Sweet Vanilla Pea Cake with Lemon Frosting

This Sweet Vanilla Pea Cake tastes like a vanilla cake, but it's green! The flavor of the peas fades away in this vegetable cake. It's topped with a zingy lemon frosting and a halo of pea shoots for decoration. 

pea cake

We all know the sweetness of peas, and in this cake the pea flavour fades beneath the vanilla, marrying nicely with the zing of the lemon buttercream frosting.

In its wake the peas leave their moist green vegetable goodness, nutrients and vitamins. Wrapped in a blanket of delicious cake.

I've made it as a 3-tier layer cake in 6" pans, but you can cook it as a 2-layer cake too. 

The texture is light and fluffy, and super-moist from the added peas. The flavor is so gentle.

There's a very delicate undertone of flavor from the peas, but in a really lovely sweet earthy way.

Mostly, it tastes like a vanilla cake - which happens to be naturally green with no food coloring!

vegetable cakes

I've long enjoyed tinkering with flavors and putting together unusual combinations. It all started with putting kale into a cake and my love of vegetable cakes was born.

I took the obsession with vegetables in cakes so far that I created this blog to highlight my weird and wacky recipes. Then I ended up writing a cookbook about them: Veggie Desserts + Cakes. Find it on Amazon!

If you love this pea cake, you'll also love these other vegetable cake recipes:

Apple Kale Cake
Chocolate Beetroot Cake
Roasted Squash Spice Cake
Vanilla Spinach Cake
Kale Orange Cupcakes
Chocolate Squash Cake
Pumpkin Cake

summer peas

Sweet summer peas are an absolute joy.

Ideally eaten straight from pod to mouth on a warm morning with nothing to rush for, nothing to do but burst the little spheres and savour the texture and flavour.

Does anyone have the luxury of empty time? Will I ever have it again?

You could stare into the distance blissfully eating peas, listening to songbirds and relishing the moment, or you could rush indoors and bake a cake.

A pea cake with vanilla and a lemon frosting. Decorated with a halo of pea shoots like the cider queen at a village fete.

recipes with peas

If you love peas in a pea cake, perhaps you'll also love some of these more conventional pea recipes!

Easy Pea Soup (4 ingredients)
Pea Salad
Pea Puree
Courgetti with Pea Mint Sauce
Pasta with Peas
Pea Pesto
Spinach and Pea Burgers
Peas on Toast with Mint and Radishes
Pea Hummus

Check out the Veggie Desserts + Cakes cookbook on Amazon

Sweet Vanilla Pea Cake with Lemon Frosting

Kate Hackworthy | Veggie Desserts

This Sweet Vanilla Pea Cake tastes like a vanilla cake, but it's green! The flavor of the peas fades away in this vegetable cake. It's topped with a zingy lemon frosting and a halo of pea shoots for decoration. 

4.88 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 25 mins

Total Time 40 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 451 kcal

Ingredients

 

• 2 cups (275g) fresh or frozen peas
• ¾ cup (200g) butter room temperature
• ¾ cup (150g) sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• zest and juice of ½ lemon
• 2 cups (250g) all-purpose (plain) flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the Lemon Buttercream:

• ⅔ cup (150g) butter room temperature
• 2 ½ cups (300g) powdered icing sugar
• Zest and juice of ½ a lemon

To finish:

• Pea shoots optional
• lemon zest optional

Instructions

 

For the Vanilla Pea Cake:

• Preheat the oven to 325F / 160C. Grease and line two 9” cake pans (or three 6” pans, as I did in the pictures).
• Boil the peas for a few minutes, drain, refresh under cold water and puree until completely smooth. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the cooled pea puree, vanilla, zest and lemon juice.
• Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to gently combine.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins, push to the edges and level, then bake for 25 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tins and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

For the Lemon Frosting:

• In a large bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. Add in the icing sugar and beat. Beat in the zest and a little of the lemon juice. Add more lemon juice to make it a frosting consistency and beat again. Store in the fridge until ready to use.

To Assemble:

• Spread a little of the buttercream between the layers of the completely cooled cakes and sandwich together. Cover the cake in the remaining buttercream and decorate with pea shoots and lemon zest.

Nutrition

Calories: 451kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 5gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 307mgPotassium: 170mgFiber: 2gSugar: 38gVitamin A: 914IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 2mg

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.

Tried this recipe?Mention @kateveggiedesserts or tag #veggiedesserts! I love seeing your recreations.