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Courgette and lime cake

Courgette and lime cake
Prepare
less than 30 mins
Cook
30 mins to 1 hour
Serve
Serves 10

With a spiced moist sponge, smooth creamy icing and a crunchy caramelised nut topping this is an absolute showstopper of a cake. It’s a fun and delicious way to use up courgettes, too.

By Philippa Davis

Shopping list

Ingredients

For the sponge

For the pistachio praline

For the mascarpone and pistachio cream icing

Method

  1. To make the sponge, preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4 and lightly grease the sides and line the bottom of two 20cm/8in sandwich tins.

  2. Whisk together the oil, yoghurt, light brown sugar, eggs and vanilla bean paste in a stand mixer, working your way up to full speed for around 5 minutes so it becomes pale and increases in volume.

  3. Stir together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground cardamom, ground pistachios and lime zest in a large mixing bowl, then gently mix into the egg mixture using a spatula.

  4. Squeeze out any excess moisture from the courgettes then stir into the batter. Divide between the two tins and bake on the middle shelf for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

  5. Leave to cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Measure out 25ml/1fl oz lime juice and brush the top sides of the sponges with half of the juice. Turn the cakes out onto the rack, remove the paper and brush the new top side with the rest of the lime juice. Leave to cool completely.

  6. To make the pistachio praline, line a baking tray with non-stick paper.

  7. Stir the sugar and 2 tablespoons water together in a small pan without letting it splash up the sides, then place on a low heat.

  8. Gently cook without stirring until the sugar melts and turns a deep amber then stir in the pistachios. Spoon out immediately onto the lined tray and allow to cool completely.

  9. Once cool break into shards and roughly blitz to form breadcrumb sized pieces.

  10. To make the icing, mix the mascarpone, vanilla, icing sugar and pistachio cream together using an electric whisk, then slowly add in the cream. Whisk until thick, but do not overdo it or it will split.

  11. To assemble, place one sponge on your serving plate, cover with a layer of icing then place the next sponge on top. Cover all over with the remaining icing.

  12. Just before serving sprinkle half of the praline over the cake then serve each slice with a little extra for added crunch.