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Home » Desserts

Published: Aug 30, 2012 · Updated: Sep 16, 2022 by Carole Jones · 49 Comments

Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

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Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting is the best recipe to use all the garden surplus you have!  A triple layer cake that is so dense and moist, then you slather a killer lemon cream cheese frosting all over it.  Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
I think once school is back in session, there is somehow a shift in the time-space continuum.  That first day of school, I feel all full of determination and dedication to finishing all the projects that have to get done.  Especially now that 5 of my 6 kids are in school for 7 hours a day.
 
I should have all the time in the world to get them done…..right???
 
Well, we are about to finish our second week of school and my to-do list only grew.  When I sit back to try to figure out where those 70 hours of almost child free hours have gone, I am at a complete loss.  The most pressing matter on my project list is my garden.  So much food that needs to be canned or frozen!!  Don’t even get me started on my apple tree that decided to start dropping fruit 3 weeks earlier than normal.  Usually when feeling this overwhelmed, I will get up a few hours earlier to give myself more time.  I am currently getting up at 5:00 am.  I don’t think getting up at 3:00 am would do me or my family much good.
 
 
The closest thing I have done to preserving my garden’s bounty was this amazing zucchini cake.  Though, it was gone in less than 24 hours, so I’m not sure I could count it as preserving.  I loved how easy it was to mix together in a bowl, with no need to haul out my mixer.  If you want a simpler version, just bake it in a 9×13 inch pan instead!
 
Need another zucchini recipe?  These Carrot and Zucchini Bars will be just what you need!

 

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Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4.8 from 6 reviews

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My favorite zucchini recipe becomes this triple layered moist cake which is then slathered in a fabulous lemon cream cheese frosting!

Ingredients

Scale

Cake

  • 3 C flour
  • 3 C white sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 C grated zucchini

Frosting

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 C butter, room temperature
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 4 C powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly spray three 6″ round cake pans and line the bottoms with wax paper or parchment paper.
  2.  In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the cake.  In a medium bowl, beat together all the remaining ingredients for the cake.  Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well.  Divide evenly between the three pans.
  3. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cake bounces back when gently touched in the center.  While the cake bakes, use a wooden spoon to beat together the cream cheese, butter and lemon zest until smooth.  Add the remaining frosting ingredients and mix until smooth and lump free.
  4. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a cooling rack.  Remove the pan and slowly peel away the wax/parchment paper liners.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.
  • Author: Carole Jones

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/16th
  • Calories: 664
  • Sugar: 69g
  • Sodium: 362mg
  • Fat: 33g
  • Saturated Fat: 8g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 22g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 88g
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 5g
  • Cholesterol: 76mg

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @thecarolejones on Instagram and hashtag it #mykitchenescapades


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Categories: Desserts Tags: Cake, Zucchini

Filed Under: Desserts
49 Comments

About Carole Jones

Carole Jones is an Arizona-based cookbook author & food blogger. She's authored The 30 Minute Cooking From Frozen Cookbook and the self-published Take 5: Chicken e-cookbook. For the past 15 years, Carole has shared her culinary adventures cooking and baking for her six brutally honest children here on My Kitchen Escapades. Hot, crusty bread is Carole's love language, but her two adorable grandchildren are a close second. Yes, second. Don't judge.

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Comments

  1. Michelle says

    August 30, 2012 at 9:10 pm

    Ooh, this looks delicious! I have a giant zucchini that I was planning on stuffing and doing something healthy with but I think we might have to “settle” for this instead. :o)

    Reply
  2. Jen T says

    September 04, 2012 at 3:10 am

    So understand your statement about free time disappearing and project lists getting longer with no kids home. Sigh. . .right there with ya and my long list. This cake looks amazing! My garden died long ago with our over 100 degree days in July and water restrictions because of the drought, but I have one zucchini left in the fridge, and this recipe is calling out to it! Thanks!

    Reply
  3. Emily Thompson says

    January 18, 2013 at 2:17 am

    Would it be possible to make this as a sheet cake? Just curious, I don’t have round cake pans. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Donna K Stanfield says

      September 06, 2023 at 9:34 am

      If you try it please let us know if it works out and perhaps the cake pan size, temp and approx time it takes. Appreciate your future inputs

      Reply
  4. Carole says

    January 18, 2013 at 2:19 am

    Absolutely! Just watch the cake because I’m sure the time will be different than for the round cakes.

    Reply
  5. Emily says

    January 18, 2013 at 2:42 am

    Wonderful!! Thanks for answering, I can’t wait to try this! Looks delicious!

    Reply
  6. Angela says

    March 09, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    hi thanks for this recipe, it was great! The frosting was a bit runny – how did you get it to set? thanks

    Reply
  7. adrienne says

    February 24, 2015 at 11:49 pm

    Can jou perhaps use almond flower and make it more healthy. Cake flour is ratpoison.

    Reply
    • Carole says

      February 25, 2015 at 6:37 am

      Rat poison….I had no idea 🙂 I have never tried this recipe with almond flour so if you give it a try, come back and let me know how it turned out for you Adrienne

      Reply
  8. Claudia says

    March 26, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    What do you exactly mean by grated zucchini?
    I can imagine many ways to grate them….peeled, not peeled, sliced, etc
    Help pls!

    Reply
    • Carole says

      March 26, 2015 at 11:32 pm

      Claudia- do you have a grater or shredder that you would use to grate cheese? Just use that with some zucchini and viola

      Reply
  9. Kristin M says

    May 26, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    Just wondering if you have to let the zuchini “sweat” after you grate it. Just worried about it not holding together as a whole. 🙂

    Reply
    • Carole says

      May 26, 2015 at 3:58 pm

      I have always used it freshly grated and never had any problems.

      Reply
      • Kristin M says

        May 27, 2015 at 1:00 pm

        Awesome!!! Makin it as we speak!!

        Reply
  10. Jodi A says

    June 22, 2015 at 10:37 am

    Oh my! I had an overabundance of zucchini in my garden last year, so I was searching for different ways to use them all. I came across your recipe for Zucchini Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting and gave it a try. It was my husband’s (and family’s) FAVORITE way to eat zucchini! I just plucked the first zucchinis from my garden this summer and immediately came in to find and print off this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing this!

    Reply
    • Carole says

      June 22, 2015 at 10:41 am

      That is so awesome Jodi! Thanks for coming back and sharing your experience with me. It means a lot to me -Carole

      Reply
  11. Ruby Trejo says

    July 18, 2015 at 11:14 pm

    Just made this for my family after our zuchinni plant blessed us with one too many! It was a hit! I squeezed out the excess water from zuchinni and had to add 15 mins to the cook time for 2 loaf pans with half the recipe but it was perfection! Great bread on its own but the frosting took it to the next level! Had to put the frosting in the fridge for a bit when it started to run which helped… all in all we are so doing this again ! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Carole says

      July 19, 2015 at 7:50 am

      So glad you liked it Ruby! If I can make a suggestion, don’t squeeze out the extra water after you grate the zucchini. That extra moisture really makes the cake so soft and tender! -Carole

      Reply
  12. Pauline says

    August 23, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    The cake needed to cook much longer than the 30-35 minutes suggested. I made a 9×13 and it needed a good hour. I covered the it with foil the last 20 minutes.

    Reply
    • Carole says

      August 23, 2015 at 1:24 pm

      That doesn’t surprise me Pauline. The recipe is supposed to be baked in three small pans so yes, baking it all together in one large pan will take a lot longer. Thanks for your comment! -Carole

      Reply
  13. Erin says

    August 05, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    Waiting for the cakes to cool so i can frost them-cant wait to try it! One question, though-does this need to be stored in the refrigerator? Thank you for sharing your recipe!

    Reply
    • Carole says

      August 06, 2016 at 5:19 pm

      Hey Erin! I like to store my cream cheese frostings in the fridge but not a necessity either.

      Reply
  14. Pam says

    August 10, 2016 at 4:44 pm

    I can’t wait to make this but I have a question about the flour. Is it all purpose flour and not self rising since you are adding baking soda? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Carole says

      August 16, 2016 at 9:20 am

      Howdy Pam! You are correct.

      Reply
  15. Lisa says

    October 14, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    Just wondering 3 cups sugar seems a lot?

    Reply
    • Carole says

      October 14, 2016 at 4:59 pm

      Hey Lisa! You are right, it is a lot but remember that you are making a triple layer cake compared to a normal double layer or a 9×13 inch size. It makes a lot of cake 🙂

      Reply
  16. Sharon Irvin says

    June 30, 2017 at 9:23 am

    Hi ya Lisa, how can I convert this to either 9″ cake pans or a bunt, I don’t have 6″ pans? It looks soooooooo good!

    Reply
    • Carole says

      July 06, 2017 at 2:49 pm

      Hi Sharon – you can definitely use either but will need to adjust the cooking time accordingly! – Carole

      Reply
  17. Nikki says

    August 06, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    I just made it, in the oven right now. I did how ever make it into a sheet cake and added lemon peel into the batter. Baking right now smells great.

    Reply
    • Carole says

      August 06, 2017 at 6:53 pm

      Glad you made the recipe work for you Nikki!

      Reply
  18. Luanne says

    January 21, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    I made this yesterday in a bundt pan. It was so good . My friends really loved it.

    Reply
    • Carole says

      January 22, 2018 at 2:08 pm

      I’m so glad Luanne!

      Reply
  19. Beth says

    March 16, 2018 at 8:41 pm

    Made this today. Super easy to make and super moist and delicious. My only issue and I have never had this happen when I make a cake is they all sank in the middle after they over flowed in the oven.. saddness.. they didn’t turn out pretty but taste wonderful I checked and rechecked recipe ingredients nothing was missed everything measured precisely so not sure what happened. Will try it again because it tastes amazing.






    Reply
    • Carole says

      March 17, 2018 at 9:15 am

      Wow Beth! I’m not sure what happened either. My only thought is maybe you used tablespoons of the baking powder and baking soda instead of teaspoons?

      Reply
  20. Jeannine says

    January 30, 2019 at 10:38 pm

    Haven’t made it yet but I have a question. Did you really mean 6 inch pans? That’s a lot of batter and wouldn’t it be very tall for that size pan?






    Reply
    • Carole says

      February 01, 2019 at 6:12 pm

      Hi Jeannine! You can certainly use 6 inch pans but the cake shown did not use 6 inch pans. If you do use 6 inch pans, don’t overfill them because you will have some extra batter. Good luck!

      Reply
      • Janie says

        July 27, 2019 at 5:25 pm

        Your recipe calls for 6″ pans. I’m confused as to what size pan to use.






        Reply
        • Carole says

          July 29, 2019 at 1:09 pm

          Hi Janie! I used 6 inch round cake pans. Round pans are measured by their diameter.

          Reply
  21. Kate says

    July 15, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    Hi, this is always the first thing we make with the first 2 zucchini from the garden every year for the past few years. Thank you for sharing! My winter born family has even asked for it for birthdays. I just enjoy mixing up the frosting every once in a while. But this time I didn’t have oil and my 4 children were disappointed so we used applesauce in its place. We have to have this for dessert tonight with our first zucchini. Can’t mess with tradition 😉






    Reply
    • Carole says

      July 16, 2020 at 2:33 pm

      I love hearing comments like this Kate! Thanks so much for coming back, sharing your great story, and your review.

      Reply
  22. Mary says

    August 13, 2020 at 10:57 am

    Looking forward to making this for my family! Before I do, I would like to clarify the pan size. The recipe calls for three 6″ pans, but you mentioned in an earlier post that the cake pictured was not made with 6″ pans. Could you clarify? I plan to use 8″ pans myself and will watch the time in the oven. Also, could muffins be made?

    Reply
    • Carole says

      August 13, 2020 at 11:38 am

      Hi Mary! If you use 8″ pans, you will only have a double layer cake, which will work great! You will need to watch the time on the oven and check for doneness however. And yes, I believe this recipe would make excellent muffins or cupcakes. Would love to hear how it turns out for you!

      Reply
  23. Stephanie L. says

    September 06, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    Made this today, it was deeeeelicious! My sister gave me a massive zucchini from her garden and I wanted to make a layer cake instead of a loaf or a quick bread. The texture, the spice, everything about it was perfect! It is sure to become a summer staple in our family. Thanks for sharing!






    Reply
    • Carole says

      September 07, 2020 at 12:32 pm

      I’m so glad you loved it Stephanie! Thanks so much for coming back and leaving a review. It helps so much 🙂

      Reply
  24. Jo Foster says

    November 10, 2020 at 10:05 am

    Can I use zucchini that I shredder and froze?

    Reply
    • Carole says

      November 10, 2020 at 3:37 pm

      Absolutely! I do it all the time. Just be sure not to drain away any of the water that will be in your container it was frozen in.

      Reply
  25. ken says

    March 03, 2021 at 10:24 pm

    using two 9 inch pans will extend the baking time, correct? No other changes, other than the time?

    Reply
    • Carole says

      March 08, 2021 at 11:52 am

      Correct Ken!

      Reply
  26. Surereese says

    August 09, 2023 at 8:21 pm

    Hi, there is no way this makes 3 x 6 inch pans. I just made it it makes 1 square pan and 3x 6 inch pans. The amount of batter will easily make a 8 inch 3 layer cake.






    Reply

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