Moist Zucchini Cake

I love spices. My favorite spice has to be nutmeg. Hands down. No argument. I just love everything about nutmeg. I add it to recipes even when the recipe does not call for it. That's how much I love nutmeg.

This was my first attempt at a Zucchini cake. I used a recipe from the very popular David Lebovitz.com. It was a recipe he got from Italian chef Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo kitchen. I must admit, I really, really love the way it tastes. It has the right amount of spice for me, is not too sweet and is very, very moist.

I must complain, however, about the way it looked. Do all zucchini cakes/breads look gray and unappetizing? There were other, less-savory descriptions by my friends and family, which I will not repeat. Hmpf!

I was invited for dinner to a friend's, and offered to bring cupcakes for dessert. Little did I know I would end apologizing all night for the way they looked! Earlier that day, I used the recipe and made both a small bundt cake and a dozen cupcakes. After pondering over it, I decided the cupcakes looked better and took them to the party. I am so glad I did! The bundt cake looked worse. My poor husband, after he got over how it looked, he ate a piece and actually liked it a lot! Good thing I took these pictures when the cake was fresh!

Another disappointment for me was that the cake kind of flattened a little after a few hours. Not too much, and it didn't affect the taste at all, but it didn't help the already sad appearance!

I made a few very minor changes to the recipe on David Lebovtiz's blog. The original recipe can be found here.

Zucchini Cake

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini
1 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped

Method
Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground spices, and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, oils and vanilla until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes on medium with your electric mixer.
Sift in the flour mixture and continue beating on medium for another minute.
Stir in the zucchini and finely chopped walnuts.
Bake at 350. It should take 20-25 minutes for cupcakes and about 40-45 minutes for a large cake.

I glazed it with a lime cream cheese glaze and added some colored sugar for the crunch that David Lebovitz raves about.

For the glaze, I combined about 1/4 cup of fresh lime juice, 2 oz of cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar and creamed until it was smooth. I glazed the cake while it was still warm.

I am not giving up on this recipe though. It is a delicious, moist cake, and I will try it again and again, until it looks as good as it tastes!

Even my dog (can you spot him?) loved it, and you should know he has a very discerning palate. No kidding!

I submitted this to the link party at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

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