Cucumber Cake! This delicate green cucumber cake tastes like a lemon sponge with a subtle, refreshing flavour from the cucumber. It's a summery cake and I've topped it with a gin icing. The gin gives light botanical flavours to the sweet icing to compliment the lemon and cucumber in the cake.
Cucumber Cake
Cucumber works fantastically well in cake. I should know, I've tried soooo many vegetable cakes for this blog!
Cucumber lends a cool and refreshing subtle flavour to the lemony sponge in this cake. You can just about taste it, but if you weren't looking for a cucumber flavour, you probably couldn't quite place it.
It's overpowered by the lemon, but it's there in the background. Cucumber makes it delicately green and beautifully moist.
Gin Icing
Gin icing is a dream. Choose your favourite gin to get all of those lovely botanical flavours shining through the sweet icing.
Strictly for grown ups, it works very well with the cucumber cake.
A Cucumber Cake to celebrate the blog's 3rd birthday
My, how time flies. My blog has now turned three. A mere toddler, but at the same time all grown up. It can walk and it can talk, though it has many miles yet to run.
Happy birthday to my little space on the internet. You are more than my shadow, more than my heart, you are me.
Three years ago I was crushed by redundancy, like an anvil dropped on a cartoon me. But inspired by vegetables, I sat down at the computer and started a blog.
My hobby for creating desserts with vegetables was suddenly thrust out into the big wide (virtual) world. I had no plans for it, I just needed something to do. A project, a distraction.
Veggie Desserts
Three years later and this is my job. I've had the opportunity to develop recipes (like this awesome cucumber cake), create recipes for some fantastic brands and to try some amazing products.
There was a weekend in Paris, trips around the UK and I'm blogging at a festival in a few months. I've made new friends and bonded with souls that I've never met. This new community picked me up and dusted me off, and they don't even know it.
A huge highlight has been writing a monthly national magazine column about reducing food waste. I've been writing it for nearly a year now and I love opening my copy every month and seeing my work in print.
Baking
Those years ago, when I curled up and felt worthless, redundant and lost, I stared at the fork in the road, turned instead and went to the kitchen for a wooden spoon.
With kids at my feet I baked, blogged and poured my heart onto my keyboard time and again.
And then people started to read it. Honestly, that astounded me.
They baked my vegetable desserts, emailed me their results, asked me questions. Suddenly I wasn't alone, blogging merrily. You are all here with me. It's a party. Bring gin. Use it for a cucumber cake.
Vegetable Cake
I forget about you all most days. I write and blog and forget that you're all there. But then you write to me, comment, like and share.
You bake my kale cake and do crazy things with cauliflower. The legendary Nigella has even mentioned me. It all really does mean so much to me.
So thank you. Thank you for listening, reading, baking and commenting. Thanks for coming back to my site and making it possible for me to still do this. You're making me misty. Ahem. It's just a little something in my eye. *sniffle*.
Now, let's get drunk on a salad cake, shall we? Let's top it with gin and dance.
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Get the Cucumber Cake Recipe with Gin Frosting
Kate x
Lemon and Cucumber Cake with Gin Icing
Ingredients
For the Lemon and Cucumber Cake:
- 200 g cucumber (about half an English cucumber)
- Zest and juice of half a lemon
- ⅔ cup (150g) butter , softened
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 ¾ cups (200g) plain (all purpose) flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
For the Gin Icing:
- ⅓ cup (75g) butter, softened
- 1 ½ cups (200g) powdered icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
- 1 tablespoon gin or substitute lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F. Lightly grease 2 x 7in cake tins, 3 x 6in tins, or one 9 inch round cake tin.
- Wash and leave the skin on the cucumber and de-seed it by cutting it in half lengthways and scraping the seeds out with a teaspoon. Cut into chunks and puree until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Cream the butter, lemon zest, sugar and vanilla together for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in well.
- Add the baking powder to the flour and mix. Into the wet ingredients, stir in ⅓ of the flour mixture, then gently mix in ⅓ of the cucumber and continue until it is all combined.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean (it will take less time for the three small tins and slightly longer for the larger 9in tin). Allow to cool for five minutes in the tin and turn out on a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
For the Gin Icing:
- Beat the butter, icing sugar and gin together until smooth and fluffy. Keep in the fridge until ready to ice the cake. (To frost all the way around the cake, double the amount).
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.
Kim
I really want to try this.
It says half an English cucumber. I have several cucumbers from my garden.
Can you use regular cucumbers if you remove the seeds.
Kate Hackworthy
Hi, that is absolutely fine. If it's very large, use a little less than half the cucumber.
Lauren
This recipe sounds great, just wondered if anyone has tried substituting the sugar for something like maple syrup? Or would that not work?
Diana Torres
Cucumber cake is delicious!
steve
Wow who has ever thought of such kind of a recipie ... cucumber cake!!.I tried out this recipie and it worked out for me and this was an out standing recipie. I always wait for your recipies as they are so tempting and easy to make.
Mary Bostow
Wow, this is stunning! I want to try it out! This recipe really impresses! I really like! Thank you.
Dahn
What a super unique flavor! I love the gin icing with the cake. It's like an adult drink baked up in a cake. WOW
Catherine Brown
Wow, this looks and sounds fantastic! I love lemon and cucumber together, but never, ever considered using them together in a cake! I like the subtle shade of green and minimal frosting. So glad I found your site!
Lauren Vavala @ DeliciousLittleBites
What an interesting combination of flavors for a cake! So unique and creative!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest
I love the pale color of this cake and the subtle flavors. I don't think you used enough gin to make this an "adults only" cake -- but I can see the logic of being able to hoard it all for the grown-ups and not share with the kids... LOL!
Denise
Never thought of using cucumber in a cake! But that cake looks so moist and delicious! Great recipe!
Donna
Wow, I have to say I have never heard of a cucumber cake or a gin icing but my goodness I want to try this! Those flavors just match perfectly, and I bet this tastes just like a little slice of summer! Such creativity, can't wait to try this out
Nellie Tracy
I am a huge fan of any kind of lemon cake so I am very excited to try this awesome new recipe!
JC
I made this today - minus the frosting (no gin!). I thought the flavor was really nice. It has a nice light flavor. A perfect summer cake!
Kate Hackworthy
I'm glad you enjoyed the cake!
Felicia
I finally made this a couple months ago, and loved it so much! It was easy to make, and a real hit at my party: people thought it was refreshing, tasty and reminded them of a cocktail.
I put my take on the recipe up on my blog today. Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Vivabop
The title mentioned 3 magic words lemon, gin and cake so I just had to find out more! Adding the cucumber is very novel and I am sure I can convince myself that this cake represents 2 of my 5 a day! Well done on reaching 3 years and best wishes for a lifetime of success and happiness!
Kate
I have a bumper crop of cucumbers and am making all things cucumber these days. I served this cake tonight. It was a hit. I would definitely make it again. I added gin & lemon juice & lemon rind to the icing. Deelish!
Kate Hackworthy
I'm so glad that you liked it!! We love it here as well. Your tweaks to the icing sound fantastic. Thanks for coming back to comment! Kx
Chris @thinlyspread
This just sings SUMMER! Cucumber AND gin, what's not to love?! And it looks so beautiful too, clever lady!
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
I used courgette in a cake recipe recently and it added a lovely moistness rather than taste. I can imagine the cucumber having exactly the same effect, lovely!
Cathy @ Planet Veggie
Aw, what a wonderful story! I'm not a great cake lover but this sounds light and refreshing and too intriguing not to give a go.
Aimee
Such a beautiful cake! I need gin icing in my life <3
Scott
I can honestly say I've never had cucumber in a cake. It certainly sounds refreshing though!
Sam | Ahead of Thyme
Yummy this cake looks so pretty and delicious!! Wish I could try some right now...
Mica @ Let's Taco Bout It Blog
I am fascinated with your blog and so very jealous of your adventures! Our goal is to turn our blog into our day jobs. As for the recipe, I like the taste of cucumber and lemon together in a cake. From first glance, this cake looks like a sugar rush all the way through, but obviously it's not.. I plan to give this recipe a shot! Thanks for the share. Mca
jacqueline | i sugar coat it!
Vegetables and booze...sign me up!! Congrats on all you have accomplished in the last three years!!
Claire @foodiequine
I am all over the concept of Gin icing! As for cucumber in a cake - that makes it a salad - yes?!
Peter Block
Happy blog birthday. I have not gotten into the veggie desserts yet. Really interesting combo of flavors. I really like the layered look of the cake.
Nayna Kanabar
I would have never thought to add cucumber to a cake, what afab idea.
Angela
Can this be made as cupcakes? Either way excited to try!
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs
Happy third blog birthday 🙂 you have a wonderful slice of the Internet all to yourself which you should be very proud of! This cake looks like the perfect way to celebrate. I've never had cucumber in cake before but if courgette works I don't see why cucumber won't 🙂 great post!
Christine | Vermilion Roots
Vegetables inspire me too, and I'm really loving your site for all the creative recipes. Happy blog birthday! That's such a perfect cake for this special occasion. I'm going to tell everyone about it! 🙂
Shu
Never thought of using cucumber in a cake. Fascinating! Saw this link on Ren's blog and had to click! Will hopefully try this out soon 🙂