Courgette Cake with Lemon Curd and Lemon Drizzle

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Courgette Cake with Lemon Curd and Lemon Drizzle – a deliciously light and buttery lemon sponge studded with flecks of courgette. A delightful sponge sandwich filled with homemade lemon curd and topped with a zesty lemon drizzle.

If you’re wondering what to do with your courgette glut, look no further. My easy to make courgette cake recipe is the perfect solution.

All you need to do is grate a couple of small courgettes / zucchinis and mix an all one sponge. Then it’s just a case of assembling with a jar of lemon curd before topping with a simple lemon icing.

If you love lemon you will love this courgette cake with lemon coming through in the sponge, filling and icing. An optional final flourish of lemon zest on top really delivers a full lemon experience.

Regular visitors to the Kitchen Shed will know I’m always looking for ways to use up our courgette / zucchini. OH is no fan of courgettes but agrees when I say I think my courgette cake delivers a delicious transformation.

My taste tester panel (family and friends) are very demanding, particularly so when it comes to new recipes. A comment of “Best courgette cake I’ve tasted”was the feedback from more then one taste tester.

In fact, response to my latest addition to our courgette recipe collection was unanimously positive. So much so that my Courgette Chutney and Brownies might lose their spot as my top two courgette recipes.

I didn’t want to make a carrot cake type sponge with a cream cheese frosting. I did want a light yet moist and buttery sponge with a refreshing filling and topping – the perfect summer cake.

So I set about adapting my previously published all in one lemon sponge recipe – the book is currently being updated. Courgettes add extra moistness to the feathery sponge, working beautifully with the lemon and lifting the cake to another level.

What equipment do I need ?

• A grater or food processor – I use a grater. Courgettes take no time at all to grate by hand and with a grater there’s less washing up.
• A colander or clean tea towel – to drain off the excess liquid from the courgettes.
• Fine Microplane grater – makes fine shreds of lemon zest which help distribute the lemon flavour throughout the sponge.
• A stand mixer fitted with a beater or a handheld mixer – I used my KitchenAid. A wooden spoon and a bit of elbow grease also does the job.
• An 20 cm/8 inch loose bottomed cake tin lined with baking parchment.

What ingredients do I need ?

For full details of ingredient amounts are in the recipe card.

• Courgettes / zucchini or marrow – I used 2 small courgettes / zucchini.
• Plain flour / all purpose flour – I prefer to use plain flour and add a raising agent myself. I find it more economical to buy just one type of flour for non-bread baking. You can however, use self raising flour and reduce the amount of baking powder to 1 teaspoon.
• Baking powder – you will need 3 teaspoons with plain flour or 1 teaspoon with self raising flour.
• Sugar – I use caster / superfine sugar as it dissolves more quickly than granulated / white table sugar. This results in a finer textured cake.
• Lemon – the zest is used in the courgette cake and the juice is used in the lemon drizzle. Choose an unwaxed lemon if you can. If you can’t get hold of an unwaxed lemon, give the lemon a good scrub to remove any wax. Extra zest to decorate the top of the cake is optional.
• Eggs – I used large eggs at room temperature. To avoid curdling the cake batter, make sure there are no big temperature changes when adding ingredients to eggs.
• Spreadable butter or baking spread – I used Anchor Spreadable at room temperature. Anchor Spreadable’s blend of butter and rapeseed oil is soft and ideal for an all in one mix. Alternatively use a baking spread like Stork. Either fat will deliver a good rise and produce a light, fluffy cake. Butter will produce a heavier cake and is best used in cakes made using the creaming method.
• Lemon Curd – I use my easy microwave lemon curd but you can of course use commercially available lemon curd. In that instance, I’d recommend buying a jar of good quality curd and avoid the budget brands if you can.
• Icing sugar – also called confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar.
• Lemon juice – I used lemon juice squeezed from lemon I’d zested for the cake mixture.

How to make Courgette Cake with Lemon Curd and Lemon Drizzle

Courgette Cake couldn’t be easier to make!

Make and bake

• Firstly, prepare your courgettes by coarsely grating.
• Place the grated courgette into a colander and press down lightly on the courgette to remove some of the liquid. This is best done over a bowl or plate to catch the liquid.
• Alternatively, place the grated courgette in a clean tea towel and squeeze lightly. It’s important to remove some of the moisture from the courgettes to prevent a soggy cake.

• Place all the cake ingredients, except for the courgette, into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a beater.
• Beat for 2 minutes, scraping down half way through mixing. You should have a lovely smooth cake batter.
• Remove the bowl from the stand and gently fold in the courgettes.

• Pour into a prepared tin and level off the cake mixture.
• Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes until golden brown and the cake springs back when pressed gently. Test your cake is cooked by inserting and removing a skewer or cake tester into the centre of the cake. The cake is ready if the skewer / tester comes out clean.
• Cool for 15 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.

Make your lemon drizzle glaze

• Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl and mix with the lemon juice until nice and smooth. The icing should drop slowly off your spoon. Add extra lemon juice if necessary.

Assemble your your cake

• Once completely cooled, slice your cake in half horizontally.
• Place the top half of the cake upside down on a board or plate. This provides flat smooth surfaces for your lemon curd and lemon drizzle.
• Spread the half of your cake on the board or plate with lemon curd. Form a sandwich by placing the other cake half on top of the curd.
• Spoon the icing onto the centre of the cake and spread it outwards so it drips over the cake edges.I
• f you fancy a full lemon experience, sprinkle lemon zest on top of the icing.

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More Courgette / Zucchini Recipes

• Chocolate Courgette Muffins
• Courgette Brownies
• Courgette, Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Muffins
• Courgette and Smoked Salmon Loaf
• Baked Courgette Bhajis
• Courgette and Ginger Jam
• Spicy Courgette Chutney

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Courgette Cake with Lemon Curd and Lemon Drizzle

Courgette Cake with Lemon Curd and Lemon Drizzle – a deliciously light and buttery lemon sponge studded with flecks of courgette. A delightful sponge sandwich filled with homemade lemon curd and topped with a zesty lemon drizzle. If you’re wondering what to do with your courgette glut, look no further. My easy to make courgette cake recipe is the perfect solution.

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Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 375kcal

Author: Sarah James

slices

Equipment

• Box grater or food processor
• Colander or clean tea towel
• Fine Microplane grater
• Stand mixer fitted with a beater or a handheld mixer. I used my KitchenAid.
• 20 cm/8 inch loose bottomed cake tin lined with baking parchment

Ingredients

Cake Batter

• 200 g courgettes / zucchini about 2 small courgettes
• 250 g plain flour / all purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 250 g caster / superfine sugar
• 1 lemon – zested Optional: additional lemon zest to decorate
• 3 large eggs
• 200 g spreadable butter or baking spread at room temperature I used Anchor Spreadable

Filling and Lemon Drizzle Glaze

• 150 g lemon curd
• 200 g icing sugar/confectioner’s sugar
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

MetricUS Customary

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Instructions

• Coarsely grate courgettes/zucchini.
• With the grated courgette in a colander, press down lightly on the courgette to remove some of the liquid. Have the colander over a bowl or plate to collect the liquid. Alternatively, remove the liquid by placing the grated courgette in a clean tea towel and squeezing gently.
• Place the cake ingredients, except for the courgette, into the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Fit a beater to your mixer and mix the ingredients for 2 minutes, scraping down half way through mixing. You should have a lovely smooth cake batter.
• Remove the bowl from the stand and gently fold in the courgettes.
• Pour the cake batter into a prepared tin and then gently level off the mixture with a spoon or spatula.
• Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 180°C / 160°C fan / 350 °F / Gas Mark 4. When cooked, your cake should be golden brown and spring back when pressed gently. Test your cake is cooked by inserting a skewer or cake tester into the centre and removing it. The cake is ready if the tester / skewer comes out clean.
• Cool for 15 minutes in the tin before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool down completely.
• Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl and mix with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice until nice and smooth. The icing should drop slowly off your spoon. Add extra lemon juice if necessary.
• Once completely cooled, horizontally slice your cake in half.
• Place the top half of the cake upside down on a board or plate. This means the lemon curd filling and the lemon drizzle icing can be placed on flat smooth surfaces.
• Spread lemon curd on the plated cake half and then form a sandwich using the other half of the cake.
• Spoon icing onto the top of your cake. Work out from the centre of the cake so the icing drips over the edges.
• Optional: Sprinkle lemon zest over the top of your iced cake.

Notes

• Courgette Cake will keep for 2 to 3 days stored in an airtight container. It’s best refrigerated because of the lemon curd filling.
• Freezes well. It’s best to start by open freezing, whole or cut into portions, for a couple of hours. Then transfer into a suitable food and freezer safe bag or container.
• It will keep in the freezer for up to three months.
• Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 319mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 689IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 1mg