it’s super easy to throw together. I made sure to rearrange my blueberries after filling the pan so they would be evenly distributed throughout the cake.
the lemon buttercream is the icing on the cake!
This blueberry zucchini cake is moist, dense, and delicious, but I think it’s the lemon buttercream that has my taste buds doing a jig. I love it, so I made sure to lay it on nice and thick.
BAKING TIP: I blended the lemon buttercream up in my food processor (fitted with the metal blade) rather than using my electric hand beaters like I usually do, and I loved the result. It was easier, less messy, and the frosting came out super smooth and creamy. It’s my go to method from now on.
I love my USA 9×13 pan, it’s sturdy, nonstick, and has a great solid feel to it. USA pans have no bells and whistles, they’re just good quality, durable cookware. My cakes cook up more evenly in this aluminized steel, with no overcooked edges like I sometimes get with glass. USA makes a whole line of bakeware and I’m slowly replacing all my pans. Plus, they’re made in the USA!
Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream
Video
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 pint blueberries, tossed in 1 tsp flour
lemon buttercream
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Lightly grease and flour a 9×13 baking pan.
- Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar until well blended. Fold in the zucchini.
- Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to combine. Slowly add it to the wet mixture, mixing just enough to blend.
- Fold in the blueberries, and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, just until the top is turning golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Cool on a rack.
- To make the frosting, put the softened butter into the bowl of a food processor and process until creamy. Add the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time, processing till smooth after each addition. After the second cup of sugar add in the lemon juice. Scrape down the sides of the machine as necessary. Adjust the texture by adding a little more lemon or a little more sugar.
- Frost the cooled cake and store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Reader Lillia reports in the comments below that this cake can easily be made gluten free using King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour.
- I felt that this blueberry zucchini snack cake was at its best chilled, so I kept ours in the refrigerator. The frosting is butter-rich, so especially in warm weather this makes sense, and the texture of the chilled frosting is out of this world.
- For all your chocoholics out there, you really need to check out my Cold Chocolate Snacking Cake ~ it’s meant to be eaten straight from the fridge, and I guarantee you won’t be able to control yourself around it
Nutrition
Just made this with freshly picked juneberries but instead of a cake I made muffins. Yummy!!
I’m jealous that you have juneberries, I’ve never tasted one! If you happen to see this, can you let us know how long you cooked the muffins, other readers are asking about that, thanks 🙂
I recently switched to a plant-based diet. If I were to use vegan butter, would it be the same amount?
Generally yes, but in the frosting I think you could go with less and be fine.
Is it possible to make this into a Keto cake using almonds flour and swerve or Splenda.
Thanks
I haven’t tried that Vivian, so I can’t say for sure, but I think you should be able to adapt the recipe for low carb and keto. Let us know the results of your experiments!
To make your BLUEBERRY ZUCCHINI SNACK CAKE WITH LEMON BUTTERCREAM gluten free (and lower sodium), substitute as follows for the 3 cups of flour:
1 cup Better Batter GF flour
1 cup Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oat flour
1 cup Bouchard buckwheat flour (this is “light” buckwheat flour and has almost no flavor)
Sub grated granny smith apple for the zucchini. (Use the large holes on the grater).
Add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract.
Reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup (use 2 cups)
Omit the salt.
Line the pan with parchment paper – no need to grease and flour.
The cake turns out great!
Thank you SO much Allie ~ this will be helpful to a lot of folks out there 🙂
Fairly new to gluten free baking…why do you need to substitute the apples for the zucchini?
I have made this many times and it’s just so perfect for any occasion! It’s a personal favorite of my husbands. He surprisingly shared it with his coworkers and they all agreed! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe!
Thanks so much Lauren 🙂
If I want to use butter instead of oil in the Blueberry Snack Cake, how much butter do zI need?
I would use it melted and cooled, in the same amount.
I made this today and substituted the blueberries with black currants. Because the black currants are very tart the lemon buttercream icing was a little too much. Would be perfect with a cream cheese icing. Our house is surrounded by a black currant farm so I’m always looking for recipes where I can use them. This one is perfect! Thank you.
Oh wow Sandra, I am picturing those black currant bushes right now. I love your idea of switching out to cream cheese frosting, the whole thing sounds so good!
Would using cake flour be okay in this recipe?
I think so, I’m pretty loose about using cake flour, I use it when I happen to have it, and I prefer the texture it gives.
Can you use frozen blueberries?
That will work fine, just don’t defrost them first.
I made this blueberry zucchini cake with lemon the best I never taste anything like it amazing
Since lemons vary so much with respect to the amount of juice yielded, can you specify the amount that should be used in the icing? Thank you!
You can start with 3 tablespoons, Kathryn, and add more if you need to get the right consistency.