Yield: 8–10 slices
Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 35–45 minutes
Total: about 1 hour
Pan: 8-inch round cake pan

Ingredients

For the cake

• 2 cups finely grated zucchini — about 2 medium zucchini
• 2 cups fine blanched almond flour (about 200 g)
• 2 large eggs, preferably room temperature
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar or coconut sugar
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine salt

Lemon glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2–3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional

Garnish

• A little finely grated lemon zest
• Very thin strips of fresh zucchini

The ingredient proportions are based on the style of flourless lemon-zucchini cakes that use almond flour, eggs, zucchini, lemon and a simple lemon glaze.

 Detailed Instructions

1. Prepare the oven and pan

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Grease an 8-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment as well.

For a taller cake, an 8-inch pan works particularly well. A 9-inch pan can also be used, but the cake will be thinner and may bake a little faster.

2. Prepare the zucchini

Wash and finely grate the zucchini.

Place the grated zucchini in a clean kitchen towel or several layers of paper towel.

Squeeze firmly to remove excess water.

You should end up with approximately 1 cup of fairly dry, squeezed zucchini.

This step is important. Zucchini contains a great deal of water, and too much moisture can make a flourless cake heavy or gummy.

Don’t squeeze it until completely dry—just remove the obvious excess liquid.

3. Mix the wet ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together:

• 2 eggs
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk for about 1–2 minutes, until everything is smooth and well combined.

4. Mix the dry ingredients

In another bowl combine:

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Whisk thoroughly so the baking powder and salt are evenly distributed throughout the almond flour.

5. Make the batter

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.

Fold gently with a spatula until almost completely incorporated.

Add the squeezed zucchini and fold it through.

Don’t overmix. Stop as soon as you no longer see dry almond flour.

The batter will be considerably thicker than a conventional wheat-flour cake batter.

6. Bake

Transfer the batter to your prepared pan.

Smooth the top.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for approximately 35–45 minutes.

Start checking around 35 minutes.

The cake is ready when:

• The top is lightly golden.
• The center feels set rather than liquid.
• A toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
• The edges have pulled slightly away from the pan.

Because zucchini moisture varies, baking time can vary. Similar flourless almond-flour versions bake around 35–40 minutes, while larger zucchini cakes can take longer.

7. Cool completely

Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Run a thin knife around the edge and carefully remove the cake.

Place it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before glazing.

This is especially important for an almond-flour cake—the crumb firms as it cools.

 Lemon Glaze

Put 1 cup powdered sugar in a small bowl.

Add 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and whisk.

If it’s too thick, add another ½–1 tablespoon lemon juice.

You want a glaze that is thick enough to coat the cake but fluid enough to slowly drip over the sides.

For the appearance in your picture, don’t make it too runny.

Pour the glaze over the completely cooled cake and gently spread it toward the edges.

 Garnish like the picture

For the decorative topping:

1. Use a vegetable peeler or julienne peeler to make very thin zucchini strips.
2. Cut them into short pieces.
3. Add a little finely grated lemon zest.
4. Scatter the zucchini and zest over the wet glaze.

You can also make a few long, thin zucchini ribbons and curl them slightly before placing them on top.

 Nut information

This is NOT a nut-free cake.

The main flour is almond flour, so it contains tree nuts (almonds).

Allergens

• Contains: almonds/tree nuts
• Contains: eggs
• Contains: dairy if using butter
• Naturally wheat-free
• Gluten-free: potentially, provided every packaged ingredient—including baking powder—is certified gluten-free.

Almond-flour zucchini cakes are commonly used as gluten-free alternatives, but almond flour is specifically a tree-nut ingredient.

7. Cool completely

Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Run a thin knife around the edge and carefully remove the cake.

Place it on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before glazing.

This is especially important for an almond-flour cake—the crumb firms as it cools.

Can you make it nut-free?

Not by simply replacing the almond flour 1:1 with regular flour.

Almond flour contributes fat, moisture and structure, so a direct substitution can dramatically change the cake.

For a genuinely nut-free version, I’d use a recipe formulated around oat flour, sunflower-seed flour, or a gluten-free flour blend rather than making a direct almond-flour substitution.

 Dairy-free option

Replace the ¼ cup butter with:

• ¼ cup melted coconut oil, or
• ¼ cup neutral oil such as avocado oil.

Then the cake itself can be dairy-free.

The glaze is already dairy-free.

Use fresh lemon zest. The zest gives considerably more lemon aroma than lemon juice alone.

Don’t glaze a warm cake. The glaze will melt and disappear into the cake rather than giving you that pretty white topping.

Let it cool completely before slicing. Flourless cakes are fragile while hot.

Approximate nutrition

For 10 slices, the cake plus glaze will be roughly in the neighborhood of:

• 250–300 calories
• 6–8 g protein
• 15–20 g fat
• 20–25 g carbohydrates
• 2–4 g fiber

These are estimates because the exact values depend heavily on the almond flour, butter, sugar and amount of glaze used. A comparable almond-flour zucchini cake is reported at about 262 calories, 19 g fat, 19 g carbohydrate and 6 g protein per serving.

Sugar substitutions

Coconut sugar

Use ⅓ cup coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar. The cake will be somewhat darker with a more caramel-like flavor.

Honey

You can use honey, but because honey adds liquid, the texture will change. For the most reliable result, stick with granulated sugar or use a recipe specifically developed around honey/maple syrup.

Sugar-free

A suitable granulated baking sweetener can replace the sugar, but the result may be slightly different in browning and texture.

 Important baking tips

Don’t skip squeezing the zucchini. This is probably the most important step.

Use fine almond flour rather than coarse almond meal if you want the cake in the picture to have a soft, delicate crumb. Almond meal can produce a coarser, denser result.

Storage

• Room temperature: about 1 day, covered.
• Refrigerator: about 4–5 days in an airtight container.
• Freezer: freeze the unglazed cake tightly wrapped for up to about 3 months; thaw completely and glaze afterward.Best texture: refrigerate if you’re keeping it more than a day, then let individual slices sit at room temperature for 15–20 minutes before eating.

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Sara Mitchell

Sara Mitchell is an expert restaurant content creator who writes easy-to-read guides about CAVA and other Mediterranean fast-casual chains in the United States. She covers locations, menus, prices, and hours, making it simple for visitors to find nearby restaurants and what to order quickly.

With years of experience in restaurant research and local SEO, Sara creates accurate, user-friendly guides that work for both people and search engines. Her goal is to help users go from search results to their nearest restaurant or menu choice with as few clicks as possible.

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