So I was handed a massive courgette (or zucchini) the size of a small baby & with some of it made this devastatingly gorgeous courgette cake with a cream cheese frosting! It literally blew my socks off with a gentle zesty vibe and super moist sponge!
First up pre-heat your oven to 160c fan / 180c or equivalent. Also line a loaf tin with some baking parchment.
Grate the courgette including the skin using a standard grater, also grate the carrot in the same way. Squeeze out any of the moisture in the carrot and courgette via a sieve, you want to try and get rid of this fluid if possible.
Place the grated pieces into a bowl, add the sugar, orange extract, eggs & oil and mix well – get all the wet ingredients really well mixed together. Then add in the flour and baking powder, folding through, make sure it is all well mixed in and there are no traces of flour at the bottom, give the bowl a good old scrape around and pour into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until firmed on top and a bamboo skewer inserted comes out clean.
Meanwhile make the frosting, sieve the icing sugar into a bowl, add the icing sugar and 1/2 the zest of a lemon, lime and orange respectively. Mix through gently until it loosens slightly and the sugar is absorbed, you should have a nice, but still thickened frosting. Place this bowl in the fridge for the time being.
When the cake is ready, lift out the tin once it has stood for a few minutes and place on a wire rack to fully cool. Do not add the cream cheese icing until the cake has cooled or it will run off the cake from the heat! Spread it on carefully to the top of the cake and place in the fridge to chill and set. Cut into nice thick slices when serving. Yum!