Zucchini Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

This incredibly moist zucchini bundt cake is soft, tender, and perfectly spiced, with freshly grated zucchini folded into every bite. Finished with cream cheese icing, this zucchini cake is a simple and easy dessert that is perfect for late summer gatherings and holidays.

Zucchini bundt cake is a simple to make, moist and veggie-loaded cake that looks impressive but is surprisingly easy to make. I have this theory that you can elevate any simple cake just by turning it into a bundt cake because the shape provides all the decoration lol.

If you want to keep it simple and classic though, I also have a zucchini sheet cake recipe that is similar, but developed for a rectangular pan.

Why You’ll Love This Zucchini Cake

• Moist and Flavorful: Adding zucchini to cake not only adds vitamins and antioxidants, but it adds a ton of moisture as well. Applesauce and cozy spices in the batter as well make it even more moist and flavorful. Finally, walnuts add a bit of crunch and nuttiness.
• Easy to Make: No mixer required, just a big mixing bowl, whisk, and a willingness to grate some zucchini (a lot easier to grate than carrots in my opinion).
• Occasions: My imagination’s use cases for zucchini bundt cake include tea parties, summer picnics, late summer gatherings, and of course year-round snack time.
• Loaded with Zucchini: I feel obligated to say that vegetables in cake is a hidden health bonus lol.
• Cream Cheese Icing: The perfect, sweet and tangy complement for zucchini cake.

Ingredients for Zucchini Bundt Cake

A full list of ingredients is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but sharing a few key ingredients and notes below for your reference:

• All-Purpose Flour: For the best results, I recommend weighing your flour rather than using measuring cups. If you do not have a scale though, make sure to spoon and level the flour into the cup.
• Oil: Oil is the primary fat source in this zucchini cake. Use a neutral oil such as vegetable, canola, or avocado oil to avoid impacting the flavor.
• Unsweetened Applesauce: Applesauce primarily keeps the cake moist. It also contains pectin, which limits gluten development to keep the cake soft. Make sure your applesauce is both unflavored and unsweetened.
• Light Brown and Granulated Sugars: Brown sugar leads to a rich, dense cake while granulated sugar adds a neutral sweetness.
• Large Eggs, at Room Temperature: Soak eggs in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes before baking to warm them up.
• Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger give the cake a spiced flavor.
• Grated Zucchini: Grate zucchini with a box grater. No need to squeeze any of the water out.
• Cream Cheese: For the icing. Use plain cream cheese from a block (such as Philadelphia).
• Chopped Walnuts: Walnuts add nuttiness and crunch that pairs beautifully with the cake’s warm cinnamon notes. See the FAQ section for substitution ideas.

You will also want to make sure to have, equipment-wise, a 10-12 cup capacity bundt cake pan and ideally a baking spray with flour to grease it.

Tips for the Best Zucchini Cake

Use room temperature ingredients: This mainly applies to the eggs, but also anything else that might be cold (ex. if you are keeping applesauce in the fridge). Cold ingredients do not incorporate together well and will impact that cake’s texture.

Greasing the bundt pan: A nonstick spray that contains flour such as Pam for Baking or Baker’s Joy is your best friend when it comes to making bundt cakes. There is no shame in using a spray designed for such things.

Let the cake rest in the pan for 10-15 minutes before flipping it out: Fresh out of the oven bundt cake is very hot and fragile. Give it some time to cool and set up in the pan, from which it will start to naturally release a little. However, with all this being said, do not let the bundt cake sit in the pan for more than 30 minutes, otherwise it will actually start to stick again as the sugars harden.

Zucchini size matters: in a world of jumbo vegetables, a big zucchini is sadly not kind to delicious zucchini cake. The best zucchinis for cake are actually small to medium (6-8 inches), of which you’ll want around 2-3 for this cake. The reason for this is that large zucchini are actually drier and bitter. Smaller zucchini are more tender and sweet.

FAQs

• What is the best way to prep zucchini for cake?
  • Do not peel the zucchini before grating. Use the large holes of a box grater to shred it into a bowl. You do not need to squeeze out the water or drain the zucchini, but if it’s unreasonably watery (i.e. soggy) you can gently blot it with a paper towel.
• How do you know when the cake is done?
  • The cake is done when a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. You can also gently tap the top of the cake and it should spring back. Start checking on the cake a few minutes before you think it will be done to avoid over-baking.
• How should I store leftover zucchini bundt cake?
  • Due to the high moisture content and cream cheese in the icing, I recommend storing the cake in the refrigerator to keep it fresh. Tightly wrap it or place it in an airtight container.
• Can I skip the walnuts?
  • If you don’t like walnuts, have a nut allergy, etc. you can definitely omit the walnuts from the recipe. Great substitutions include pecans, chocolate chips, or some shredded coconut.

Pin & Save for Later

If you’re interested in making this recipe, browsing around, or not ready to bake yet, no problem! Simply hover over or tap (on mobile) any image in this post (pick your favorite or use the one below), and use the pin icon in the corner to save for later.

Hope you love your zucchini bundt cake and happy baking, my friends!

For other tasty warm-weather bakes may I also recommend:

• Pistachio Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
• The Best Banana Bundt Cake
• Blueberry Bundt Cake