Courgette Cake

I have just returned from a trip to The Netherlands where I stay with my  Dutch friend who I have known for nearly all my life!  We were both born in the same year  – lived just a few doors apart in Lancashire and  went to the same school together. Now we live in differerent countries but we visit each other often.

I am always on the look out for recipes as well as old glass & china. We went to a second-hand street market in Roermond and there was a book sale in one of the churches and strangely enough the books were sold by weight!  I  bought a nearly new copy of a cookery book by Yvette van Boven (I now know she appears on television).

This cake is  based on one of her recipes and reminds me of the light fruit cakes called keks in Polish – though the use of the courgette is novel  –  you would never guess it is in the cake!

Ingredients – Cake

• 150g self-raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
• 150g of light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 150g of raisins
• 150g of currants
• 100g of roasted and roughly chopped hazelnuts
• 1 medium size courgette coarse grated
• 2 eggs
• 125ml of sunflower oil

Ingredients – Lemon Icing

• Fine grated rind of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 150g of icing sugar

Method – Cake

• Pre-heat the oven to GM4 180°C
• I used a continental style long loaf tin, greased it  and used a single sheet of grease proof paper  to line the long sides and the base.

• Mix together the flour, salt, sugars and cinnamon, making sure that any lumps in the brown sugar are all pressed out.
• Mix together the raisin, currants, nuts and the courgette.
• Lightly whisk the eggs and oil together.
• Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix thoroughly together with a wooden spoon.
• Add the courgette mixture and mix well in.
• Place the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top.
• Bake for 50 – 55 minutes – check after 40 minutes and cover the top with greaseproof or foil if browning too much before it is baked through.
• Leave to cool before icing.

Method – Icing

• Place the icing sugar in a bowl and add the grated lemon zest.
• Mix in the lemon juice until you have a thick icing.
• You might have to adjust the thickness with  more lemon juice (or water) or with icing sugar.
• Put the icing on the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.

Served on Woodside by Royal Grafton from 1940 to 1959.

Carrot Variation

• I  thought that this might be good using grated carrot instead of courgette – I used a medium sized carrot.
• I used chopped walnuts, which I had, as when I had gone to get the hazelnuts, I got the last packet from my local shop and did not have time to go to anywhere else!

Nuts for sale in the Food Market in Rotterdam

Served on Stardust by Colclough from the 1960s.

Both versions were delicious and enjoyed by many!