Courgette and Orange Cake

Welcome to cake No.1 of a four-week Vegetable Cake Series!

Vegetable cakes?? But wait, before I lose you – hear me out. These are not ‘healthy versions’,  ‘guilt-free cakes’ or even the dreaded ‘no added sugar **but a ton of coconut sugar**’ cakes.

Adding vegetables to cakes does not make them ‘good’. Equally eating cake is not ‘bad’. Unless you’ve stolen it, or it’s gone off. Vegetables are highly nutritious, high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibre. In general, cakes are not so nutritious, tending to be high in saturated fat and sugar but low in fibre, protein, and micronutrients. These are facts. No morality or judgment needs to be brought into the cake equation!

These are recipes where the vegetables are celebrated and complimented rather than hidden away, masked by sugar. These recipes are a recognition of how versatile veg can be. It might just get one person into the kitchen and experimenting with new vegetables for the first time

Now that October has landed, the leaves are beginning to turn and the temperatures are dropping (in the northern hemisphere anyway!). Here in Cape Town, we are finally heading into warmer, longer days, but for me, this time of year will always be baking season. Not to mention Bake Off is back!

We are kicking off with a comforting, warm Courgette and Orange Cake to soothe the nostalgia! There are so many great courgette recipes – everyone from Ottolenghi to Nigel Slater to Nigella Lawson has a backlog of amazing ways to use the humble courgette. For some people who grew up with enthusiastic allotment-keeping parents, the yearly glut of massive watery marrow has turned them off courgettes. So whether you need a gentle introduction – or reintroduction if you’ve fallen out of love - this cake is a great place to start.

Although this is made in a loaf tin I call it a cake because it comes out as a low and very (sorry) moist cake rather than being a tall dry brick!

Ingredients

135g Brown sugar / Golden caster sugar

100ml Rapeseed oil

1 Free-range egg

1 small orange

225g courgette – about 3 medium, 1 & ½ - 2 larger ones

150g self-raising flour OR 150g plain flour and 1.5 level tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tsp cinnamon powder (or ginger /cardamom/ mixed spice)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Whisk the sugar and oil together, and mix well. Add the egg and whisk again.

If you have a small grater/ microplane zest the orange and add to the egg, oil and sugar mixture. Leave this out if you don’t have the grater.

Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl. To get the orange pulp out I just use my finger and break it up into small bits – if you are feeling more sophisticated you could do this carefully with a small knife and chopping board. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Grate the courgette straight into the bowl and mix again.

Add in the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Mix gently to combine everything together.

Line a loaf tine with baking paper. Pour the mixture into the tin. Pop into the oven and bake for 35 -45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes as some ovens cook faster than others!  In our oven, mine needed 42 minutes to be exact.

Leave to cool in the tine for 15 minutes. If you have a wire rack turn the loaf out to finish cooling off.

Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and enjoy!