Courgette & Clementine Cake

When it comes to baking I am an all or nothing kinda gal. There are no half measures in my kitchen I always want to make something as spectacular as it can be, both in taste and look. I want something that is reliable, especially when I am normally baking with the ‘help’ of two small children. The recipe needs to be robust and this one is.

I am not a nutritionist but I can certainly say that I feel like cake instantly transforms into salad in my mind with the addition of vegetables. Please tell me I am not the only one living that lie. This is not the first time I have I have dabbled in creating vegetable cakes, if you want the recipe for some tasty and quite beautiful vegetable cupcakes follow this link.

I am a member of quite a few allotment and produce growing groups on Facebook and I love this time of year seeing what everyone is harvesting but I never understand  when people complain about a glut. There are so many wonderful recipes out there that enable you to think outside the box when you use your harvest. Growing your own food is incredibly rewarding, possible in a small space and a fantastic way to get a fussy child eating just about anything, I wrote more about growing with children recently.

Harvest time is baking time!

The problem I have with many vegetable cake recipes is that they are bland and boring. They have more of a tea bread feel to them. When I searched online for a courgette or zucchini cake recipe I could not find a single one that appealed to me so I decided to create my own.

The recipe calls for 3 cups of courgette/zucchini. If your 4 large courgettes create more than 3 cups use it and reduce food waste.

Troubleshooting

The main problem with a vegetable cake is the texture. The cakes can become a little too dense, the reason for this is excess moisture. This is an especially big risk with a courgette cake as courgettes hold a lot of liquid. Fear not the solution is a simple one. When the recipe asks you to let the grated courgette sit a while, let is sit a good long while. Don’t be shy when you squeeze the liquid out, squeeze the life out of that grated courgette. Remember you can save the liquid and add it to a vegetable stock or risotto. If you are not ready to use it straight away you can always freeze it.  I freeze a lot of things, I love my chest freezer so much!

 

 

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This zucchini cake recipe really does elevate the whole vegetable cake genre to a new level, it has fast become my signature cake. I have already made this cake over a dozen times this year in the process of perfecting the recipe.

Making the perfect cake takes a lot of tasting!

Yes, that is how much cake gets baked when I am in recipe mode. Small adjustments here and there until it is perfect. My other half complained that I kept baking, “oh no my wife keeps baking cakes”, yeah cry me a river! All the hard work and tweaking is worth it when I see people enjoy the cake.

If you love cake but this recipe sounds like too much work I have an amazing Apple & Massala Chai Cake recipe that can be baked and frozen. After all we are approaching apple season and having a freezer full of cake is nice.