Gina DePalma’s Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze

There’s a transitional moment that comes every year when zucchini goes from being a summer ingredient to being a fall ingredient. It’s still growing — it just arrived in my CSA and it’s October — and the question is: what can you do with it that doesn’t feel too summery?

Enter the late, great Gina DePalma’s Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze. I’ve been making this cake for years and it never fails to dazzle even the most zucchini-dubious cake-eater. (This post is originally from 2010 but I’ve rewritten it because the pictures were bad and I didn’t even bake it in a bundt pan or use the nuts. Bad Adam!)

What makes this cake so interesting is that you use olive oil instead of butter. That plays up the grassy flavor, matched by the zucchini, and then a bevy of fall ingredients come along to remind you of the season. We’re talking cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and toasted walnuts. The lemon glaze that you brush on at the end is one final kiss of summer.

Not only is this cake a pleasure to eat, it’s also a pleasure to make. Here’s a video that I made of the process:

It’s a cake that’s irresistible on so many levels. In fact, I may go eat a slice right now.

Gina DePalma’s Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Crunch Glaze

From Gina DePalma’s masterful cookbook, Dolce Italiano

Makes one 10-inch cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 cup walnut pieces (pecans or almond would work too)

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

• 3 large eggs

• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• 2 1/2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)

• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

For the lemon crunch glaze:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (try a Meyer lemon here, if you can find one)

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Instructions:

1. To make the cake: preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the center. Grease a 10-cup Bundt pan using nonstick cooking spray or butter, then dust it with flour to coat it completely, tapping out the excess flour. (Really take care here: you don’t want your cake to stick!)

2. Place te walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them until they are golden browon and aromatic, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool the walnuts completely, then finely chop them in the food processor (or by hand, it takes a while) and set aside.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into a medium bowl and set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and olive oil together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition. Beat in the dry ingredients all at once on low speed until they are thoroughly combined, then switch the mixer to medium speed and mix for 30 seconds. Beat in the zucchini and the walnuts on low speed until they are completely incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. The. cake is done when a tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake has begun to pull away from the sides of the pan.

5. While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and granulated sugar, then whisk in the confectioners’ sugar until the glaze is completely smooth.

6. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a wire rack. Using a pastry brush, immediately brush the glaze over the entire surface of the warm cake, using all of the glaze; it will adhere to the cake and set as the cake cools. Allow the cake to cool completely and the glaze to dry completely.

7. Transfer the cake to a stand or serving plate and, if desired, lightly dust it with confectioners’ sugar. Any leftover cake may be wrapped in plastic and served the following day