Using a glut of veg...

On our garden patch that is being tended lovingly by DS and Dad there are a lot of certain types of veg all at once at the moment! We seem to have loads of courgettes and they are coming out of our ears! I have made lots of savoury things but yesterday I decided to have a go at a courgette cake.
Now, I made one of these a few years ago but this was a different recipe that called for a cream cheese filling - better option than the fresh cream or butter cream of last time! If you are a little sceptical of courgettes in cakes then just think along the lines of a carrot cake - it works the same way!

I set about making the recipe in the afternoon and then left the cake to cool... when making the icing there is more than enough to fill the cake in the middle and ice the top. It is lovely as you add lime to the icing and so the flavour is very fresh. I will say that the cake seems quite dense at times but it is delicious.

When grating the courgette make sure that you use the large grater setting as if you do it too small you will make the courgettes too watery and alter the texture of the cake.

I have to say that it I was very pleased with the result and the family loved it!

 

Here is the recipe:

Courgette and Raisin Cake

Ingredients For the cake: 60g raisins 250g courgettes (two or three) weighed before grating 2 large eggs 125ml vegetable oil 150g caster sugar 225g self-raising flour 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp baking powder For the icing: 200g cream cheese 100g sieved icing sugar Juice of 1 lime

Method Preheat oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Grate the courgettes and remove excess water by sieving over the sink. Cream the eggs, oil and sugar together in a bowl. Sieve in the flour, bicarb and baking powder until well combined. Stir in the courgette and the drained raisins. Split the mixture between two greased 21cm sandwich tins and bake for 30 minutes. (Or you can split the mixture between 12 muffin cases, icing optional.) Cool on a rack while you make your icing. To make the icing: Beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and keep beating and finally add the lime juice to taste. Spread the icing on the cake - inside and on the top. If you find that your icing is a little runny then just chill in the fridge for a few minutes before applying. I hope that you enjoy making this as much as we loved eating it! Until next time...