I am quite a traditional baker and normally stick to the classics. However last week I had 3 courgettes that were about to go off and I HATE throwing away food so thought I would try something different and make a courgette and orange cake. The recipe originally came from BBC Good Food but I have made a few tweaks to make it my own ( and because I forgot to buy everything in the original recipe!)
I’m sure most bakers have enough forethought to look up a recipe and then buy the ingredients they need. Well not me … at least I thought I did but soon realised I didn’t have a key ingredient, sunflower oil. Instead of heading out again in the wind and rain (it was horrible weather here last weekend), I used 250g of unsalted butter instead. This gave the cake a lovely, light texture.
Having never made a courgette cake before, I did a little bit of research and everyone commented on how much liquid courgettes release when being cooked. Because of this, you really need to squeeze as much as possible out. I squeezed by hand and then patted with kitchen towel to remove any excess liquid.Once I mixed all the ingredients together the mixture was very thick, I could hardly stir it. So I did add a splash of milk to make it manageable. However, you really do only need a splash as the courgettes release more liquid when baking.
My first slice was surprising DELICIOUS! Whilst it was baking it smelt a bit like roasted vegetables so I was apprehensive but it tasted really nice. It could of done with 5 minutes more in the oven as it was slightly underdone but for a first buy accutane online 5mg attempt, I am impressed with my courgette and orange cake. I will definitely be making it again.
If you’ve never tried cooking with courgettes before, this is the one for you.
- 350 g courgettes
- 200 g soft brown sugar
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 3 large eggs lightly beaten
- Grated zest 1 orange
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g sultanas
- 300 g self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Splash of milk
- 200 g full-fat cream cheese
- 100 g icing sugar sifted
- Good grating of orange zest
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Heat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly oil and line a loaf tin with baking parchment. Finely grate the courgettes ( no need to peel them) then squeeze out as much liquid as you can with your hands and then again with kitchen towel.
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Beat together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each to prevent curdling. Add orange zest, vanilla and sultanas and then fold in the remaining flour and baking powder. I added a splash of milk here as I could hardly get the spoon to move let alone stir!
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Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for between 55 - 70 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
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To make the cream cheese drizzle, beat the cream cheese with the icing sugar and chill. Once the cake has cooled, drizzle over the cake and sprinkle with orange zest.