This is actually more of a sweet loaf/tea bread, but you can kid yourself that this is slightly healthier than normal cake because it also incorporates vegetables. This is really good on it’s own, but I also like to spread cream cheese or butter on it.
The courgette/zuchini keeps the cake super moist and tender, and during the Summer when they courgettes are cheap and plentiful this is a good way to use them up if you are running out of ideas.
If you’re super organised and want to make a double batch this also freezes really well.
Ingredients
2 Eggs
125ml vegetable oil
350 Grams Courgettes, coarsely grated
300 Grams Plain flour
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1tsp baking powder
75g Walnuts (roughly chopped)
150g Dried cranberries or sultanas
75 Grams Brown sugar
1/4 Tsp Salt
(extra butter for greasing the loaf tin)
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degree (Celsius), and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment paper
Add the oil, sugar, and eggs to a large bowl and whisk until combined before adding the courgette
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients before adding to the dry ingredients and mix well
Transfer the mix to the prepared baking tin and bake for 1 hour. Test the loaf with a cocktail stick and if it comes out clean the loaf is cooked. If it doesn’t give the loaf another 5 minutes in the oven before checking again
I haven’t had the best luck with scones, usually they ended up like hockey pucks.
A friend who makes great ones advised me that secret is to handle scone dough as little as possible. I decided to try this and instead of Irish version I was always taught to make using a cutter, I tried the American method when the dough baked in piece with sections marked out.
This did the job and these had a nice crust on the outside but stayed fluffy inside (yay, I have broken the scone curse placed on me by Sr Claire in 3rd year home economics for throwing dough). I also gave these a cheeky wee lemon drizzle when the come out of the oven, that brings them to another level.
Serve these with lemon curd and whipped cream if you want to be posh (it’s sooo good), but these are also good with just butter.
You can use defrosted frozen blueberries which are cheaper, but remember to drain them well before adding to the mix so it doesn’t get too messy. These also freeze well, but don’t use the lemon drizzle if you know you are going to freeze them.
Makes 8
Ingredients
150 Grams Blueberries
1 Lemon (juice and zest)
100 Grams Chilled butter (cut into small cubes)
1 Tsp Baking powder
350 Grams Self raising flours
200mil Milk
2-3 Tbsp. Icing sugar
Method
Preheat your oven to 220 degrees (Celsius), and line a baking sheet with parchment (or else grease the baking sheet well if you don’t have parchment)
Add the flour, baking powder and butter to a food processer and pulse until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. If you don’t have a food processer, use the rubbing in method, rubbing the flour and butter between your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs
Grate the lemon zest wth a fine grater and add to the flour mix along with sugar and mix well. Add the milk and stir the dough until it is just starting to come together, then gently mix in the blueberries so that they stay whole, but try to make sure they are evenly spread within the dough
Gather the dough in a ball, (it should be fairly soft dough). So that I handled the dough as little as possible, I dusted a little flour onto the baking parchment and sat ball of dough in the centre. Dust a rolling pin ( or wine bottle or what ever you have) with a little flour, and gently roll the dough out in a circle about 4 cm deep
With a sharp knife, score a deep cross into the dough, and then cut these quarters again until you end up with 8 evenly sizes segments (don’t cut the dough right through)
Bake for 10-15 minutes, and allow to cool slightly. In a small bowl add the juice from the lemon you zested and add to the icing sugar and mix well before drizzle over the scones
Once cool break the scones into individual sections a serve with butter or lemon curd and cream
Good side dishes can make a meal. I love this with roast chicken but it’s also yummy with fish, barbecued meats, or griddled halloumi.
Rice can be a bit meh, but herbs and lemon give this a really fresh taste. I used chicken stock, but you can swap this for vegetable stock if you’re vegetarian.
Ingredients
100 Grams Uncooked rice (I used basmati, but if you’re using a different type of rice then make sure to rinse it first so it fluffs up)
1 Small onion or shallot (finely chopped)
1-2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp Olive oil
200 mil Chicken/vegetable stock
1 Lemon (juice and zest)
1 Tsp Dried Oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano)
1 Tsp Dried Dill (or 1 Tbsp fresh dill)
Method
Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid, and gently fry the onion/shallot over a medium heat until it starts to become translucent, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute
Add the rice, salt and stock and cover the pot with a lid, before bringing to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and the rice should continue to cook with the residual heat until the rice has absorbed all the stock (if you’re using brown rice you may need to cook for longer)
Grate the zest of the lemon with a fine grater, before squeezing the juice and setting to one side
Stir the lemon juice and zest into the rice and cover with a lid again for another 5-10 minutes before checking that the rice is fully cooked before stirring in the herbs.
Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen 