Courgette (zucchini) lemon poppy seed loaf is a delicious lemon and poppy seed loaf cake or quick bread, an ideal way to use up that summer glut of courgettes!
Veggie desserts
Summer is the time we might have gluts of vegetables from the garden or allotment (or even just in the fridge) to use up and we start to get really creative in how to incorporate them into our food. Baking with courgettes might be unusual but it is an excellent way to include more veggies in your diet!
The excellent debut book from my blogging friend Kate Hackworthy from the blog Veggie Desserts, called Veggie Desserts + Cakes, has recipes for baking cake, brownies and other baking treats all featuring vegetables!
Kale and apple cake, pea and vanilla cake, cucumber and lemon cake (with gin icing!), carrot gingerbread, spinach and strawberry Swiss roll and carrot meringue pie are just some examples of recipes you’ll find in Kate’s book.
I decided to try out the recipe for courgette and poppy seed loaf cake as I absolutely love courgettes (or zucchini) and have never baked with them!
Would you be able to tell there was courgette in this tasty cake do you think? Including vegetables in baking recipes is a great way to add goodness and nutrients as well as to enhance the flavour of course.
You’ll be astounded by the amazing recipes you’ll find in Veggie Desserts + Cakes, I mean how about sweetcorn cookies with blackberry glaze or spiced butternut squash muffins!
Courgette in cake
Using courgette in cake is a fun way to get goodness into your baking. If you have come across sweet potato brownies or black bean chocolate cake then this courgette cake is along the same lines.
Baking with courgette is a a great way to use up the summer glut of courgettes that often follows when you grow your own courgettes at home.
If your crop gets too much you might find yourself having roasted vegetables, courgette soup, courgette jam all the time. I love the idea to bake it into a sweet treat instead for a change!
Recipe twists
Now, Kate’s recipe includes a lavender and lemon glaze, but as I didn’t have any culinary lavender to hand I just used a lemon glaze instead.
My taste testers (kids) wolfed this down and really enjoyed the flavours. They leave all trace of courgettes when I serve them to them usually so this was a great bonus!
Even before adding the icing the recipe produces a delicious loaf cake, with just a few small hints from flecks of colour you can spot within to indicate there is something a bit out of the ordinary in here.
Making vegetables the star of the show is something Kate’s excels at, and the delicious recipes in her book show this to a tee.
I’ve loved looking through all the recipes and have plans to try the pea and mint cupcakes with rose water buttercream and spinach and almond shortbread very soon.
I’d recommend you get this book (out now, published by Pavilion, available from Amazon) if you want to try something new in your baking.
I’m very pleased to say that I have been given permission to share the recipe for the courgette and poppy seed loaf cake with you.
Read on for the recipe and make sure you order your copy of Veggie Desserts + Cakes to enjoy all the other recipes!
More recipes
For more reviews of Veggie Desserts + Cakes and for a sneak peek at some more vegetable-based sweet recipes shared from the book also check out:
- Kale and apple cake and the Veggie Desserts cookbook by Tin and Thyme
- Pumpkin cupcakes with avocado icing {Veggie Cakes + Desserts by Kate Hackworthy} by United Cakedom
- Carrot Gingerbread from Veggie Desserts + Cakes by Kate Hackworthy by Ren Behan
- Avocado lime tarts + cookbook giveaway by The Veg Space
- Carrot Gingerbread – Veggie Desserts by Farmersgirl Kitchen
- Cavolo Nero and Orange Cupcakes from Veggie Desserts by The Hedgecombers
- Chocolate cauliflower ice lollies {vegan and veggie desserts + cakes cookbook review} by Recipes From a Pantry
- Kate Hackworthy’s Veggie Desserts + Cakes by Kavey Eats
- Pea and vanilla cake with lemon icing from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
- Kale and apple cake with apple icing from Kellie’s Food To Glow
- Spinach and strawberry Swiss roll – Veggie Desserts from Foodie Quine
Pin this courgette and poppyseed loaf cake for later!
Recipe
Courgette and Poppy Seed Loaf
Ingredients
For the cake
- 200 g courgettes (zucchini)
- 125 g unsalted butter softened
- 125 g caster sugar
- 2 large free-range eggs
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 175 g self-raising flour
For the lavender glaze
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1.5 tsp culinary lavender
- 125 g icing sugar
To decorate (optional)
- 1 tsp culinary lavender
- twists of lemon
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/160 fan/350 F/gas 4. Lightly grease and line a 1 kg/2 lb 4 oz loaf pan.
- Leave the skin on the courgette and grate it coarsely. In a clean tea towel, squeeze the moisture from the courgette and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beating each one in well.
- Beat in the courgette, lemon juice and zest.
- Sift in the flour and add the poppy seed. Mix gently to combine.
- Pour into the prepared pan, level to the edges and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the lavender glaze
- Gently heat the lemon juice in a small saucepan. Remove it from the heat, add the lavender and allow to infuse for 10 minutes.
- Over a bowl, strain the lavender out of the lemon juice. Beat the cooled infused lemon juice with the icing sugar until smooth.
- Drizzle over the completely cooled cake and decorate with lavender and lemon.
Disclosure: post contains affiliate links. I received a complimentary copy of the book to review, but all opinions are my own.
Jane says
Oh blimy, I could happily eat this for breakfast!
Kavey Favelle says
I love the look of this, I think courgette is great in cake, it locks the moisture in. Yum!
[email protected] says
What a stunning recreation of Kate’s recipe! It looks so like the image in the book. 🙂 I adore Kate’s book so much and have tried two recipes – Avocado Chocolate Cupcakes with Cherry Icing *and* Sweet Potato and Salted Hazelnut Cookies. In fact, I’ve made three different sorts of tweaky batches of the latter! I just know that anyone who buys this book will get a lot of use – and joy – from it.
Ceri Jones says
This looks amazing, I love lemon in cakes! And courgette too!
Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet says
Ah, another one of Kate’s gorgeous recipes! Courgette seems to work very well in baking recipes.
Heidi Roberts says
I love cakes and bakes that use courgettes – as we have an allotment there are always courgettes in our kitchen needing using!
Choclette says
This looks delicious Lucy. Lemon and poppy seed cake is a great favourite with us, but I can imagine it would be even better with courgettes to give it a fleck of green and keep it nice and moist.
Kate | Veggie Desserts says
It looks great! Thank you so much for the lovely review and such a great recreation of the recipe. I’m so pleased that your courgette-avoiding kids enjoyed it in cake 🙂