Thursday 10 September 2009

ICCHFC - Week 4: Courgette cake

So, finally my turn to bake and amazingly 4 out of 6 went for my Gamble Gateaux:
"Gamble Gateaux - For all you risk takers. In a sealed envelope on my desk is the third option. Will it be something traditional, maybe it'll be a cake from left-field, maybe a "classic". Who knows? Take a spin on the cakey wheel of fortune to find out"

Jo was ridiculously excited to open the Gamble envelope and reveal that the cake chosen was a Courgette Cake. It's a cake I've wanted to make for ages but never got to. The idea of courgettes in a cake just doesn't seem to make sense.

The other two votes were for blondies. Rather surprisingly, nobody voted for the final option of passion cake.

The cake was pretty easy to make, bearing in mind I was baking late at night after spending 12 hours driving across France! Most of it went for elevenses and the overwhelming response was that it was very moist, which it was. I love the green flecks through the body of the cake (due to not peeling the courgettes)

The picture show the remains of the cake on elevenses on day three. Still moist and very tasty. All in all a bit of a triumph.

The Recipe for Courgette Cake

Ingredients:
1 small courgette
75g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
75g runny honey
75g caster sugar
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod
2 medium eggs
Juice of 1/2 lemon
190g self-raising flour
40g roasted almonds, finely chopped
2 tbsp low-fat natural yoghurt
For the cream cheese icing:
25g butter, very soft
100g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
Some grated lime zest, plus
1 tbsp lime juice

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/ gas 4. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin.
2. Grate the courgette into a sieve and leave for 5 minutes. Squeeze out any excess moisture and set aside.
3. Beat the butter, honey, sugar, vanilla and eggs until smooth. Fold in the lemon juice – it will curdle, but don't worry. Combine the flour with the courgette and almonds. Fold in the butter mixture and the yogurt. If the batter is stiff, add a spoonful more of yogurt. Pour into the tin and bake for 50 minutes, or until golden. Insert a skewer – if it comes out clean, it's done; if not, cook for a further 10-15 minutes. Cool in the tin.
4. Meanwhile, make the icing. Beat the butter and cheese, then beat in the sugar and lime juice. Chill.
5. Turn out the cooled cake, slice in half horizontally and spread with the icing. Sprinkle the icing with some lime zest.

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