Zucchini cake is one of summer’s great, simple joys. This zucchini dump cake recipe is moist, delicious, and super easy: just stir the ingredients together and bake. This cake is homey summer baking at its finest.
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Summertime and the baking is easy, thanks to this one-step zucchini cake.
I love when vegetables can be dessert. When summer season arrives, so does a lot of zucchini. While we usually focus on savory zucchini recipes (like this Italian zucchini ribbon salad and summer squash parmesan), zucchini also makes a wonderful cake.
For reasons I cannot explain, zucchini tastes wonderful as a cake. A good zucchini bread is moist, flavorful, and gently spicy from cinnamon and nutmeg. This dump-it zucchini cake recipe accomplishes all of that, and in the easiest method possible.
More great simple summer dessert recipes include classic banana bread recipe and a creamy Southern banana pudding—another sweet way to enjoy ripe bananas.
Recipe Ingredients
This recipe for zucchini cake uses standard ingredients. Instead of butter, though, this is an oil-based cake. This saves the trouble and step of creaming butter and sugar, and also helps make this incredibly moist. You will need:
- zucchini (of course!)
- flour
- sugar
- baking powder and baking soda for leavening
- oil
- eggs
- cinnamon and nutmeg for a little spice
- vanilla extract
- Extras: You can also add 1 cup of chopped walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips. This will give the zucchini bread some texture and crunch.
How to Make This Zucchini Cake Recipe
Zucchini cake is summer’s version of banana bread. Zucchini seems everywhere in July and August, taking over farmers market tables, supermarket produce shelves, gardens, restaurant menus, and food websites alike.
This easy, moist zucchini cake might be my favorite summer baked good. It’s a dump-it cake: just dump the ingredients in a bowl, stir, and bake. Serve plain or with vanilla buttercream.
And get the recipe for the famous Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins, another homey breakfast bake.
The instructions for this simple, homemade cake could not be easier. First grate the zucchini. Then, dump the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, give it a good stir, our the batter into a loaf pan, and bake. If you’d like to make a little vanilla frosting for the top, go for it. Spread it all over the top of the cooled cake.
Recipe FAQs
When the cake is done, place it on a cooling rack and wait about 20 to 30 minutes, until the pan feels slightly warm to the touch, but not hot. Run a small offset spatula around the edges before turning it over to release.
No, the moisture from the zucchini is an important part of the cake. It helps keep the cake moist.
This zucchini cake recipe calls for one loaf pan, but it can also be baked in a 9″ round pan, or divided into two 6 or 8″ cake pans. The baking time will be significantly less.
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If you tried this Easy Moist Zucchini Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my blog please leave a ? star rating and let me know how you go in the ? comments below. Thanks for visiting today!
Easy, Moist Zucchini Cake
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini (or 2 small)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2/3 cup neutral vegetable oil
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Optional: 1 cup of chopped walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease or line a 9×5" loaf pan.
- Grate the zucchini using the large grate on a boxed grater and add it to a large mixing bowl. You should have about 2 cups of grated zucchini.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and stir by hand until well mixed. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is fully combined.
- Pour the zucchini cake batter into the loaf pan, and bake until the cake feels firm on top and a cake tester comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan for 20 to 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire cooking rack to cool fully.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
38 comments
Marie Taylor
This is the second time this week, that I have made this cake. It has turned out excellent each time and is a great way to use up those pesky zucchinis. Even my husband who is not a fan of this type of veg, went back for seconds. I made it exactly as you said the first time, but the second time I put all of the dry together and whisked that first and then dumped it in. That way the spices were evenly distributed. Either way, it’s delish!!..
Unpeeled
Yea!! I am so glad you’re enjoying the recipe. I think of this cake as a great way to eat zucchini when you don’t want to eat zucchini 😉 Good call stirring the dry together for distribution.
Matilda Gage
I thought “dump cake” is made by dumping a store bought filling into a pan, then dry cake mix on top, and drizzling it with oil. This recipe has a lot of ingredients you have to mix, pretty much a standard zucchini bread recipe.
Unpeeled
Hello and you are not wrong. Dump cake can have a couple meanings. One is yours. Another is just the idea that you can dump the ingredients together and stir, as opposed to a standard cake method of creaming the butter and sugar, then adding eggs and vanilla, then adding the dry ingredients…and so on. (Your way sounds even easier than mine!) Thanks so much for writing.
Sylvia D.
Very easy and turned out great!! Moist and excellent flavor with the hint of nutmeg and cinnamon. Thank you and I love your blog.
Jayne
In the UK, we call those kinds of cakes ‘all in one’ cakes. Slightly more appetising than ‘dump’, which in the UK means something you definitely would NOT want in a cake. Oh dear. Did make me smile, though this cake does look absolutely delicious.
Unpeeled
Hi and I am COMPLETELY with you on the very, very unappetizing word “dump” in any recipe. Alas, that is what this type of cake seems to be called in the States. However, now that I know that the British have the much lovelier “all-in-one” term, I am going to switch to that going forward. I am so glad that you clued me in to this! Thanks for writing!
Greta Wallace
This is a great cake and it came out very well. Grating the zucchini was the hardest part. which is to say it’s not hard at all! Love the flavor. Very moist.
Mary in MD
Fabulous! Easy! This cake recipe tasted really moist and had a perfect amount of spice. I forwarded this to a few friends and highly recommend it to anyone.
Linda Gagliano
This was easy to make, was moist and tasted delicious.
Unpeeled
Thanks, Linda! So glad you liked it.
Carolyn Shohet
CouldI make this in into aChocolate Zucchini Cake by adding some Droste’s cocoa? If so,how
much? (My guess is about 3 Tablespoons)..
Nushrat
Was the amount of salt in the recipe a typo? It came out fine other than that it was salty and not sweet.
Unpeeled
Hi, Nushrat! I am so sorry to hear it seemed salty. May I ask which type of salt were you using? Table salt will make it taste salty because of the dense volume, as might certain brands of Kosher salt, which contain more sodium than others. You raise an important point, though, so I have adjusted the salt quantity down to compensate for differences in salt types. I appreciate the comment, and thanks so much for this.
Unpeeled
Yum—-Droste is good stuff. Yes, that seems like a good start depending on how chocolate-y you want to make it, but just remove an equal amount of the flour. I’d say up to 1/4 cup, but keep me posted. I’m interested! Happy baking. ??
Dave
So glad we got to recipe test this in advance (lucky neighbors). We loved it and will make it ourselves again . . . unless you want to drop another one off whenever, of course.
Unpeeled
Hah! So glad you liked it. You’ll be first on my list.
Caroline in NC
This came out of the oven about 45 minutes ago is and already half gone. This was very, very easy and tastes good. I might reduce the nutmeg slightly for next time because it is a strong flavor, but it is also delicious as-is. Your blog is beautiful.