Pineapple Zucchini Cake
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So zucchini is on again at my house. My one plant is going crazy, just like last year. I’ve been making recipes that I loved from last year, but I am also trying out a bunch of new recipes too. Now, I have a great zucchini cake/bar recipe that I love, but I saw this recipe for Pineapple Zucchini Cake on the Pioneer Woman’s new site called Tasty Kitchen. It’s a site that I see as being similar to allrecipes.com.
You can become a member and then members can post and share recipes with other members. This recipe happens to be posted from “lindainmo”. This recipe really interested me because of the the addition of pineapple and coconut to the ingredients. The other great thing about this recipe is the only fat used in the cake is 3 tablespoons of canola oil.
The frosting isn’t too bad either, only 2 tablespoons of butter and reduced fat cream cheese (which I used).
I did alter the frosting recipe slightly, leaving out the vanilla extract and using pineapple juice in the frosting instead. I love my zucchini cake recipe, but I now also love this one. My other cake recipe is more like a traditional cake as far as texture goes, it’s more smooth. This cake is deliciously moist and full of texture from pineapple and coconut. I put walnuts on the top too which also added a nice crunch and flavor. I’m usually not a fan of putting nuts in the cake because the nuts tend to get soft and loose their nice crunch.
The frosting can also make the nuts soft too if they sit on there for a while, so I just sprinkle on the nuts right before serving to maintain the nice crunchiness. You must try this cake if you have any zucchini laying around. You mouth with definitely thank you. I highly recommend topping with the walnuts too. It was so delicious! In the notes on the recipe it also said you could use carrots in place of the zucchini.
Here is what you need to make the
Pineapple Zucchini Cake
- ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
- WHOLE WHEAT PASTRY FLOUR (CAN USE ALL WHITE FLOUR)
- SUGAR
- SWEETENED FLAKED COCONUT
- BAKING SODA
- SALT
- GROUND CINNAMON
- FRESHLY GRATED NUTMEG OR DRIED NUTMEG
- GINGER
- CANOLA OIL
- EGGS
- VANILLA
- ZUCCHINI
- CANNED CRUSHED PINEAPPLE IN JUICE
- BUTTER
- LOW-FAT CREAM CHEESE (CAN USE FULL-FAT CREAM CHEESE)
- POWDERED SUGAR
- PINEAPPLE JUICE
- WALNUTS OR PECANS (OPTIONAL TO GO ON TOP OF THE CAKE)
Pineapple Zucchini Cake
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose Flour
- ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour can use all white flour, I used all white
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- freshly grated nutmeg to taste (1/4 to 1/2 tsp), optional (I used a couple dashes of dried nutmeg)
- 1 pinch ginger about 1/16 tsp or so, optional (I used this)
- 3 Tbsp canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (*see Note)
- 1 20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice, drained (reserve juice for frosting)
- Frosting
- 2 Tbsp butter Softened
- 8 oz low-fat cream cheese softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
- 2 cups powdered sugar approx.
- 2 tsp pineapple juice
- chopped walnuts Or pecans optional to go on top of the cake
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.
- Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.
- Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and pineapple juice just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or more pineapple juice if necessary (I didn't need any). Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts (Right before serving), if desired.
Notes
And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.
