Pineapple Coconut Zucchini Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sorry there's no picture for this post! The cake was gobbled up too fast!

If you've got a lot of garden zucchini around, you've definitely got to make this cake! I'd make it even if I had to buy the zucchini! It's delicious! I found the recipe on Taste and Tell (there's a picture of it on that blog).

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 pinch ginger, optional
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 whole large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini* (see note)
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, drained (reserve juice in case you need it for the cake batter or frosting)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.
Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together (I had no problem with it being too dry, it was very wet—I wasn't sure it would work out but it did). If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.
Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray (I used a jelly-roll pan, so they were thinner, more like brownies). Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar (approx)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
splash of milk or pineapple juice, if necessary
chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.

*NOTES : I had a large zucchini, so I scraped out the seeds before shredding it. Try to squeeze or drain out most of the liquid.
This recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting carrots for the zucchini.

Give it a try—it's delicious!

Comments

janica said…
This sounds soo good, and we have a HUGE zucchini i need to use.
Brian said…
This cake sounds AMAZING!!! Another use I like for the fresh Zucchini is in bread. Nothing like some warm Zucchini Bread.

Brian over at
http://www.saltlakerestaurant.com
Thanks for your comment Brian! The cake IS amazing! We love warm bread, zucchini, banana, wheat, anything! I have an AMAZING double chocolate banana bread recipe I will be posting soon. It's a must-try!

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