A unique and refreshing cake twist, using fresh cucumbers to create a moist and nutty cake – perfect for that evening cup of tea.
A trip to the Farmer’s market left me with a bag full of cucumbers, and they tasted amazing. After enjoying them raw, in salads, as pancakes, in pachadi, and in kootu, I found myself with two left and wanted to use them in a way my kitchen had never seen. Inspired by the many zucchini bread recipes I’ve come across over the past few years, I decided to give cucumber bread a try. One of the better decisions I have made lately!
Cucumbers, the refreshing squash that belongs to the same family as pumpkins, zucchinis, and watermelons, are a regular in my kitchen. Loaded with a variety of vitamins and minerals, cucumbers are celebrated for their health benefits. High in water and low in calories, they are perfect for weight-watchers. Beyond their culinary uses, cucumbers are obviously a treat for tired eyes and listless skin. Their natural cooling properties work wonders as eye pads, keeping the skin breezy, happy, soft, and supple. 
This cake turned out moist, soft, and delightful. The taste of the refreshing cucumber combined with the crunch of nuts was even unexpectedly delicious. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
How to Make Cucumber Cake
Preheat and Prepare:
- Preheat your oven to 320°F (160°C).
- Grease and dust a bread/cake tin and set aside.
Prepare the Cucumbers:
- Wash, peel, and coarsely shred the cucumbers.
- Place the shredded cucumbers in a colander and apply slight pressure to remove excess moisture. Ensure they are moist but not overly drippy. Set aside.
Mix the Dry Ingredients:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, and chopped nuts.
Combine and Mix:
- Add the shredded cucumbers, eggs, and sunflower oil to the dry ingredients.
- Using a mixer on medium speed, beat all the ingredients until well combined, approximately 2 minutes.
Bake:
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 320°F (160°C) for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Serve:
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve plain or with your desired topping. Enjoy!
Notes:
- Seeds: I left the seeds of the cucumber intact- that lent a nutty, crunchy taste to the cake. Feel free to scoop it out if you please.
- Consistency: The cucumber will give the batter a thinner texture; ensure the final mix is of a pancake batter consistency. Add little more flour if required.
- Nuts: Feel free to use your preferred combination of nuts or omit them if you have nut allergies.
- Baking Time: Check the cake a few minutes before the 60-minute mark to ensure it doesn’t overbake.
Cucumber Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices 1x
Description
A unique and refreshing cake twist, using fresh cucumbers to create a moist and nutty cake – perfect for that evening cup of tea.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (315-330 grams)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (5 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (5 grams)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder (5 grams)
- 1/2 cup mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews), roughly chopped
- 1 cup sunflower oil (205 grams)
- 2 fresh cucumbers, approx. 600 grams, washed, peeled, and coarsely shredded
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
Preheat and Prepare:
- Preheat your oven to 320°F (160°C).
- Grease and dust a bread/cake tin and set aside (The pan size used for this recipe is a standard loaf pan, approximately 9×5 inches (23×13 cm).
Prepare the Cucumbers:
- Wash, peel, and coarsely shred the cucumbers.
- Place the shredded cucumbers in a colander and apply slight pressure to remove excess moisture. Ensure they are moist but not overly drippy. Set aside.
Mix the Dry Ingredients:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, and chopped nuts.
Combine and Mix:
- Add the shredded cucumbers, eggs, and sunflower oil to the dry ingredients.
- Using a mixer on medium speed, beat all the ingredients until well combined, approximately 2 minutes.
Bake:
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 320°F (160°C) for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Serve:
- Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serve plain or with your desired topping. Enjoy!
Notes
- Seeds: I left the seeds of the cucumber intact- that lent a nutty, crunchy taste to the cake. Feel free to scoop it out if you please.
- Consistency: The cucumber will give the batter a thinner texture; ensure the final mix is of a pancake batter consistency. Add little more flour if required.
- Nuts: Feel free to use your preferred combination of nuts or omit them if you have nut allergies.
- Baking Time: Check the cake a few minutes before the 60-minute mark to ensure it doesn’t overbake.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 230
- Sugar: 22g
- Sodium: 210mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 2g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
I would never have thought to use cucumber in a cake, but it does look moist and delicious :)
thanks alisha !
I am a pastry chef in traing, with one class left on my associates degree. I am also in the beginning stages of running a small pastry business wtih a good freind from school. We have an order for a cucumber cake for Valintines Day and we are in the process of investingating different recipes to model our own after. This recipe was very good and will definitely be in the running!
This cake taste like dirty toilet seat!!!!!!!!
OMG Bob! Have you tasted a dirty toilet seat? Oh my my, then you are an animal. Oh you poor thing. Do visit a doctor soon, my sweet Bob. It would be better if you find another recipe to suite the animal in you.
Priya, I made it myself and it turned out a mega hit during a dinner party I hosted. Kudos to you.
Bob, So before you pass such filthy comments make your animal brain think twice. Lol! (If you have a brain of course Bobby) :P Lol!
What a pathetic comment Bob Barker ! Good on you for actually making the effort to bake the cake but I guess someone must have slipped a dirty toilet seat in while you weren’t looking. Your acute tasting buds obviously picked up the flavour from past experience though.
Has anyone tried this with an egg replacer? I would like to cook this but the eggs stop me cold. Are 3 eggs too much to replace?
Hi Kris!
If you’re allergic to eggs and want to use an egg replacer for this recipe, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Choose an Egg Replacer: Use commercial egg replacers like Ener-G or Bob’s Red Mill, or homemade options like flaxseed meal (1 tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp water per egg), applesauce (1/4 cup per egg), or mashed bananas (1/4 cup per egg).
Adjust Moisture and Binding: Ensure the batter has enough moisture. If it’s too dry, add a bit more liquid. Commercial egg replacers and flaxseed meal work well for binding.
Leavening: Add an extra pinch of baking powder if using applesauce or bananas to help with rise.
Mix Well: Thoroughly mix the egg replacer into the batter for even distribution.
Monitor Baking Time: Check the cake a few minutes before the recommended baking time as egg replacers can affect baking duration. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Expect Texture Differences: The cake might be slightly denser or less fluffy.
Flavor: Some egg replacers, like bananas or flaxseed, can slightly alter the flavor.
Hello from Switzerland. Having tons of cucumbers from my garden and running out of ideas of how to use them, I tried your recipe. I really liked it, my children loved it. The only thing I’ll change is the amount of sugar, it was a bit too sweet for me. I also used whole flour. Thanks, I will be doing more cucumber cakes. I’m trying a cucumber-apple marmalade from a french blog, I will share it if it turns out good enough. Cheers!
Love to hear this, and yes, sweetness is of course a matter of personal preference – totally get if you want to dial down on the sugar a bit.
Just made it. Picked the cucumbers right from our garden. Reduced the sugar slightly only using one cup. Hand blended the batter. The result: Fresh tasting is right. What a beautiful recipe. Makes it into our top ten. We give it 5 stars.
That’s awesome, glad to hear!
Great cake, really successful. Made a couple of variations…..left the skin on the cucumber before shredding, also added raisins with the nuts.
Those are some great additions!
160 degrees means how much degrees in fahreinheit?
That’s 320F :D
Best tasting cake ever. My family was impressed. Thank You for an awesome treat
Wonderful cake, light and moist … mine needed 15 more minutes to finish cooking, but turned out flavourful and a great way to (a) use up excess cucumbers (English cucumbers work very well) and (b) smuggle vegetables in to the diet. I also found a scant cup of sugar was just right. Thanks, Priya!
Will be trying this as we have an abundance of cucumbers in the garden. What type of icing would be good with this Please?
I would suggest perhaps serving it with a dollop of good creme fraiche, some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Can you use wheat flour instead of all purpose
If you’re thinking about using wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour for the Cucumber Cake, it’s totally doable! Just keep in mind that wheat flour can make the cake a bit denser and might give it a slightly nuttier flavor, which can be a nice twist. You may need to add a bit more milk or oil to keep it moist since wheat flour tends to absorb more liquid. Also, be gentle when mixing to avoid making the cake too tough. It’s a great way to add some extra nutrients, but expect a slightly different texture and flavor. Happy baking!
What size cake pan do you suggest? This looks like a bread loaf pan, but how big, please?
Thank you!
Hi Hanner! The pan size used for this recipe is a standard loaf pan, approximately 9×5 inches (23×13 cm).
I’ve made this cake, but ended up making 1 small ‘loaf’ size and 6 in muffin cases. Is it possible to freeze this, either the ones in the muffin cases, or individual slices of the ‘loaf’?
Hi Jan, yes, you can absolutely freeze this.
Sceptic but was won over, this was actually very good!
I added a lemon glaze on top, and it was heavenly! Highly recommend trying this recipe.
Ohh, that’s a great twist!
This was actually really really delicious!
Cucumber cake? Who would have thought! It turned out amazing and so moist. My family loved it!
Oh wow, this is so great!
Ok, this is my new obsession!
Thank you, zucchini breads are officially dead to me now!!
Dang, this was a really really good recipe!
Yes, so good!
I am totally down with cucumber bread from now on!
Wow, that is aweseom!
Thank you for this recipe, so dang good. Cucumber bread is my new obsession!
Turned out great! Wasn’t sure what it was going to end up like but I wouldn’t believe it was made with cucumbers if I didn’t know. I did alter the sugar to 1c of brown and 1c of white just because I like brown sugar flavour. And thought the cinnamon might need a friend so added 1/4 tsp of cloves and nutmeg. I have made zucchini bread using only vanilla to flavour it and prefer it that way. Think I’ll try this recipe using only vanilla and skip all the other spices to see how it turns out.
Glad to hear it was great, and your idea of only using vanilla sounds fun! Let us know how it turns out!
Thank you! I had 4 giant cucumbers to use up. I put blueberries in it and will be using lemon icing.
Good recipe for sure.
Zucchini bread has been dumped after finding this recipe, so delicious, so moist, just amazing!