A light, delicious and not too sweet courgette cake flavoured with lime and optional rum soaked raisins. Two green-flecked sponges are sandwiched and topped with a lime flavoured mascarpone frosting. It makes a perfect late summer layer cake, ideal for alfresco dining.
Soak the raisins in 1 tbsp warm water or rum for an hour, if using.
25 g raisins
Set the oven to 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) and grease two 20cm (8") round silicon moulds or line two tins with baking paper.
Coarsely grate the courgette. I use a box grater as it doesn't take very long and there's less fuss and mess than using a food processor.
250 g courgettes (zucchini)
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, oil and sugar until creamy. Finely grate in the lime zest. A microplane is fabulous for this. Beat again.
2 large eggs, 125 ml sunflower oil, 150 g golden caster sugar, ½ lime
Seive in the dry ingredients using a wide mesh sieve, but discard any particualy large peices of bran left in the sieve. Stir until just combined.
225 g wholemeal flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Stir in the grated courgette, lime juice and raisins if using.
Divide the mixture between the tins and level the tops. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cakes are well risent and the tops are firm to the touch.
Leave to cool in the tins for fifteen minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Mascarpone Frosting
Beat the mascarpone in a bowl until smooth. Add the lime zest and sieve in the sugar to avoid any lumps. Beat together with a wooden spoon, then beat in the lime juice.
250 g mascarpone cheese, 125 g icing sugar, ½ lime
Sandwich the cooled cakes together with half of the frosting, then top with the other half.
Notes
I have some oddly sized silicone pans that I use for this recipe, they're 21cm in diameter rather than 20. So they cakes are a little flatter than they would be in a 20 cm cake tin and they only took 25 minutes to bake.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on serving size and exact ingredients used.