Green Cake or Moss Cake for St Patrick’s Day (Made with Spinach)
Green cake, or moss cake, is an all natural and delicious way to add some green to your day (and diet)! Perfect for St Patrick’s Day celebrations, and even works as cupcakes!
One thing I don’t understand is the allure of bright, artificially colored food.
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This naturally green cake (or moss cake) is the antithesis of a bright blue, frosted doughnut coated in Lucky Charms, topped with half a cup of multi-colored sprinkles. When I something like this, I raise an eyebrow. I am not enticed in the slightest, and I’m sure there are many of you who agree with me, right?
So when I spotted this moss cake somewhere on the internet, and discovered that it was a creation that is served at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, I was very intrigued. This green cake contains no fake or artificial ingredients. Instead, a healthy dose of spinach lends the green to this “green cake”.
As you may have guessed, the green cake is filled and topped with a cream cheese frosting. The original recipe was much too “cheesy” for a cake (imho), so I took the liberty of adapting it. You may remember my orange cream cheese frosting recipe, which I thought would be delightful on this green cake, and I was right. It’s just a lovely combination!
Of course you can make it plain as the original recipe, but according to my friend, Jill from Mad About Macarons, she had spinach with orange at a three star Michelin restaurant in Paris for her birthday once, and said it was fantastic. This is before she even knew I was pairing my orange frosting on this spinach cake!
You can leave the cake alone after spreading on the frosting, or decorate with fresh or freeze dried raspberries, as I’ve done.
Need an idea for an Irish main dish to serve before this cake? Try bangers and mash!
I also added a few violets for a touch of spring.
Another brilliant use of spinach: spinach soup!
Is this cake a bright green color? No, but that’s the allure to me. It’s real, honest and natural; the same qualities I have in my friends. What do you prefer?
All Natural Green Cake or Moss Cake
adapted from Chef Phil Skinazi (Gleneagles Pastry Chef) serves 12
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
Grease and flour two 8″ cake pans.
Purée the spinach with the lemon juice, and set aside.
Beat eggs, sugar and salt in a stand mixer (or with a hand held mixer) until it increases in volume, turns a pale yellow, and makes ribbons in the batter when the beaters are lifted.
While beating the mixture, slowly pour in the oil.
Sift the flour and baking powder, and with a large spoon, fold it into the batter in thirds, clearing after each addition.
When all the flour has been added, the spinach cake batter will be smooth, thick and heavy.
Add the spinach purée.
Then add the lemon zest and mix until well combined.
Divide the green cake batter between the two prepared 8″ cake pans.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Allow to cool in pans for about 10 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove and place on cooling racks.
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting.
Mix all the ingredients together until smooth. You can choose the plain frosting, or the orange cream cheese frosting.
When the cakes are cool, divide the frosting, and spread one layer with half .
I just pull the knife from the centerpoint to the edge to make a nice pattern to show from the outside.
Slice off the top of the other layer, if needed, and place it atop the frosted layer. Spread the rest of the frosting on top, then decorate with fresh, or freeze dried raspberries, and/or flowers.
The green cake is ready!
Refrigerate for easier slicing, but it’s not necessary as you can serve it right away. Keep any leftover moss cake in the fridge, or freezer.
Let me know what you think of this all natural green cake (aka spinach cake).
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Green Cake or Moss Cake for St Patrick's Day (Made with Spinach)
A naturally green cake that is perfect for a St Patrick's Day treat!
Ingredients
- about 10 cups (300 g) fresh spinach, blanched or 275 g frozen spinach, defrosted
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup (230 g) sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- just under 1 cup (225 ml) olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 1 ¾ c (250 g) all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- zest of one lemon
- FROSTING
- 1 ⅓ c (300 g) cream cheese (or mascarpone, or combination)
- ⅓ + 1 Tbsp (100 g) good quality butter
- 2 c (300 g) confectioner's (powdered) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Or Use the Orange Frosting Recipe Below
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
Grease and flour two 8" cake pans.
- Purée the spinach with the lemon juice, and set aside.
- Beat eggs, sugar and salt in a stand mixer (or with a hand held mixer) until it increases in volume, turns a pale yellow, and makes ribbons in the batter when the beaters are lifted.
- While beating the mixture, slowly pour in the oil.
- Sift the flour and baking powder, and with a large spoon, fold it into the batter in thirds, clearing after each addition.
- When all the flour has been added, the batter will be smooth, thick and heavy.
- Add the spinach purée.Then add the lemon zest and mix until well combined.
- Divide the green cake batter between the two prepared 8" cake pans.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Allow to cool in pans for about 10 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove and place on cooling racks.
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting.
- Mix all the ingredients together until smooth. You can choose the plain frosting, or the orange cream cheese frosting.
- When the cakes are cool, divide the frosting, and spread one layer with half .
- I just pull the knife from the centerpoint to the edge to make a nice pattern to show from the outside.
- Slice off the top of the other layer, if needed, and place it atop the frosted layer. Spread the rest of the frosting on top, then decorate with fresh, or freeze dried raspberries, and/or flowers.
Notes
You can make half the frosting and only ice the middle of the cake if you want a less sweet result.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 195Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 413mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 10g
Nutrition information is only estimated.
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This moss cake aligns with my outdoorsy lifestyle, and I’m curious if I could take it up a notch by adding sea moss. As an adventure guide, I’ve started incorporating sea moss supplements into my diet for their nutrient-rich profile. Imagine the benefits of combining the natural goodness of spinach and sea moss in a delicious cake. Definitely giving this a shot on our next camping escapade!
I’ve been dreaming of this cake since I visited Gleneagles in 2018. I had a piece everyday we were there! I think the recipe forgot to mention when to add the second addition of salt. I used a lemon cream cheese frosting. It was great! I’m going to try orange next time.
For a bright beautiful natural green, use nettle instead of spinach. Most beautiful green I’ve ever seen. Every spring I gather some just to make a nettle cake with lemon butter cream frosting and nettle soup. My kids love it!
How lovely! We can’t get nettles in LA, but thanks for the tip!
Love this cake, Christina! While I admit to the occasional red velvet cake (only if requested), I am in full agreement about using natural colors. My first foray was making a cake from Monet’s Table, which had a luminous green icing… spinach! It really Mae me rethink food dyes.
Yep, every little bit of unprocessed food helps!
Absolutely love everything about this cake, Christina: its beautiful looks, delicious natural ingredients and bravo on the association of the orange and spinach. I’ve remembered the name of the restaurant – it was Chef Alain Passard at l’Arpège: he served a small dish of fresh spinach with a touch of orange and it was divine. Revelation in fact with such a marriage. So I can just imagine the flavours together in a cake! Gorgeous decoration too.
Yes, I mentioned it above, thank you, Jill!
Well this is interesting! Is the spinach solely for the purpose of making the cake green? Do you taste the spinach? I love spinach, but can’t really imagine it in a cake! This reminds me of when I catered, I used a lot of powders – beet, tomato, spinach, carrot, etc. powders that I bought from King Arthur flour, and would color things like breads and tortillas. A few times I cut leaves out of colored tortillas for a fancy baked brie, and it was autumn. Very martha Stewart of me. But such pretty colors and shapes!
Good morning Christina,
I haven’t had much success using oil in my cakes, would it be okay to use melted butter in the same quantity for this cake?
Making sponge cakes is my go-to recipe, so I like to try the new flavours.
Thanlk you again, Christina, for your very tempting recipes… :-)
Val (UK)
Hi Val, I think the butter would work, but given I have only used the oil, I don’t know for sure. I trusted the Gleneagles pastry chef, so I didn’t stray far, except for the frosting. Enjoy!