Courgette, lemon & lime drizzle cake
Food writer Ed Smith gives a fresh twist to a much-loved classic with this zesty courgette cake. Packed with lemon and lime zest and topped with a luscious lemon frosting, it’s bright, vibrant and wonderfully moist. Much like carrots, courgettes bring a natural sweetness and help create a beautifully soft texture, too. Of course, if you're firmly in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp, our classic lemon drizzle cake recipe will hit the spot. And if you've got a garden glut to get through, you'll find plenty more delicious inspiration in our collection of courgette recipes. Follow Ed Smith on Instagram.
- Serves8
- CourseCake
- Prepare25 mins
- Cook50 mins
- Total time1 hr 15 mins
- Pluscooling
Ingredients
- 150g salted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 150g caster sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 125g self-raising flour
- 75g ground almonds
- 1 medium courgette (about 200g), coarsely grated
- 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
- 1 unwaxed lime, zest and juice
- 100g granulated sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Grease and line a 450g loaf tin with baking parchment. Use the paddle attachment of a freestanding mixer to cream together the butter and caster sugar at medium-high speed for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy (or use a large bowl and electric beaters). Scrape the sides down, reduce to a lower speed and add the eggs one by one, ensuring each is incorporated before adding the next. Combine the flour and ground almonds, then stir into the batter, either with the machine at very low speed or by hand. Stir in the grated courgette along with the lemon and lime zest, then transfer to the lined loaf tin.
Bake for around 50 minutes, until firm and golden on top and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. In a small bowl, combine the citrus juices and granulated sugar. Pour over the top of the cake while still warm, then leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. This is very moist and keeps well - perhaps even improves - over 2-3 days, if wrapped and stored in an airtight container. It will keep for up to 1 week.
Nutritional
Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe
Energy | 1,754kJ/ 420kcals |
|---|---|
Fat | 23g |
Saturated Fat | 11g |
Carbohydrates | 44g |
Sugars | 32g |
Fibre | 2.5g |
Protein | 7.3g |
Salt | 0.6g |