Courgette Chocolate Cake

I'm hoping I am about to have a great crop of courgettes in my garden and since none of my family are too keen on eating them as a vegetable I need to find some ways to use them in disguise.
I had a very interested little helper who grated the courgettes for me...perhaps not as finely as I would have liked but I guess she was already in the know about the unusual ingredient in a cake.

The cake was nice. Not a traditional rich chocolate cake, it was really light and had a hint of spice.
I tried a bit as a muffin which worked well. So potentially this could be a good lunch box filler.

The icing was gorgeous. Very rich and chocolatey.

Chocolate courgette cake recipe

Recipe type: Cakes

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  1 hour

Total time:  1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 350g self-raising flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 175ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 375g golden caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 500ml grated courgettes (measure by volume in a measuring jug, but it’s about 2 medium courgettes; if using 1 overgrown one, peel first and take out seeds)
• 140g toasted hazelnuts , roughly chopped (I left these out)
• FOR THE ICING
• 200g dark chocolate , chopped
• 100ml double cream

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, mixed spice and 1 tsp salt. In another bowl, combine the olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and grated courgette. Mix the dry and wet mixture until just combined, then fold in the toasted hazelnuts. Line a 24cm cake tin with greaseproof paper, then pour in your mixture. Bake for about 40-50 mins, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.
2. To make the icing, place the chocolate in a bowl and bring cream to the boil in a saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until completely smooth and melted. Leave the icing to cool slightly and thicken, then spread it over the cake so it’s covered and the icing starts to drip down the sides. Serve with a cup of tea or enjoy as a pud with a spoonful of something creamy.