A couple of weeks later I served up a sumptuous chocolate and ginger cake which met with great approval and requests for seconds. I kept quiet until they'd finished, then crowed "You've just eaten courgette cake!" (in a childish playground kind of voice). But there were no retching noises, no shrieks of horror, for they had actually enjoyed it.
A divine combination of moist, light chocolatey-gingery sponge topped with gooey chocolate studded with pieces of sweet ginger - and ludicrously easy to make.
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| Chocolate, courgette and ginger cake |
Chocolate, Courgette and Ginger cake
90ml mild and light olive oil
200g caster sugar
2 small eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g grated courgette (peel the skin off and discard any seeds)
175g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
100g dark chocolate, chopped
A tablespoon of chopped stem ginger in syrup
Heat the oven to 180/gas 4. Put the olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and courgette in a bowl and mix well. Add the flour, cocoa, ginger and salt and mix again. Transfer to a lined 20cm cake tin (or an 18cm square in my case) and bake for 30-35 minutes. Turn out to cool after 10 minutes.
To make the icing: Bring the cream to the boil in a pan. Take it off the heat and stir in the chocolate. When it's melted, add a heaped tablespoon of ginger (not too much syrup), mix again and spoon it over the cake while still warm.
This cake has been entered in the We Should Cocoa recipe challenge hosted by JibberJabberUK (lip-smacking family food) and (the heavenly) Chocolate Log Blog!
Oh that looks delicious, and I'm so loving the ginger additions! Thanks so much for tweeting your recipe, how about linking it up to my new Family Foodie challenge - this month we're looking for recipes that you'd make on a week-end, 'Weekend Slowies', and your recipe would be perfect! http://www.eatyourveg.co.uk/launching-octobers-family-foodies/
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for linking up, but could you also link back to mine and Vanesther's sites and place the Family Foodies badge in your post, as per the Family Foodies rules. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteThis looks delish and what a great way to introduce more veg into your diet.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I grew courgettes for the first time ever this year and ended up with too many of them - hence the cake.
DeleteWhat a fabulous cake. I wondered if you would like to link it up to We Should Cocoa. I'm hosting this month and the theme is vegetables so this would fit perfectly. http://www.jibberjabberuk.co.uk/2013/10/we-should-cocoa-38-october-2013.html
ReplyDeleteI've done it! Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up. I love the sneaky use of courgette in this recipe. I always tell my kids to try something first before they decide they don't like it before tasting it.
DeleteQuite right! And they'll never guess there's a courgette hiding in there - just don't let them see you making it.
ReplyDeleteOoo, I've been looking for good courgette recipes but I hadn't thought of using one with ginger in. This sounds lovely!
ReplyDeleteOoh yes, that ginger is a great addition and makes a nice change from the cinnamon I always put in mine. Thanks for entering your child-friendly cake into We Should Cocoa ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd it's really easy too! Let me know how you get on if you decide to make it.
ReplyDelete