Courgette loaf - sweet not savoury

I read an article recently in which a 'celebrity baker' scoffed at those who include fruit and vegetables as a key ingredient in their cake. Well, I have to disagree, even though I'm not a professional baker! Some of my favourite bakes include a good helping of veg - sweet potato chocolate brownies, carrot cake and my new favourite, courgette loaf. They may have a different consistency to your traditional baked cake (watching Great British Bake Off, I'm in awe of their delicate crumb!), but I like a sweet treat that's gooey, substantial and full of goodness, so veg in cake is just fine by me.

So as part of my mini-series on what to do with the mass of courgette around at the moment, here's a great little cake to try for afternoon tea. Well, it's more of a loaf, similar to banana bread than a Victoria Sponge, but nevertheless it's still cake in my book! It is dense, but in a sticky, satisfactory way, reminiscent of bread pudding but a million times lighter!
The benefit of using veg or fruit in baking is added moisture; the potential problem with courgette is that they are 95% water, which could make your cake a soggy, heavy disaster. To prevent this, just squeeze some excess water out of the courgettes once they're grated. You could do this through a clean tea towel, but it's a bit messy and you can end up spending ages picking up bits of courgette from odd places (or maybe that's just me....?). An easy way is to pack it into a measuring cup or small pot and press it down so the water rises to the top and then drain that off, holding your hand over the top. Don't take off too much though, otherwise your cake will suffer.
This cake really is super healthy - it's dairy free, can be gluten free, plant based, contains minimal refined sugar and is packed full of lovely nutrients and fibre. On top of that, it is also refined oil free, the apple sauce replacing the oil in this instance. Not that fat is bad, far from it, but refined oils such as sunflower or vegetable oils take their toll on our cellular health and so should be minimised as much as possible. To add a little fat into the mix, pop in some chopped walnuts or pecans - the flavour, texture and nutritional value will be happy if you do!
The downside of cutting out refined products in this cake is shelf life - oil and sugar act as preservatives, so best keep this loaf in the fridge and use it up within 3 days. Mind you, once you taste it, that won't be a problem! Enjoy.
Yummy courgette loaf cake

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons water
240g wholemeal/spelt/gluten free flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 medium courgette, grated (small)
100g coconut sugar (or other minimally refined brown sugar)
160g apple sauce
10mls lemon juice
50g raisins and/or chopped walnuts
Place the ground flaxseed and water into a bowl and mix well. Put to one side to thicken - this is your flaxseed 'egg'.
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with baking paper.
Place the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into another bowl and mix well together. Add the sugar, lemon juice and apple sauce to the flaxseed mixture and stir well, then add the courgette and stir again. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and quickly combine together - don't over mix. Stir in the raisins and nuts (if using) and pour into the prepared loaf tin. Tap the tin on the worktop to level and stop the raising agent working too quickly, then pop in the oven.
Bake for 25 mins then check - the loaf should be slightly risen and lightly browned on top. Stick a skewer or cocktail stick into the cake - if it comes out coated with mixture, pop back into the oven for another few minutes until done. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes or so, then tip out onto a cooling rack, carefully peel off the baking paper and let it cool completely.

Sweetcorn and courgette fritters

Sweet corn and courgettes are right in season at the moment, and it's a bumper crop. I love sweetcorn. Ripened during the long sunny (hopefully!) summer days, fresh corn is so sweet and succulent it's a joy to eat. Sometime it can be hard to buy unprepared cobs in the supermarket, so I like to get my sweetcorn elsewhere - farmers markets or shops, greengrocer or veg box schemes are all good sources of cobs still covered in their husks. That way you get to unwrap them, revealing the vibrant yellow kernels voluptuously packed in tight, clinging to the side of the cob, ready and waiting to be eaten.

Courgettes are prolific this time of the year, especially if you manage to beat the slugs and snails to grown them yourself, or if you get a veg box delivered. Although they tend to be available most of the year, I prefer them at this time as they tend to be less watery and more flavoursome. Not that I used to like them - whether it's my tastebuds that have changed, or it's the courgettes, but I used to find them bitter and quite unpleasant. That all changed when I went on honeymoon to Egypt (a few years ago now!). The hotel's restaurant always had a buffet style service, and courgettes were served in a huge vat, just lightly cooked with nothing added. It wasn't just the cooking that was light - the courgette skins were a really pale green, almost white, as if they had been bleached by the searing dessert sun. And maybe the sun also altered the flavour, as these had all the courgette taste, but none of the bitterness. Suddenly I was a courgette fan.
Which is a good thing, as they are packed full of super nutritious goodies like vitamin C and potassium as well as fibre, and of course lots of water. They are really useful veg to have around as they can be used in a whole range of dishes, either as a base ingredient or the main star.
But no matter how much I love both sweetcorn and courgettes, when there's a lot of them about at the same time, it can be a challenge to find new ideas to use them. So to help out, I'm going to do a few extra posts over the next few days with some ideas for you to try.
The first are these gorgeous sweetcorn and courgette fritters. Now fritters are not usually on the menu at home as traditionally they contain milk, eggs and are fried in loads of butter or oil. But after a little playing around, this recipe still deserves the title of fritter even though it's dairy free, gluten free, plant based and baked so oil free too. The good news is that they taste amazing, and are gulped down in a flash at home - phew! Great for a light lunch served with a zingy dip or served up with different vegetables or salads to make a more substantial main meal.
To make these fritters beautifully caramelised without frying, I use a silicon baking mat instead of an oiled baking tin or pan frying. Whole healthy fats are really good for us, but refined oils are not as their altered molecular structure can be harmful to our bodies, and cooking oil at high temperatures affects that structure even more. The silicon baking sheets cook everything really well and still gives a gorgeously browned outside, plus nothing sticks - very clever! It's an essential item in my kitchen cupboard now and would highly recommend them.
So if you fancy 'frittering' away a little time, give these a go and see what you think. There are loads of flavour combinations you could use - let me know if you try something new.
Baked sweetcorn and courgette fritters (makes 12)

1 large cob of corn, cooked
1 medium courgette, grated
3-4 spring onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons chickpea (gram/besan) flour
1 tablespoon polenta
1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten free if needed)
90mls dairy free milk
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Place a silicon baking mat onto a large cookie tray. Place the grated courgette into a sieve and press out some of the fluid (not too much as it will contribute towards the total fluid content). Place the squeezed courgette, sweetcorn, spring onion, garlic and chilli into a bowl, mix well and put to one side. In another bowl, mix the gram flour, polenta, seasoning, baking powder and ground flaxseed together. Pour in the dairy free milk and whisk together to form a batter. Leave for a few minutes to allow the flaxseed to swell and absorb some of the liquid.
Tip the veggie mix into the batter and mix well until everything is combined and holding together well on a spoon (i.e. not too runny). If your mix is a bit thick, add some more dairy free milk, if it's too runny, add a little more chickpea flour. Let the mix sit for a minute or two.
Dollop a heaped spoonful of mix onto the prepared baking tray and spread out a little with the back of the spoon. Repeat until the mix is used up. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so until the top has set. Flip the fritter over and cook for another 10 minutes until the base is browned. Serve with freshly made chunky cucumber guacamole (link here soon).

Summer crumble comfort

Some may call us brave, others foolish, but we have just been away on holiday for two weeks, leaving our teens at home to fend for themselves. It's not the first time we've done it, but certainly the longest. And with great relief, they managed just fine - the house was still standing, no difficult to explain holes in the wall or dangling radiators (it's happened before!) and pretty tidy too - how wonderful!

The only thing that needed immediate attention turned out to be the freezer - the door had been left open a bit so it was over-iced and a couple of things had started to defrost. No big problem that's for sure, especially when those two items were a container of cakes and a bag of rhubarb - they just needed to be eaten :).
The biggest issue about being home turned out to be the weather! Not that it had been perfect in the Alps, but I had got used to a large amount of very hot sun, and now suddenly it was grey, dull and definitely wet, enough to put the damper on anyone's holiday spirits. Comfort food was needed and that bag of rhubarb was begging to be made into a crumble. As it is still summer, no matter what the view out the window may say, I wanted to add a suitable seasonal element and the tub of gorgeously sweet strawberries I'd picked up hit the spot. Some may say that rhubarb and strawberry are an odd combination for a crumble, but they go together perfectly as the sweetness of the glorious strawberries means you need less sugar to soften the tart rhubarb, just as long as the strawberries are properly grown and flavoursome. I wouldn't make this with insipid out-of-season watery berries that's for sure.

Crumble is a fantastic dessert - easy to make and (nearly) everyone enjoys it. Traditionally though, it's not the best for those who need to eat dairy or gluten free, or for anyone looking to lose weight due to the large added sugar content. Fortunately, it's easy to give it a make over! I use a mixture of (gluten free if necessary) oats and gluten free flour for the topping with a smidge of coconut sugar to help with the crunch. Cinnamon aids with sugar absorption and so a teaspoon added into the topping not only benefits the body, but tastes amazing too.
Both rhubarb and strawberry are fabulous nutrition wise, packed full of anti-oxidants, phytonutrients and various vitamins. Strawberries are an amazing source of vitamin C in particular.
So why not give this a go - everyone will agree on the flavour, the only debate will be custard, ice cream or cream to top it (dairy free of course!).
Rhubarb and strawberry crumble

4-5 stalks of rhubarb
150g strawberries
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
2 tablespoons water
85g oats (gluten free if needed)
70g plain flour (wholemeal/gluten free)
2 heaped tablespoons dairy free spread (Pure/Vitalite etc)
1 tablespoon coconut sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC. Chop the rhubarb into chunks, slice the strawberries in half (if big) and place in a medium sized oven-proof dish with the coconut sugar and water. Ensure everything is mixed well together.
Mix the oats, flour, coconut sugar and cinnamon together, add the dairy free spread and rub in using your finger tips until it's blended in and small chunks stick together (you can do this in a food processor if you don't want crumble mix up your nails!). Sprinkle over the top of the prepared fruit and pop in the oven for 20 minutes or so until the fruit bubbles up a bit and the top is lightly browned and firm.
Leave to rest for a few minutes then serve with whichever accompaniment you choose. Enjoy!