Super Moist, Delicious and Healthy Zucchini Spice Cake or Cup Cakes

People who have come to know me have learned that I like to grow zucchinis every year, that I love cooking with them, and that I like making dishes that my diabetic friends can enjoy. In fact, my diabetic zucchini bread was given as Christmas gifts and they were big hits. The zucchini spice cake is just as healthy and it is also diabetic friendly. It can even be made into cupcakes as shown in the image.

The fact is that anyone who has made the zucchini bread will notice that it is quite similar to this zucchini spice cake. This is definitely on purpose. Experimenting in the kitchen is a good thing, but there is seldom a need to make major changes to a recipe that works and works well.

Non-diabetics also love this cake. However, a version can be made specifically for non-diabetics, simply by substituting granulated sugar for the stevia in this recipe. This can also be made gluten-free by substituting oat flour for the whole wheat flour. Neither of these alternatives produces an appreciably different tasting cake from the recipe that is listed below.

Note that I’m not including a recipe for frosting, for a reason. You can use any frosting you wish and I’d like to encourage you to get inventive with the frosting. This cake tastes great with cream cheese frosting, but it also tastes great when topped with cherry or berry pie filling, and since the pie filling is simple to make using stevia instead of sugar, it can also be diabetic friendly.

Zucchini spice cake ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups Stevia In The Raw or similar granulated stevia
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1 cup Canola or extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup currants and/or raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

Zucchini spice cake instructions:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. I usually use a sifter for this.

2. Mix in the remaining ingredients. This is usually most easily done by using a pair of clean hands, so you can ensure that everything is blended together.

3. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 cake pan and pour the cake batter into the pan. (This can also be done in cupcake papers.)

4. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes to an hour or until a bread knife slipped into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cupcakes take less time to cook since they are smaller.

5. Frost with your choice of frosting.

This is a surprisingly flavorful and moist spice cake that is quite healthy. It is good for diabetics and anyone else eating it. The cake is high in fiber and the inclusion of raisins, currants, and applesauce increases the vitamin and mineral content, which is already good because of the zucchinis.

Note that for the healthiest cake, the zucchinis can be washed, the ends can be chopped off, and the zucchini can be cored if necessary, but the skins should be left on when they are grated. A huge amount of vitamins and minerals are found in the skin of zucchinis. In fact, it is partly because of the vitamins and minerals that whole wheat flour is used. Whole wheat flour is high in B vitamins. Of course, it is much better for diabetics (and anyone else) than bleached white flour, too.

This is truly a marvelous dessert and it is one that proves easily that diabetics don’t have to sacrifice flavor just because of their medical condition.

This is a keeper if I do say so myself.