Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Courgette cake with lemon frosting (Lemon and Zucchini Cake)

Suvikõrvitsakeeks sidrunivõõbaga / Courgette cake with lemon glaze

I've been blogging for over 7 years now, and have been reading a number of foodblogs from regularly since then. You know who you are, JW, KD, AK, DL, EB, MK, CD, MW and so on. I still clearly remember an old Utah (?) joke Kalyn posted in her excellent blog six years ago, so I've dugged it up for you:

Do you know why people in Utah lock their car doors in the summer when they go into church? It's because if they don't, when they come out the car will be full of zucchini.
(Kalyn Denny, Garden Update #3, 4 June 2006)

Well, the courgette/zucchini grows just as well here in Estonia, and I'm having to come up with delicious ways of using the bounty on almost a daily basis. And there are only 2 zucchini plants in my vegetable garden this year!!!

Chocolate and Zucchini seems to be the most common and popular combination for a zucchini cake - take chocolate and zucchini cake and chocolate zucchini bread (Elise @ Simply Recipes), gluten-free chocolate chip zucchini brownies (Karina @ Gluten-free Goddess), double chocolate zucchini bread (Michelle @ Brown Eyed Baker), chocolate zucchini cupcakes (Two Peas & Their Pod), for instance. The list goes on and on. But trust me, courgettes/zucchini and lemon are just as good mates. So here's another excellent cake and another lovely recipe helping you to use up that courgette/zucchini bounty.

Note that the American measuring cup is 240 ml - that will help you convert the recipe into "American", in case you haven't got kitchen scales.

Courgette cake with lemon frosting
(Suvikõrvitsakeeks sidrunivõõbaga)
Serves about 10

 Suvikõrvitsakeeks sidrunivõõbaga / Courgette cake with lemon glaze

200 g courgette/zucchini (about 400 ml coarsely grated)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
200 g all-purpose/plain flour (about 350 ml)
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs
125 g caster sugar (about 150 ml)
100 g oil (rapeseed, olive; about 150 ml)
3 to 4 Tbsp pinenuts (or chopped nuts of your choice)

Lemon frosting:
juice of 1 lemon
icing sugar/confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Grease and flour (you can use flour, semolina, polenta) an 8×4-inch loaf pan or 1,5 litre/quart Bundt tin; set aside.

Grate the zucchini/courgette coarsely, add the grated lemon zest.

Mix flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar and salt until combined.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale, thick and fluffy. Fold in the oil, then the dry ingredients. Finally add the grated courgette/zucchini, lemon zest and the pine nuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake in a pre-heated 180 C/350 F oven for about 45 minutes, until fully cooked (test the doneness with a wooden toothpick - it should remain clean after being pierced into the cake).

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes, then turn upside down onto a serving plate. Cool completely, then remove the cake tin.

If you wish, you can glaze the cake with a lemon frosting. To make the frosting, simply add enough icing sugar into the lemon juice to get a desired consistency. Spoon the frosting over the cake and serve.

I've used blue borage flowers to decorate the cake.

12 comments:

Katarina said...

This sounds so delicious and is really beautiful!

Tanita said...

I love lemon frosting, and I love courgette cake - only I tend to make it in the autumn. Yours is very fine and light looking; mine tends to be more like a spice cake. It is lovely with the borage flower on top! Quite festive.

Dagmar said...

It looks absolutely lovely! And now I know what to do with the large Zucchini that I need to harvest today :-)

Heidi said...

Looks unbelievably delicious.

Kalyn Denny said...

It has been fun to follow certain blogs from the beginning, hasn't it! So fun to hear the old Utah joke has spread to Estonia! And your cake looks amazing!

Margaret@kitchenfrau said...

I've been on a zucchini bender here in Canada lately, and your recipe is a must-try for me. I'm tired of zucchini chocolate cake. Thanks so much for the recipe!

Alanna @ Kitchen Parade said...

Blogger wouldn't let me comment on my phone yesterday so will try it again, here.

Your cake (as always) is just so pretty, and one I'd make in a heartbeat! And I also love that I don't recognize all the initials but am proud that mine's among them, dear friend!

xo

Moritapititona said...

A beautiful cake and an excellent recipe. I will soon be making it. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
All the best from Spain,
Moritapititona.

Sarah said...

I never heard about blogging until 4 years ago when I stumbled upon Chocolate and Zucchini(wonder if she has a recipe for courgette cake). I love the way you decorated the cake, so pretty!

Anonymous said...

I made this the other day and it is delicious! I made two mini-loaves in some decorative paper loaf pans. The glaze really makes it; I added a drop of lavender essence to it. :-)

Jiri Brambory said...

Cake looks so good. Its one of my favorite meal because of home recipe is quite close to it.

Anonymous said...

Made it and my husband loved it!