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My garden is bursting with cucumbers! I needed to find some fresh ways to use them, and of course, I immediately wanted to put them into cake. This recipe borrows from both the concept of an Indian tavsalli and good ol’ zucchini bread. The bright, clover-like flavor of the cucumber really stands out in this extremely simple snack cake. You’ll never look at those old cucumbers the same way again!
Cucumber Cake recipe
Ingredients:
2 Tblsp butter
1 cup cream of wheat
2 tsp cardamom
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups grated, peeled cucumber (drain most of the juice out)
1 Tblsp canola oil
1 egg
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup roughly chopped & lightly salted roasted cashews
½ cup dried cherries or chopped dried apricots
½ heaping cup sweetened coconut flakes
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
In a skillet over low heat, melt butter. Add cream of wheat and spices. (If you are using unsalted nuts in this recipe, add a pinch of salt to the cream of wheat.) Turn heat up to medium. Stir together and lightly toast for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, combine the grated cucumber, oil, egg, and sugar. Blend together well. Now, add the baking powder and baking soda to the cream of wheat mixture and whisk together. Add the dry ingredients to the cucumber mixture and stir just to combine. DO NOT OVERMIX or your cake will turn tough. Gently fold in the cashews, cherries and coconut.
Pour the batter into the greased cake pan. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The cake is done when the top is golden and the “toothpick test” comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Or, eat it warm with coconut ice cream.
Serves: 12
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
wow this looks really unconventional, I’m definately gonna give it a go! thanks for sharing your recipe :o)
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy it… cucumber season is almost here again. 🙂 This year, I’m planting lemon cucumbers, and can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Four people finished this wonderful cake in a matter of hours. We were all surprised that a cucumber cake could be so tasty, let alone that it could be addictive. With many more cucumbers to come this summer, we will be enjoying your creative recipe again and again. Thanks!
I'm so glad to hear this. Thanks for letting me know. I am also anxious to eat it again… I check on my cucumber plant every day in the hopes that they are ripe and ready for baking! 🙂
I'm SO glad I found this recipe! I have more cucumbers than I can deal with in any stretch of the imagination and this cake took care of two big ones! I made cupcakes and used dates, coconut and almond meal for the "add-ins" and used more cinnamon, ginger and lemon zest in place of the cardamom (didn't have any and it's POURING out right now!). Will be a welcome treat tomorrow I'm sure!
This recipe is still a winner! I didn’t have dried apricots when I baked the cake a few years ago, so I substituted raisins. I like the dried apricots much better!
I am trying to get out of using the cardamom for this recipe, what would the measurements be to substitute ginger and cinnamon?
Kaytee, since the recipe already calls for ginger and cinnamon, just omit the cardamom. It won’t have the same spice note, but the cucumber will still shine through.
Glad to see this recipe as I also have tons of cucumber from our garden. But, was the cream of wheat pre-cooked, or did you just use the granules?
Sue, I used dry cream of wheat in this recipe–straight from the box.
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