Courgette & Lemon Loaf

Here’s a sweet way to use up your courgette glut. Grated courgette keeps a cake wonderfully moist and the little flecks of green are so pretty. But be careful, when creating this recipe I had a fair few flops before getting it right, don’t be tempted to add more courgette than the recipe states. The extra moisture can put the balance out of whack and make the cake sink after it comes out of the oven.

I made this in a loaf tin so it took about an hour to bake, but if you bake it in a round cake tin it will cook much quicker as there is more surface area and a shallower batter, just keep an eye on it. Why not double the recipe and bake two round cakes to sandwich together? Make a simple lemon buttercream and decorate with raspberries and pistachios for a real summery treat.

Liz x

Ingredients

• 250g grated courgette
• 300g plain flour
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• a pinch of salt
• 100ml oat milk
• 100ml olive oil
• zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon (reserve the other half of the lemon juice and zest for the icing)

Lemon Drizzle Icing

• the juice of half a lemon
• enough icing sugar to bring it into a consistency you like
• the zest of half the lemon to decorate

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 175C and line a loaf tin.
2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, bicarb) together in a large mixing bowl so that they are evenly dispersed.
3. Add the wet ingredients (oat milk, oil, lemon juice) and stir to just combine. Do not over-mix. This batter should be fairly dry and thick to compensate for the water content of the courgette.
4. Add the grated courgette and lemon zest to the bowl and use a wooden spoon to fold the mixture together into a thick batter.
5. Scrape the batter into the lined loaf tin and level it out.
6. Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour or until it’s cooked through. If your oven is fan assisted it may cook faster. Test for ‘doneness’ by inserting a skewer into the centre of the loaf. When pulled out it should be fairly clean.
7. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes or so in the tin before carefully pulling it out onto a cooling rack. Let it cool completely before icing.
8. To make the icing, squeeze the juice of the other half of the lemon into a bowl and whisk in spoons of icing sugar until you reach your desired consistency. I like it quite runny so it just creates a delicate glaze over the cake but if you prefer a whiter, thicker icing, keep adding sugar until the mixture is fairly thick.
9. Spoon the icing over the cooled cake and, while it is still wet, sprinkle over the reserved lemon zest. Allow the icing to set then serve in thick slices with mugs of Earl Grey tea.