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
Check out the Veggie Desserts + Cakes cookbook on Amazon
Sweet Vanilla Pea Cake with Lemon Frosting
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
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.
Ariane
Wow, you're ruthless!....in the best of ways. Kale in cake as a headstart?! Kale is like the least compromise friendly vegetable I have ever encountered! I too find adding vegetable fascinating, but I started with the basics, carrots, beets, spinach... Mild or sweet tasteing stuff... There is no way in hell kale melts I to cake taste, right.... Oh no, I am going to have to try it...and I am dreading the outcome of this insanity.. But a curious baker got to do, what must be done...same as I made ommlet from fish and chocolate pudding from avocado's.
To the actual recipe I am commenting under, I love the idea of using peas especially paired with citrus! It sounds really really nice. For I have more food I tolerances than is reasonable, I will have to adapt it heavenly, but still, the idea itself is great ^^
Catherine Ambrose
Just had to pop on and say how good this recipe is. I tweaked it to use unrefined sugar and to make it gluten free and I was so impressed! Gluten free cakes can often be dry but it wasn't at all. I made a little lemon juice / icing sugar drizzle too rather than buttercream (I'm also dairy free) which worked really well. My kids happily ate it, despite the peas!
Alexander Eoin Moll McCarthy
Great stuff. I changed the lemon to lime and it came out a success. Thanks.
Nutty
Absolutely love this recipe! Made it on a whim and so pleased with how it looks and tastes. Lovely and moist but not too soggy, lovely colour and subtle but surprising taste. 10/10. P.s. I noticed if I boiled the peas a little longer they turned to puree easier.
shl
Hello, I've just discovered this recipe and I can't wait to try it as I was given several packets of frozen pureed peas and want to use them in a cake. I was wondering if it would be possible to substitute mint for the lemon zest? Or to use it in addition to the zest? Somehow, peas and mint go together in my mind.
Kate Hackworthy
Absolutely! You can totally use mint instead. I hope you enjoy the cake!
Mrs E
As a few others have, I also made cupcakes, they were really good. They weren't the sweetest cakes, but we're perfect with the buttercream. Am looking forward to making as a big cake!