- Serves 12 - Ready in 2 hours -
*uses up 2 small/medium courgettes*
Gather together…
225g butter, very soft / grated / warmed in heating-up oven for 2 minutes.
225g brown sugar.
225g self-raising flour.
1 tsp baking powder (sieved).
¼ tsp salt.
1 tsp mixed spice.
1 tsp ground cinnamon.
100g chopped mixed nuts e.g. hazelnuts, almonds etc (or bash up whole nuts in a bag with a rolling pin).
250g mixed dried fruit / sultanas.
3 medium eggs (beaten) .
1 tsp vanilla extract (the Taylor & Colledge brand is fairtrade certified / the Dr Oetker brand is alcohol free).
250g (2 small/medium) courgette, coarsely grated skin-and-all. NOTE - I hate grating so I always blitz (for a very short time) in a food processor, to do this you must chop the courgette into bitesize chunks first or else the food pro will turn the flesh to liquid if it is trying to deal with large chunks.
Serve with...
1 tbsp brown sugar.
Get baking...
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C (160 C fan) or Gas 4.
2. Slice the 225g of butter and put it in a heat-proof bowl in the oven to soften for two minutes, whilst the oven heats up - set a timer so you don't forget it is in there!
3. Butter a deep, 23cm round cake tin and line the base with baking parchment and grease again, or better still, use a re-usable cake tin liner (cut-to-size liners are available from Lakeland).
4. In a large food mixer bowl (or just mix by hand in a big bowl), mix together the 225g of very soft butter and the 225g of brown sugar, for 1 minute.
5. Sieve in the 225g of self-raising flour and sieve in the 1 tsp of baking powder (to avoid unpleasant lumps). Then add the ¼ tsp salt, the 1 tsp of mixed spice and the 1 tsp of ground cinnamon. Don't stir yet.
6. Add the 100g of chopped mixed nuts, and the 250g of dried fruit / sultanas. Stir slightly to coat the fruit and nut additions in flour, to help to stop them sinking to the base of the cake.
7. Add the 3 medium eggs (beaten) and the 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
8. Mix in the 250g of coarsely grated courgette(s). Beat until smooth (for approximately 30 seconds).
9. Spoon the mixture into the base-lined-greased tin and smooth the top layer gently with a spoon.
10. Bake for 1 hr until the cake is risen and shrinking away from the tin and ALMOST fully baked. Do not overbake or it will be dry.
11. Sprinkle on the 1 tbsp of brown sugar and bake for 10 more minutes.
12. Cool the finished cake in the tin for 20 mins, then remove the tin and cool further on a wire rack.
13. Delicious served still-warm or when fully cold.
14. Store the (fully cooled) cake in an airtight container at room temperature and eat up within three days.
Adapted from this Hazelnut Fruitcake Good Food recipe.