I’ve just realised that I’ve been so busy, I’ve only actually managed to bake one recipe this month and I haven’t even had time to write it up and I’m off on holiday for two weeks as from tomorrow, so I definitely won’t be baking anything again from the book until towards the end of the month, if not next month!
This recipe has been on my list of bakes ever since my courgette plants went into the ground. I made this with one of the first courgettes I picked this year.
Mary makes two 2lb loaves with this recipe, but I made one 2lb loaf and two smaller 1lb loaves as I wanted to give one to my parents and one to a friend.
It’s a very easy recipe indeed.
The tins were greased and the bottoms lined with parchment. The oven was put on to preheat at Fan 160°C.
It was an all in one recipe, so into a large bowl went 250ml sunflower oil, 3 large eggs, 350g caster sugar, 350g grated courgette, 165g plain flour, 165g buckwheat flour (I must admit I had great difficulty in finding this flour, none of the local supermarkets had any but in the end I managed to locate it in a great little health food shop we have which has come to my rescue quite a few times now with unusual ingredients), 1 level tsp baking power, 2 level tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 level tablespoon cinnamon (that seemed rather a lot, but I do love cinnamon), 175g raisins and 150g chopped walnuts. By now the bowl was very full and I didn’t think my little electric hand whisk would cope with all this mixture in one go, so I decided to use a wooden spoon. It was difficult to start with, but it soon came together to make a thick batter.
Half of the mixture was poured into the larger tin and the other half divided between the smaller tins. The large cake needed an hour to bake. The little ones still needed quite a long time and I think they were in the oven for around 50 minutes. My larger cake also took 10 minutes longer than stated. Once the loaves were firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre came out clean I knew they were ready. They were left for 10 minutes in the tin and then turned out and the parchment peeled off before leaving them to cool on a wire rack.
These loaves have to be stored in the fridge and I was surprised to see that they keep for up to 3 weeks! Our loaf didn’t last that long!
The loaves had a lovely sugary top which I was pleased to read is normal. I did for one minute think I had done something wrong.
They were lovely and moist and the flavour of the cinnamon wasn’t overpowering. Both my parents and my friend to whom the smaller loaves went loved them too. My friend ate hers spread with soft cheese. I actually ate mine in a big slice as I would a cake and it was very enjoyable indeed. With the glut of courgettes I have at the moment, I definitely think I will be making these again in the not too distant future.
I won’t be online very much in the next couple of weeks – can’t believe I’m going to miss the first two episodes of the new series of The Great British Bake Off (I’ll try to find a television somewhere that’s showing it), so I’ll probably be backl in September! I hope you all enjoy the last few weeks of summer and I’ll see you all again soon for the final push in baking the remaining few bakes left in the book!
Self Raising Flower 