In honour of today being World Baking Day, we’ve decided to share one of our favourite cake recipes with you – courgette cake! The lesser-know sister of the carrot cake, the courgette cake is a gorgeously moist and light cake, perfect with a lime curd filling.
We first came across this delicious recipe via the domestic goddess herself, Nigella Lawson, who, according to the book, was given the recipe by Flora Woods, whom she names the recipe after. As with many of Nigella’s recipes, no matter what variations you try, the original is always the absolute best, so we’re giving you just that. We’ve found that a big slice of this cake is best enjoyed in a comfy spot with a cup of tea – perfect!
Ingredients:
60g raisins – optional (we recommend to leave them out but that’s just us…)
250g courgettes (weighed before grating), which is roughly 2-3 courgettes
2 large eggs
125 ml vegetable oil
150g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
For the icing:
200g cream cheese
100g sieved icing sugar
juice of 1 lime
2-3 tablespoons chopped pistachio to finish (we used lime zest – just as effective!)
Nigella includes a lovely recipe for a homemade lime curd, however good quality shop bought curds are very readily available and just as delicious.
Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 6.
Wipe down your courgettes (no need for peeling), and grate them using a regular cheese grater. Make sure you don’t use too fine a grater, as this tends to turn them into mush. Set the grated courgettes in a sieve over the sink to drain excess moisture.
Mix the oil, eggs and sugar in a large bowl until creamy, then sieve in the flour, bicarb and baking powder. Mix until fully combined and the mixture is smooth. Next add the courgettes, and the raisins if you’re choosing to use them.
Separate the mixture into two round, greased and lined sandwich cake tins, and bake for 30 minutes, making sure the cakes are slightly browned and firm to the touch.
Leave your cakes to cool, and meanwhile get cracking on the topping! Simply mix the cream cheese and icing sugar in the bowl, and finish by adding lime juice to taste.
When your cakes are fully cool, top one of them with plenty of lime curd, pop the second cake on top, cover with your cream cheese topping and finish with either pistachios or lime zest!
