Courgette loaf cake
Add vegetables to bakes for a tender sponge with delicate flavour. Here, courgettes complement lemon in a loaf cake that's best enjoyed with a cup of tea
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 10 persons
Ingredients
- 1large courgette, trimmed and grated (you'll need about 200g grated courgette)
- 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
- 175ml vegetable oil
- 125g soft light brown sugar
- 2eggs
- 1tsp vanilla bean paste
- 275g plain flour
- ½tsp baking powder
- ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1lemon
- 200g icing sugar
Instructions
Step 1
Tip the grated courgette into a clean tea towel and squeeze out all the excess water. Set aside.Step 2
Butter a 900g loaf tin and line with baking paper. Whisk together the oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla bean paste. Add the flour, baking powder and bicarb, and fold everything together before stirring in the grated courgette.Step 3
Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 55 mins-1 hr until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.Step 4
Peel long, thin strands of curly zest from the lemon using a citrus zester. Juice the rest of the lemon. Put the butter in a bowl and beat using an electric whisk until smooth. Spoon in half the icing sugar, and beat until well combined. Beat in the remaining icing sugar and the lemon juice. Spread the buttercream over the cooled loaf cake, then sprinkle over the lemon zest to finish. Slice to serve.