There’s nothing I love more than the flavor of orange in a baked good – no joke, I’m obsessed. The scent and smell of sweet oranges are just my favorite, and this orange zucchini cake might just top any orange desserts I’ve ever made. The cake itself has the perfect, flavorful-yet-not-too-sweet taste, then the fluffy orange frosting brings together all of that sunshine goodness that tastes like a creamsicle.
YO GIRL DID IT AGAIN.
Looking for a dessert to impress friends and family at your next BBQ? This is IT. It just so happens to be gluten free and is easily made dairy free, so it’s great for sharing with a crowd. I know you’ll love this one!
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Orange + zucchini = a match made in dessert heaven
Okay not only is this cake gorgeous and absolutely delicious, but it’s also:
- Easy to make: right in one bowl and one baking pan. You’re welcome.
- Gluten free: by using a mix of almond flour and gluten free oat flour.
- Perfectly moist: thanks to shredded zucchini and yogurt.
- Naturally sweetened with honey: this cake uses honey as the natural sweetener and it’s truly so perfect when paired with the flavor of orange and slight hint of almond.
Everything you’ll need to make this orange zucchini cake
Get ready to fall in love with the bright, perfectly sweet flavors in this orange zucchini cake. It’s gluten free, naturally sweetened, and easily dairy free, too! Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Zucchini: that’s right, we’re baking this cake up with one of my fav veggies. You won’t be able to taste the zucchini at all – it just adds moisture so that we don’t need to add any oil.
- Eggs: you’ll need 2 eggs in this orange zucchini cake.
- Sweetener: as mentioned, we’re naturally sweetening this cake with honey! You can also use pure maple syrup, but I prefer honey here.
- Orange: we’re using both fresh orange juice and zest to get the best orange flavor.
- Yogurt: I originally used siggi’s orange ginger yogurt in this recipe, but I’m not sure if it’s still available. Feel free to use plain or vanilla yogurt for extra moisture!
- Flours: you’ll need both blanched almond flour and oat flour for the perfect texture and to keep the cake gluten free. Learn how to make your own oat flour here.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking soda, salt, vanilla extract and almond extract (the best way to bring out the orange flavor!)
- For the frosting: that luxurious orange frosting is made with butter, powdered sugar, orange juice & zest, and vanilla. You’ll be licking the frosting straight from the spoon, I promise.
Recommended ingredient swaps
As always, I highly suggest baking this orange zucchini cake as written so that you get the best results. I know I’ll get questions about substitutions, so here’s what I can recommend trying:
- To make dairy free: simply use your favorite dairy-free yogurt in the cake, and a vegan buttery stick for the frosting.
- To make vegan: please note that I have not tested this recipe with flax eggs, but let me know in the comments if you do! I also recommended switching the honey to maple syrup to make it a true vegan cake.
Chocolate lovers: this is for you
If you love orange and chocolate together (like in this bread recipe) try adding 1/2 heaping cup chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips would be perfect) right into the orange zucchini cake batter! You’ll get wonderful hints of chocolate in every bite. OMG.
Can I use a different flour?
- I cannot recommend a flour substitution for the almond flour in this recipe as the ingredient ratios will be much different and almond flour provides fat in this recipe to keep it fluffy and moist. Please keep as-is for the best results.
- As a reminder, you can easily make your own oat flour at home with this tutorial!
- If you want to replace the oat flour: I do think all-purpose flour or a GF all purpose flour would work okay in this recipe.
Don’t forget these tips when baking with zucchini
- Use the small side of your grater so that you get perfect shreds of zucchini. No one will be able to tell there’s a veggie in this cake! A simple cheese grater will also work well.
- Shred the zucchini first, measure it out, then squeeze off excess moisture and continue with the recipe.
- Squeeze out your zucchini shreds as much as possible using a cheesecloth, clean dish towel or paper towel to get all of the excess liquid out. This is VERY important so that the orange zucchini cake has the right texture.
- Feel free to shred a bunch of zucchini and freeze it for later! Follow my tips and tricks here.
How to store this orange zucchini cake
Feel free to keep this gluten free orange zucchini cake covered at room temperature for about a day or so, then place it in the fridge covered for 5 days.
Can I freeze it?
Absolutely! I’d recommend freezing this orange zucchini cake with or without frosting. Here’s how:
- Let the cake cool (and frost if desired) then wrap it well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
- Place the full cake in a zip-top freezer bag.
- To serve it, thaw the cake in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter until at room temp. Make sure the cake is at room temp before adding the orange frosting (if it doesn’t have it yet) and serving.
More cake recipes you’ll love
- Brown Butter Strawberry Coffee Cake
- Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake (healthy + gluten free)
- Almond Lemon Raspberry Poppy Seed Cake
- Fresh Strawberry Shortcake Bread with Strawberry Glaze
Get all of my cake recipes here!
I hope you love this amazing orange zucchini cake! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Orange Zucchini Cake with Orange Frosting
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 medium zucchini
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup (168g) honey
- 1 (5.3 oz) container yogurt
- zest from 1 large orange
- ¼ cup (50g) fresh squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup (168g) packed blanched fine almond flour
- 1 cup (92g) oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For the orange frosting:
- ½ cup (113g) butter (or sub vegan buttery stick), at room temperature
- 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- For topping:
- Sliced orange segments
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Shred zucchini with a cheese grater or with the shred attachment on your food processor. Measure out 1 cup of shredded zucchini, then place shredded zucchini in a clean paper towel, dish towel or cheese cloth and squeeze out all of the moisture/water. This is very important!
- Add eggs, honey, yogurt, orange zest, orange juice, vanilla and almond extract to a large bowl and whisk together until well combined.
- Next, add dry ingredients: almond flour, oat flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon until well combined. Fold in the shredded zucchini.
- Add batter into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting. I know this is difficult but it’s critical (otherwise the frosting will melt and become a gooey mess!)
- Make the frosting: beat together butter, powdered sugar, orange juice, zest and vanilla together on medium-high with a hand mixer or in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled cake. Garnish with small orange segments. Cut into 9-12 slices for a bigger piece of cake or 16 slices for more of a snacking cake!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by The Mindful Hapa
This looks amazing. Instead of orange can I just use lemon juice so it comes out a lemon cake?
Try this cake instead!
It was a nice cake but similar to others, I found it slightly gooey even after squeezing zucchini and weighing dry ingredients. I dud use maple syrup instead of honey though. If I made it again I’d use 2 tbsp of orange juice concentrate instead of juice. Frosting was delish and with walnuts on top.it was a great springtime treat!
Ah! Maybe it needed a little more baking time?
I love the texture of this cake. . Since I used plain greek yogurt, I did not get orange flavor in the cake recipe, how much orange zest can I increase to get a very strong orange flavor?
I do not get orange flavored yogurt in India, please help me with the quantity of orange zest in tablespoons since the size of orange also differs in India! I want a very strong orange flavor
One large orange should give you 2-3 tablespoons of zest — feel free to use 3 tablespoons for bigger orange flavor.
Can I increase the honey in the cake, by how much tablespoons can I increase without compromising the texture?
I wouldn’t on this cake because it’s already moist as is, but let me know if you experiment!
Hi,
I tried the cake and its delicious, just one thing, Can I increase the honey in the recipe to make it sweeter? If So, how much can I increase?
Also, zest from 1 large orange is about a tablespoon (approx.)? Because I didn’t get enough orange flavor from the cake
Glad you enjoyed! I think you’d be able to increase the honey by a couple of tablespoons with no issue. Feel free to add another tablespoon of orange zest if you’d like, too!
Came out perfect! Hosted a party and everyone loved it. I added some ginger spice and used vanilla siggis.
Love that!!
I made this on the weekend and it was perfect! I followed the recipe exactly. My family and toddler loved! Perfect summer recipe. Thanks for giving us the best recipes.
So happy to hear that!
This was an excellent cake and a wonderful refreshing change from the usual zucchini recipes I’ve made. I already have plans to make it for two upcoming occasions!!
So happy you loved it!
Thank you for blessing us with this creative recipe!!
Have made this twice in one week, brought it to a BBQ and it was a big hit! I love the orange and zucchini combination, plus how healthy this feels compared to other bread / cakes. The second time I made it, I used a few modifications: replaced yogurt with 2 oz of cashew milk (no gums/additives) to make it vegan and added a splash more of orange juice. I reduced the sweetener (I used maple syrup instead of honey) to 1/4 cup. I skipped the frosting and instead just did a “glaze” by mixing a few splashes of the fresh orange juice and maple syrup and then brushed the top of the cake with a light layer of this 5-10 min after taking it out and letting it cool a bit. Can’t wait to make it again soon!
So glad those swaps worked out well! One of our fav summer treats 🙂
It was my first time making this and it was amazing!! I used non-fat greek yogurt and swapped the frosting for a vegan chocolate ganache with orange zest on top and it was delicious! I will definitely be making this over and over again! 🙂
Love the chocolate-orange combo! I’ll have to try that next time 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
Absolutely delicious gf treat! Simple ingredients and easy to make. Double the icing if you want to cover the sides of the cake. The recipe makes just enough for a light glaze on top.
So glad you enjoyed! The frosting should look like the photos and add a nice layer to the top, but yes, feel free to double if you want more!
What a delicious (and healthy) recipe! I made this cake as muffins (without the frosting) for more of a snack option during the week. I baked them at 350 for 22 minutes (and the recipe yielded 12 large muffins). I also added ½ tsp cinnamon and ¼ tsp ginger because I used vanilla Siggi’s yogurt and wanted to add a bit of that spiced component. Definitely adding this one to the rotation. Thanks Monique and team!
Love that! Perfect snack!
This looks scrumpalicious! Can’t wait to try it! If I wanted to make the cake dairy (milk product) free, do you recommend that I could I use a plant based yogurt instead? And for the icing, could I use coconut oi? Thanks for your feedback Monique, can’t wait to try it!
Yes, plant based yogurt will work! Then I suggest using vegan butter to get the right consistency.
Hi. I made this recipe for some friends and they loved it. However, I did add some cream cheese to the frosting. Yum! I am not a fan of orange, so I would assume any citrus flavor would be worth trying? Do you think lemon, lime, or grapefruit would be good substitutes for orange?
I’m glad they loved it! Try this cake next time 🙂
Hi. I’m excited to make this but I couldn’t find any siggies orange ginger yogurt at the store – even tho that flavor sounds delicious. Would you recommend I add dry ground ginger or fresh and how much?
It will still be delicious even with plain or vanilla yogurt! I’m afraid the dried or fresh ginger might give the cake a strange flavor.
This is hands down the best cake I’ve ever made. I am such a sucker for orange-anything, and had a giant zucchini from my MIL that I needed to use up. I was worried that the flavor would be less orange-y since I couldn’t find the orange ginger yogurt in my area, but even using plain greek the orange flavor is perfection. I did add a bit more orange juice into my frosting, but dang this was delicious and I will for sure make it again!
Love that! Perfect dessert for an orange-lover 🙂