Zucchini Apple Breakfast Cake with Cashew Glaze

February 21, 2011 By Leanne Vogel July 22, 2015

Do you ever just wake up on a Sunday morning and want to bake to your little hearts content? As a kid, my mom would bake something absolutely delicious every Sunday morning breakfast. She’d make things like cinnamon buns, breakfast cakes [like this one], croissants and ham, or a wife saver [which I didn’t like much, but you can’t win em all, right?] I woke up yesterday with a strong urge to whip up a warm breakfast that the two of us could enjoy. I’d started experimenting with making my own cream cheese icing to replace the tofutti cream cheese I used for these, so I had extra sauce leftover for our breakfast. With a huge bag of zucchini just sitting in the fridge [I cannot pass up a sale on zucchini] and a produce drawer dedicated to 4-5 different types of apples, yesterdays’ breakfast was an easy choice.

After baking Kevin and I played around with the camera a bit. Our biggest challenge: we couldn’t decide where to put the fork. His favorite was the bridge fork in the middle below.

My solution: grab fork, stab cake, dip cake in frosting, put in mouth. Mmmm. Best place for my fork.

Zucchini Apple Breakfast Cake with Cashew Glaze

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 1 layer cake

If you like zucchini muffins or apple pie, you’ll love this naturally sweetened breakfast cake. Enjoy with your family for a perfect breakfast on a Sunday morning, complete with a dairy free, soy free cream cheese icing!

Ingredients

2 cups finely ground almond flour – I use JK Gourmet
½ cup quinoa flakes
½ teaspoon himalayan rock salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 flax eggs [2 tablespoon freshly ground flax + 6 tablespoon water]
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
4 medjool dates, pitted
¼ cup apple juice, room temperature
2 3 tablespoon yacon syrup – alternatively you can use maple syrup, I chose yacon for it’s slight molasses taste and lower GI
¾ cup zucchini, grated – squeeze out the moisture over the sink
¼ cup apple, grated – leave the peel on! – squeeze out the moisture over the sink
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped
¼ cup dried apple or diced apples

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×9 cake pan with coconut oil. Alternatively you can use a 6 cup casserole dish.
Prepare flax egg and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together almond flour, quinoa flakes, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Place coconut oil, dates, apple juice, and yacon in a blender. Process until smooth and transfer to the bowl of flour mix.
Stir mixture until well combined, then fold in zucchini, grated apple, pecans and dried apples.
Drop mixture into prepared pan, place on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 50-60 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Serve with almond milk and drizzle with cashew glaze.

View Nutrition Information (once on page, scroll down)

Cashew Glaze aka Soy Free, Vegan Cream Cheese Icing!

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free

Serves: 1.5 cups of icing

Ditch the soy-full alternative cream cheeses out there and opt for a healthful version! This cream cheese icing will not disappoint. It’s perfectly sweet, creamy, and has just the right amount of bitter cream cheese taste you know and love. Inspired by: Vegan Baking [they’ve since removed the post, but here’s a link to their main page!]

Ingredients

¾ cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 4-6 hours
1 tablespoon coconut oil
3 tablespoon almond milk
2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ cup sucanat sugar, ground fine – I used a coffee grinder
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-4 tablespoon almond milk – depends on how thick or thin you want it. I used 4 tablespoon to make it into a thin glaze.

Instructions

Line a 2 cup glass container with cheese cloth.
Combine cashews, coconut oil, almond milk, vinegar, and lemon juice in a blender. Process until smooth.
Pour the mixture into the container, cover and leave on the counter overnight.
In the morning, stir in sugar, vanilla, and almond milk. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Notes

Will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days or can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Yum! Look at the apple pieces! So much better than a wife saver. Even though times can get busy, and life will get in the way more often that not, I’m a firm believer in setting the intention to have a nice meal with the family at least once a week. Whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. As a kid, our family meal times were a way to reconnect and share, something Kevin and I have continued. Your kitchen should be the heart of the home, and the dinner table a place of warmth, comfort, and support. I can’t think of a better environment to healthfully digest food than in the comfort of those you love! Do you and/or your family try to sit down to a family meal once in awhile?

This entry was tagged: breakfast bake, breakfast cake, cream cheese icing, zucchini