Zucchini Browned Butter Oat Cake + Apricot Caramel
Serves: makes one 6" round cake
 
Ingredients
  • Zucchini Browned Butter Oat Cake:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) Salted Butter
  • 2¼ cups Oat Flour
  • ½ cup Tapioca Starch
  • ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt
  • ¾ cup Raw Cane Sugar
  • ¾ cup Coconut Palm Sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 4 large Eggs, room temperature
  • 3½ cups Zucchini, shredded
  • Whipped Cream Frosting:
  • 3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 2 tablespoons Honey
  • Apricot Caramel:
  • 1 cup Raw Cane Sugar
  • ¼ cup Water
  • 2 tablespoons Butter
  • ⅔ cup Apricot Nectar
Instructions
  1. Zucchini Browned Butter Oat Cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease four, 6" round cake pans with oil and line the bottoms of each pan with parchment paper. Dust the sides with flour. Set aside.
  3. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat on medium high until butter begins to melt. Continue cooking until the butter begins to foam - watch closely. Once the butter begins to foam the milk solids will begin to brown and the butter will take on a nutty smell. Once the butter is a nice medium brown color, remove from heat. Take care to not overcook or butter will burn.
  4. Pour the hot browned butter into a heat-proof mixing bowl and set aside.
  5. Place the flour, tapioca starch, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
  6. Add the raw cane sugar and coconut palm sugar to the bowl of browned butter and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking each one in until smooth and creamy. Add the zucchini and whisk until distributed.
  7. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir together with a large spoon, stirring just until combined.
  8. Divide the cake batter between pans. drop each pan once or twice on the counter to remove air bubbles.
  9. Bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes in their pans, then remove from pans. Let cool completely on a wire rack. When cakes are cool, level off the tops.
  10. Whipped Cream Frosting:
  11. Place the heavy cream in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until very stiff peaks form. Add the honey and beat in until just distributed.
  12. Use the cream to frost the cake with, filling each layer with about ½ cup of cream, and rustic-ly frosting the top and outside of cake. Place cake in the fridge while you make the apricot caramel.
  13. Apricot Caramel:
  14. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan., stirring to dissolve the sugar. Place over high heat with a lid over the top of the pan. Let the mixture come to a boil while covered, let boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid and let the mixture continue to boil until it starts to turn a medium golden brown. As soon as it has turned a medium caramel color, add the apricot nectar and butter. The mixture will sputter and the caramel may seize up - just keep letting it boil and it will melt down again. Once the mixture has turned into a smooth, bubbling mass, remove from heat. Let cool completely.
  15. Once cool, pour the caramel over the top of the refrigerated cake. Top with apricots, if desired.
  16. Serve chilled.
Recipe by The Kitchen McCabe at https://www.thekitchenmccabe.com/2016/08/08/zucchini-browned-butter-oat-cake-apricot-caramel/