Brown Butter Zucchini Cake

This brown butter zucchini cake is the perfect treat at any time of day! You would never know this cake is full of zucchini, what a great way to get some veggies in for the day! Brown butter takes the flavor profile of this easy snack cake to the next level! Step-by-step photos show you how to bake this delicious zucchini cake!!

Ingredients

This recipe calls for mostly pantry staples, it's going the extra mile with browning the butter that makes this cake extra delicious.

• Salted Butter. We are going to brown the butter for both the cake and the glaze. Browning butter is not hard if you want to check out this in-depth post on how to brown butter. You could use vegetable oil if you don't feel like using butter, but I'd use 4oz, not 5oz. When browning the butter some of it will evaporate hence the need for one more ounce.
• Sugar. Just good old granulated white sugar.
• Pure Vanilla Extract. Use the real stuff, trust me!
• Large Eggs. To get your eggs to room temperature quickly just place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes before using. You want the eggs at room temperature so they incorporate evenly with the butter and sugar mixture.
• Zucchini. Just use a cheese grater to get the size I use in this cake. Grated zucchini blends right into the batter.
• Flour. You only need all-purpose flour also known as plain flour.
• Baking Soda. This is the chemical leavening agent that will help the cake rise when baking.
• Salt. Don't skip it, trust me!
• Confectioners Sugar. Also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar this is what will make the glaze.
• Vanilla Bean Paste. You could use regular vanilla extract but using the paste gives the glaze a beautiful appearance.
• Heavy Whipping Cream. We only use a little bit but it makes the brown butter glaze so creamy and delicious!!

I totally think chocolate chips would be a great addition, I would add about a cup of chocolate chips. You'll also find my zucchini cakes with ground cinnamon or walnuts, if you'd like add 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients and then fold in up to 1 cup of walnuts, I prefer roasted nuts, into the batter.

Instructions

First things first preheat the oven to 350F/180C. If your oven is not properly heated your cake will not rise. Now line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper and grease all over to prevent sticking to the lining. Lining the pan with foil or parchment will help you lift the cake out of the pan once it has baked and cooled.

In a saucepan add the butter and cook on low/medium heat for a few minutes, stirring frequently until the butter has browned, be careful it can burn easily. Check out this post on how to brown butter.

Pour the browned butter into a large heatproof bowl and add sugar, mix together then let cool for 5 minutes, I like to place my bowl in the fridge.

Next you'll add the eggs and vanilla, make sure to mix well, you don't want any sign of yolk left.

Make sure to use a packed cup of shredded zucchini, this means use your hands to pack the zucchini in, so you get the most you can out of a cup measurement. As you can see in the photo I like the size of just normal grated cheese.

Fold in the shredded zucchini. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is evenly combined.

Now for the dry ingredients. I don't like to have to wash another bowl so just go ahead and sprinkle the four, baking soda, and salt on top of the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to gently fold together, do not over mix. Overmixing cake batter activates the gluten creating a tougher cake.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 22-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no wet batter, moist crumbs are okay. Let cool on a wire rack until completely cooled.

In a small saucepan brown the butter. Pour butter into a heatproof bowl to prevent further browning, whisk in the powdered sugar, the mixture will clump up, that's totally fine. You want to beat powdered sugar into the butter.

Add in the vanilla bean paste and two tablespoons of cream, whisk to combine.

Depending on how much you browned your butter the liquid content will differ, hence the measurements of the varying ingredients for this glaze. Use your best judgment if your mixture is too thick add a bit more cream if your mixture is too thin add a bit more powdered sugar.

You are looking for a glaze that drizzles down but holds its drizzle shape, like in the photo below.

Pour the glaze on top of the cooled zucchini cake. I like to use an angled spatula to gently spread the frosting into an even layer.

Let the frosting set for 30 minutes at room temperature or 15 in the fridge.

There you have it my Brown Butter Zucchini Cake.

Any leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.

How to freeze

When it comes to most things I prefer freezing without the frosting/ or glaze. Frostings and glazes can thaw funny so I find it best not to even bother.

You can totally freeze the actual zucchini cake though. Let the cake cool completely then wrap in plastic wrap very tightly, do this part twice so ensure not air/ freezer bite can get into the cake.

To thaw the cake place it in the fridge overnight or let sit on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours.

If yo want to freeze slices of cake just wrap them once in plastic wrap then place all of the pieces in a freezer safe bag.

Can you double

Doubling the recipe should not be a problem. You'll want to use a 9"X13" pan and you'll want to bake it for 35-45 minutes, I would check at 30 minutes to see how far a long you are. A toothpick inserted should come out with no wet batter, moist crumbs are okay.

More zucchini recipes

My love for zucchini baking started with this chocolate chunk zucchini bread, it is my sisters all time favorite quick bread, she makes it herself all the dang time!!

If you're looking for an extra chocolate fix try this double chocolate zucchini cake, you will never know there is zucchini in there!

And if you're after lemon this lemon zucchini cake is so light and tasty!

For savory zucchini try my friend Ari's Baked Zucchini Fries, yumm!!!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

Make sure to join our Newsletter and follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter.

Print

Recipe Card