Moist courgette cake with raspberries – this cake is a glut-busting and delicious snacking cake (zucchini cake) that uses one bowl and minimal utensils and is easy to make.
This tasty courgette cake is quick and easy to make and a great way of using up part of your courgette glut. As courgette is so mild in flavour and raspberries are just downright delicious, it’s also a fun way to get fruit and vegetables into your diet.
The moistness obviously comes from the grated courgette which also adds a lovely texture to the cake, whilst the raspberries add oodles of flavour and wonderful colour to the courgette flecked sponge.
This cake is both lite and wholesome and makes a perfect picnic, ‘elevensies’ cake. It pairs well with a soft natural yoghurt or a cup of tea when you need a pick-me-up (I need picking up quite often it seems).
Unlike drier cakes, this courgette cake will last for about four days in an airtight container, providing you can resist it that long. I usually make two as they disappear so quickly!
Courgette or Zucchini?
Okay, let’s clear up any confusion. They are one and the same. Courgette is the British name and Zucchini is the North American name for Cucurbita pepo (Latin).
How to make a moist courgette cake
*I am not a chef or a food blogger, I grow fruit and vegetables and love to eat good food that I believe anyone can make. If I don’t describe something in a ‘foodie’ way, forgive me and have a go anyway. Also, as I’m in the UK, I measure in grams using digital weighing scales as opposed to cup measurements. If you use cups, the cups to grams conversion calculator on this page will help.
Recipe ingredients
250 g courgette (whole not grated).
Special note: I think it’s better to use smaller courgettes rather than marrow sized versions as they are more ‘fleshy’ and not so full of seeds.
150 g soft light brown sugar
2 large eggs
225 g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
125 ml sunflower oil
60 g raisins (optional, I love them)
Butter (for greasing the baking tin)
Raspberries (fresh or frozen)
Equipment list
Large mixing bowl
A 21 cm round cake (sandwich) tin
Baking paper/parchment
Clean tea towel (or sieve)
Weighing scales
Whisk (or fork)
Spatular
Preparing your ingredients
I measure out my ingredients first, then grease and line my baking tin before finally preparing the courgettes. The recipe is very forgiving though, so if you prefer, you can grab ingredients from the cupboard as you go.
The only thing to remember is the order in which the ingredients are combined, which is why I prefer to have them all laid out before I start.
Tip… The only thing to remember is the order in which your ingredients are combined.
Courgettes
Remove the stalks and weigh the courgettes whole (not grated). Once you have the required 250 g, grate them up using a coarse grater.
Once all the courgettes have been grated, place the gratings in a clean tea towel or sieve. If in a tea towel, wrap the courgette and squeeze out as much water as you can. This is best performed over a sink or bowl.
If you prefer to use a sieve (as I do), use the back of a large spoon to press down on the gratings and push out the excess juice. This doesn’t have to be exact, just remove as much as you can and the remaining courgette should be fine. If you don’t remove some of the excess liquid, you might end up with a soggy centred cake!
Put the courgette to one side.
Mix it all together and bake
Step 1
Crack the two eggs into your mixing bowl, pour in the vegetable oil and add the soft light brown sugar (which adds flavour and sweetness). Whisk everything together.
Step 2
Sprinkle in the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and self-raising flour and mix everything together.
Step 3
Add the grated courgette and raisins (optional) and mix to form a lovely gooey mixture. Make sure there are no lumps and the courgette is evenly distributed throughout.
Step 4
With the help of a spatula, pour the batter out of your mixing bowl and into a greased and lined 21 cm round sponge cake tin.
Step 5
Finally, push each raspberry into the mixture so half remains above the surface. I use anywhere between 8 and 18 for around 21 cm cake tin. Use more or less if you prefer, and lay them out however you like.
The only thing to remember is that they will add moisture to the sponge, so too many might lengthen the cooking time.
Place in the oven and bake
Place in a 180C/350F/gas mark 4 pre-heated oven and bake for at least 30 minutes or until a skewer that’s been inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean. The timing can vary depending on how moist your courgette was, so it’s best to keep an eye on things and use the skewer method to confirm when the cake is ready.
Once baked, remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack which gives the cake time to shrink away from the edges of the tin.
As soon as I can handle the tin and see that the cake has started separating from the sides, I remove it from the tin and place the cake (still with greaseproof paper liner) onto the cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled I remove the liner.
A few more tips…
- Don’t bother peeling your courgettes. The skin adds texture and flecks of colour to the sponge. It’s also very nutritious.
- Always use a coarse grater.
- Squeezing the excess water from the courgette (zucchini) helps prevent a gooey-centred cake!
- This moist courgette cake is best left to cool before eating.
I hope you give this cake a go as it really is very tasty.
Let me know if you do and please share any pictures on Instagram if you’re on there.
Recipe card - free download
Feel free to download, print and share this recipe card.
