Recipe: Zucchini Cake

Like the hearty, moist goodness of our old friend carrot cake, zucchini cake is at once light yet substantial, sweet but not too sweet and overall, scrumptious. 

I have adapted this recipe from one belonging to Nigella. We tend to like less sweetness than the decadent Nigella suggests though we always unanimously vote that her decision to fill the cake with home made lime curd is pure genius, adding a refreshing surprise of tartness to every bite. 

You will need two 21cm sandwich tins, greased and lined

Ingredients

60g raisins

250g zucchini (2-3), weighed prior to grating

2 large good quality eggs

125ml vegetable oil

100g castor sugar

225g self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the lime curd filling

25g unsalted butter

1 large good quality egg

25g castor sugar

40ml lime juice (1-2 limes)

zest of one lime

For the icing

200g cream cheese

70g icing sugar

juice of 1 one lime

Preheat your oven to 180C

Put the raisins in a bowl and cover with warm water to plump them up. 

Wipe the zucchini with a kitchen towel and coarsely grate them. Turn them into a sieve to let the liquid drain from them.

Place the eggs, oil and sugar in a bowl and beat them until creamy. Sift in the flour, bicarb and baking powder and continue to beat until well combined. Stir through the grated zucchini and add the drained raisins. Pour the mixture into the tins, and bake for 30 minutes until golden and firm to the touch. Turn out on to a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

To make the lime curd filling

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add all the other ingredients and whisk to a custard over a very gentle heat. Let the lime curd cool before laying your first cake on a plate, spreading it with lime curd and placing your second cake on top.

To make the icing

Beat the cream cheese in a bowl, gradually adding the icing sugar and then the lime juice. Once you have assembled your cake with the lime curd filling, spread your icing on the top of the cake.

Nigella says that if you feel like the icing is too runny, you can put the cake in the fridge for a little while.