Chocolate courgette cake recipe
Here's the recipe for the cake I brought to the food preservation workshop on Oct 7.
Cake
Cake:
Topping:
- 120 g butter softened
- 125 ml light sunflower oil
- 300 g sugar (I used granulated but you could substitute all or part soft brown sugar to good effect)
- 3 medium sized eggs
- 350 g plain white flour (wholewheat would be OK)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 tablespoons (slightly rounded) cocoa
- 450 g peeled and grated raw courgettes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, but not both!)
- 150 g dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa solids)
- 7 level teaspoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 45 g butter
Cake:
- Line a large roasting tin (28 x 39 cm) with baking paper. This makes quite a thin cake and you could use a slightly smaller, deeper tin if necessary.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa and cinnamon if using.
- Cream the butter, oil and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. No need to beat the eggs first. Add the vanilla if using.
- Fold in the dry ingredients, then the grated courgettes. When thoroughly mixed spoon into the cake tin. Spread evenly, aiming for a slightly shallower centre to minimise doming.
- Bake in the centre of the oven until the cake is springy and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Rest for a few minutes then turn out onto a wire cooling tray to finish cooling.
Topping:
- Put the chocolate, sugar and water into a heatproof bowl suspended over barely simmering water. Melt gently, stirring intermittently. As soon as the chocolate is melted remove the bowl from the heat and beat in the butter. The topping should be smooth and glossy. Pour it over the cake and spread to the edges.
- Leave the cake to cook completely before cutting it into squares with a sharp knife. To make cutting easier put the cake in the freezer for half an hour to firm it up.
- Decorate with toasted flaked almonds.
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