That said, we are inundated with home-grown courgettes and having been vigilantly picking them, they have formed a staple part of our diet in the last few weeks. So fritters, roasted baked and stir-fried courgettes exhausted, I went on the hunt for a recipe to use them up.
After heading out for a steady 6 mile run this morning, this treat definitely hit the spot as well as stopping some of those courgettes in their tracks from becoming marrows. The courgette is very subtle but definitely adds texture to the tangy crumbliness of a traditional carrot cake.
I suppose the important part is not over-compensating and remembering that I haven't run an ultra-marathon by any stretch of the imagination!
Ingredients:
250g butter
200g Demerera sugar
250g self-raising flour
3 eggs
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 grated nutmeg
1 tsp mixed spice
Zest of an orange
100g carrot, grated (about 2 medium carrots)
100g courgette, grated
4tbsp sultanas
Icing:
250g Marscapone
2tbsp icing sugar
Juice of 1 orange, plus extra juice for taste
1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark5 /190 Centrigade and grease two 20cm diameter tins.
2. Place the butter, sugar, flour, eggs, nutmeg , spice and orange zest in a large mixing bowl, and using an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients. If the mixture is still a bit heavy and doesn't fall off a spoon when tapped aginst the side of the bowl, add a dash of milk to loosen it up.
3. Stir in the sultanas, grated carrot and courgette.
4.Split between two tins and cook for approximatley 30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean 6. Whilst the cake is cooking, combine the marscapone with the icing sugar, orange zest and juice. You can add more icing sugar or juice to taste. Mix until the mixture is smooth and leave in the fridge to cool for half an hour.
7. The cakes come out crumbly so leave them in their tins to cool then they are ready to ice!
