Chocolate courgette cake

It is delightful when the ripening courgettes gather momentum, and a modest few plants result in a table full of the little fellows. Coming up with creative ways of incorporating them into cooking can be a challenge. This is a brownie-style cake that works well as a traybake. It is moist, not overly sweet and holds together well on a plate. The addition of walnuts give a lovely texture. I reckon it would be nice slightly warm with a dollop of ice cream on the side. 

This little devil is laughing at me!

You will need:
250 g plain flour - reposteria 
one sachet - about 2 teaspoons baking powder
375 g white sugar
65 g pure cocoa powder
half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
half teaspoon chilli powder (optional, but I guarantee you won't regret it)
4 eggs
350 mls vegetable oil (olive oil will not overpower the cake as it already has a strong flavour)
340 g grated courgette, skins on - that's about 2 medium courgettes
90 g chopped walnuts

Warm the oven to 180 C. Grease  an ovenproof dish, measuring approx 20 x 30 cms, and line with greaseproof paper.



Combine all the dry ingredients  - that's the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, chilli powder, cinnamon.


In a large bowl and using a whisk, combine an egg with a little of the oil followed by a spoonful of the mixed dry ingredients. Repeat this sequence until all is used up. The mixture will be quite stiff, but remember that the courgette contains a lot of moisture. If the mixture is too stiff to whisk, add a dash of milk to loosen it up. 

Finally fold in the grated courgettes and walnuts by hand. Pour into prepared dish. Bake for approx 45 minutes then check every 5 minutes until the sponge is firm and springy to the touch, a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the sponge is slightly shrunken from the sides of the dish. You may like to reduce the cooking time to 160 C for the last 15 minutes or so if you think the mixture is burning on top but not cooked inside.





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