gf zucchini and pecan cake with lime glaze

gf zucchini and pecan cake with lime glaze

• 17 May 2021

One of my workmates is gluten intolerant so every now and again I like to make something gluten free so she doesn't feel excluded from my Monday morning teas. As it's autumn here in Sydney the fruit shop has been taken over by apples, pears, citrus fruit, broccoli and zucchini.

I've been making zucchini cakes for years and only recently heard about Gina Da Palma's zucchini cake with crunchy lemon glaze. The cake recipe was very similar to the one I use so it was mainly the crunchy glaze that intrigued me. With a glut of limes I decided to swap lime for lemon juice and added crunch from a few extra toasted pecans rather than regular sugar which was used in the original recipe.

I prepared everything the day before, so the cake itself came together very quickly. Turning out a bundt cake is always a slightly terrifying moment so I was pleased when it came out successfully from the bundt tin. It smelt so good in the oven.

The glaze is brushed over the still warm cake and hardens very quickly so you'll need to work fast.

 

Here's the recipe for you which make a small bundt cake. If you'd like to make a larger version refer to the original recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

 

Zucchini and pecan cake with lime glaze adapted from here

Cake Ingredients 

75g toasted pecans

1 tbs caster sugar

1 cup GF plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp bicarb soda

pinch sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

pinch ground nutmeg

2 large eggs, at room temperature

⅔ cup caster sugar

100 mls extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g grated zucchini 

 

Lime glaze

½ cup sifted icing sugar

30 mls freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tbs coarsely chopped toasted pecans, to decorate 

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC conventional. Grease and flour a small bundt tin then tap out any excess flour before placing in the fridge.

 

Pulse the pecans in a food processor with 1 tbs caster sugar until finely chopped. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the chopped nuts and stir until combined.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, ⅔ cup caster sugar, olive oil and vanilla for 3 minutes on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the mixer. Mix in the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the mixer bowl to make sure everything is mixed in well and then beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Stir in the zucchini. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, smoothing the top.

 

Bake the cake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes then carefully invert it onto a cooling rack.

 

While the cake is cooling whisk the icing sugar and the lime juice together in a small bowl to make a runny glaze.

Brush the glaze over the still warm cake with a pastry brush and let the cake cool completely. The glaze will harden very quickly. When the glaze is completely dry, brush the chopped pecans with some of the leftover glaze and ‘glue’ them to the top of the cake.

By the way the cake tasted as good as it looked. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

 

Bye for now, 

 

Jillian