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This delicious Courgette Cake recipe is so easy to make, packed with lime and topped with delicious mascarpone cream cheese frosting icing. It’s the perfect summer bake to use your vegetables in! It’s also easily made gluten free.

A sliced Courgette Cake from the side, on a board with a knife to the side and bowls and cutlery too.

Have you ever grown courgettes yourself? If you haven’t grown them before and you fancy yourself as a gardener, courgettes are 100% the summer thing to grow

They just grow and grow, often giving a glut of them to cook up in various ways. 

If that’s not reason enough to grow some, two more words: Courgette Cake. It’s SO GOOD. 

A delicious texture, all made in one bowl, and a portion of veg as a bonus. To me, this is one of the tastes of summer.

Even if you’re not a gardener, please buy some courgettes and try this Courgette Cake recipe!

What else to make with courgettes…


Why you’ll love this Courgette Cake recipe

⭐️ Super simple and all prepped in one bowl

⭐️ Great way of using up courgettes produce

⭐️ Cake AND veg combo for bonus points


A bird's eye view of a Courgette Cake, sliced with buttercream frosting and pistachios.

EASY Cake recipes

If it’s easy cake recipes you’re after, you could also try: 

➡️ Yoghurt Pot Cake – No scales needed!

➡️ Biscoff Cheesecake – Only 5 ingredients

➡️ Lemon Drizzle Cake – Over 250 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews

➡️ Banana Cake – Prepare in under 10 minutes

➡️ White Chocolate Cheesecake – Simple no-bake recipe

➡️ Pumpkin Cake – Simplified easy seasonal recipe

➡️ Apple Cake – Perfect as a treat or dessert


Courgette Cake Ingredients Notes

The ingredients for making a Courgette Cake, measured out in bowls on a white surface.
  • Eggs – I use free range medium 
  • Courgettes – Use about 150g (weight after being grated and the excess water squeezed out). This is roughly 1 medium-large courgette
  • Pistachios – I LOVE these pistachio nut slivers. I’ve only found them on Amazon but I think that they really finish this cake beautifully. You’ll only use some of a pack to decorate this cake, but they keep well in the fridge
  • Limes – Zest only. This is a tasty addition and makes texture lovely and moist
  • For the icing: mascarpone cheese, icing sugar and lime juice

How to make Courgette Cake

Grated courgettes on a tea towel, ready to be squeezed of water, for the first step in the recipe Courgette Cake.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and coarsely grate your courgettes. Squeeze out the excess water thoroughly.

A bowl filled with mixed sugar, oil and eggs for step 2 in the recipe for Courgette Cake.

2. Mix the sugar, oil and eggs until well beaten.

A glass bowl filled with eggs, sugar and oil as well as grated courgette for the recipe for Courgette Cake.

3. Stir in the grated courgettes, nuts, lime zest, self raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. Combine well.

A loaf tin filled with Courgette Cake mixture, ready to be baked.

4. Pour the mixture into a lined and greased loaf tin and bake for 45-60 minutes until cooked through. Allow to cool then remove from the tin.

A bowl filled with mascarpone and icing sugar for an icing topping for Courgette Cake.

5. Meanwhile, make the icing by very gently combining the mascarpone with sieved icing sugar and lime juice. Pop into the fridge until the cake is totally cold.

Bird's eye view of a finished and decorated Courgette Cake, with green pistachio flakes on top.

6. Smooth the icing over the top of the cake and sprinkle on the pistachios and more lime zest.


Substitutions

  • Gluten free flour – Substitute the self-raising flour for gluten free if you’d rather
  • Pistachios – You can leave this out if you prefer. They aren’t totally necessary but add a lovely bite. You can try other nuts if you prefer

Storing

Store this in a cake tin or sealed container. You don’t need to refrigerate it but you can if you like. It should last up to 3 days (if it hasn’t been devoured by then!)

Top tips

Drying the courgettes

Squeezing the water out of the courgettes is really important, or you could end up with a soggy cake.

I use a clean tea towel for this job (which is a bit annoying as we then have a mucky tea towel BUT does get the most liquid out and saves a lot of time.) You could also use bare clean hands or a sieve.

Coarsely grate the courgettes

Be sure to use the coarse side of your grater or food processor setting for your courgettes. I’ve used a fine one before and the texture wasn’t quite as good. they will be too mushy if you use a very fine grater.

Cream cheese frosting

When you make your cream cheese frosting, mix very softly and slowly to avoid the icing getting too runny. If it does go a little runny, pop into the fridge for an hour to firm up.

You could try a simplified cream cheese icing recipe instead if you’d rather.

FAQs

How do you zest the lime?

My secret weapon for any recipes with citrus zest in is my Microplane Zester. I know I’m a wimp but I used to hate making Lemon Drizzle Cake before splashing out on one of these. 

They have SO many glowing reviews. You can buy them here on Amazon: Microplane Premium Zester.

What’s the best kind of tin to use for this cake?

A sturdy good quality loaf tin that conducts the heat evenly will really make a difference to your bakes. This non-stick loaf tin on Amazon is a good buy.

Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.

Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).

4.57 from 89 votes

Courgette Cake {with Lime & Cream Cheese Icing}

This delicious Courgette Cake recipe is so easy to make. With lime and delicious mascarpone cream cheese frosting icing, it's the perfect summer bake!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 10 People

Ingredients 

  • 175 g Caster sugar
  • 175 ml Sunflower oil
  • 3 Free range eggs, Medium
  • 150 g Courgettes, Weight after squeezing out excess water
  • 100 g Pistachio nuts, shelled, Optional
  • 2 Limes, Zest only
  • 175 g Self raising flour
  • 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tsp Ground cinnamon

For the icing:

  • 150 g Mascarpone cheese
  • 150 g Icing sugar
  • 1 Lime, Juice only

To decorate:

  • Pistachio slivers and more lime zest

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 180C.
  • Mix the sugar, oil and eggs until well beaten.
  • Stir in the grated courgettes (after you've squeezed out the liquid – see recipe tips).
  • Stir in the nuts (if using), lime zest, self raising flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon. Stir until totally combined.
  • Pour into a lined and greased loaf tin and bake for 45-60 minutes until cooked through and a skewer comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool and remove from the tin. 
  • Meanwhile, make the icing by very gently combining the mascarpone with sieved icing sugar and lime juice. Pop into the fridge until the cake is totally cold.
  • Smooth the icing over the top of the cake and sprinkle on the pistachios and more lime zest if you fancy.

Notes

Courgettes: Use about 150g (weight after being grated and the excess water squeezed out). This is roughly 1 medium-large courgette
Coarsely grate the courgettes: Be sure to use the coarse side of your grater or food processor setting for your courgettes. I’ve used a fine one before and the texture wasn’t quite as good. they will be too mushy if you use a very fine grater
Drying the courgettes: Squeezing the water out of the courgettes is really important, or you could end up with a soggy cake. I use a clean tea towel for this job
Cream cheese frosting: When you make your cream cheese frosting, mix very softly and slowly to avoid the icing getting too runny. If it does go a little runny, pop into the fridge for an hour to firm up
Pistachios: I LOVE these pistachio nut slivers. I’ve only found them on Amazon but I think that they really finish this cake beautifully. You’ll only use some of a pack to decorate this cake, but they keep well in the fridge
Gluten free flour: Substitute the self-raising flour for gluten free if you’d rather

Nutrition

Calories: 440kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 5gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 155mgPotassium: 95mgFiber: 1gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 320IUVitamin C: 8.5mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 0.6mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Family Food
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20 Comments

  1. A really good cake and a great way to use up a glut of courgettes. I love pistachios and lime so this is the perfect recipe for me. Thanks so much for the recipe.

  2. 5 stars
    Just made this cake and it was so easy. I added extra icing sugar to the frosting as it seemed too runny but it may go thicker as it cools in the fridge. Will definitely make again.

  3. 5 stars
    This is delicious! I made this but couldn’t find my loaf tin so made it in a 8″ round cake tin. It came out perfectly – took around 45mins to cook as per recipe. Recommend!

  4. 5 stars
    This is a great cake and the family and my work colleagues all love it.
    I make double or triple batter when we have a glut of courgettes in the garden and sometimes freeze a loaf, but mostly the cake gets eaten within a day or so!!!😋

  5. 5 stars
    As a single-person household I make up the batter and bake in two x 1lb loaf tins. I make up half the frosting for the cake I will eat now, and freeze the other cake wrapped in baking parchment to be frosted later. Works for me. Oh, and I leave the cinnamon out completely. Even in chilli-heavy curries, I find cinnamon to be a bit of a thug.

  6. 5 stars
    Have made this cake few times now and can say this is a firm family favourite 🤩 it always comes out well! Would definitely recommend 👍🏼👌🏼