Courgette olive oil bread
Grating and salting the courgette for at least an hour leaches out excess water – the difference between a light and fluffy bake and a heavy and stodgy one. This cake has a delicate crumb and just the right amount of spice. Einkorn flour is an ancient grain with a lovely nuttiness. You could also use spelt, farro or common wholewheat.
Makes 1 large loaf
500g courgettes, grated
1 tsp salt
Butter, for greasing
280g einkorn or wholemeal flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cardamom
200g olive oil
200g light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
70g knob of ginger, peeled and grated (around 50g after peeling)
1 Grate the courgette and toss with the salt. Put in a colander over a bowl and allow the liquid to leach from the courgettes for 3 hours, or overnight. You will lose around 150g in liquid.
2 Set the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Butter and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with parchment. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cardamom together.
3 In a separate bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and ginger together. Add the drained courgette. Stir in the dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated.
4 Tip into the prepared loaf tin, and bake for around 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden and springs back to the touch.
Claire Ptak is a pastry chef, food writer and runs London’s Violet bakery; @violetcakeslondon
Spiced fudgy squash cake
With its sweet fudginess, this is almost a cheesecake – you can make it even more of one by putting a biscuit base of crushed ginger nuts (200g crushed biscuits mixed with 100g melted butter) beneath it if you fancy, though it’s perfectly delicious without. It’s very good cold too.
Serves 6
1.2kg squash
150g caster sugar
3 tbsp honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
120g ground almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
60g blanched almonds
30g soft light brown sugar
1 Preheat your oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Peel and deseed the squash, removing all the fibres; you need about 750g prepared weight. Cut the squash into slices, 1–2cm thick, and put in a wide pan with about 300ml water. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat to an idle simmer. Cover and cook – half-steaming, half-boiling – for 15 minutes or so until the squash is tender. It could take a little longer, depending on the variety.
2 Drain the cooked squash thoroughly and mash until smooth. Return the puree to the pan and stir over a low heat for a few minutes to drive off any water. Stir in the caster sugar and honey, then cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.
3 Stir the eggs, ground almonds and spices into the squash puree. Spoon into a small baking dish (about 20cm x 15cm) and smooth the top with a palette knife.
4 Briefly blitz the blanched almonds and brown sugar together in a blender to make a crumble. Sprinkle over the top of the squash and bake for 45 minutes or so – it should be very lightly golden.
5 Allow the cake to cool a little before serving. I like it with cream.
Recipe taken from A Year at Otter Farm by Mark Diacono (Bloomsbury); @mark_diacono
Parsnip cake (main picture)
The addition of parsnip to a cake always seems to draw gasps, but it is no more unusual than the addition of carrot. In fact, I would argue that the chewy sweetness of parsnips makes them even more of a kindred spirit to a dense and moist sponge cake – but I will let you be the judge of that. You’ll need a 23cm round springform cake tin.
Serves 6-8
200g white spelt flour
50g rye flour, or more spelt flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp salt
3 eggs
230ml milk (dairy, rice or almond)
2 tbsp lemon juice
180ml mild rapeseed oil or melted extra virgin coconut oil
260g coconut palm sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
220g parsnips, coarsely grated
180g desiccated coconut
100g raisins
2 tsp extra virgin coconut oil
75g flaked almonds, toasted
2 tsp maple syrup
For the icing
250g cream cheese or a dairy-free cream cheese alternative
3 tbsp set honey
40g extra virgin coconut oil, melted
Zest of 2 lemons
1 For the icing, put the cream cheese and honey into a food processor and pulse until just combined. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the melted coconut oil and lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate while you make the cake.
2 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Grease and line the cake tin. In a bowl, sift together the flours, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt.
3 In another bowl combine the eggs, milk, lemon juice, 130ml of the oil, the palm sugar and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, grated parsnip, desiccated coconut and raisins, and thoroughly combine.
4 Pour the mixture into the tin, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 25-35 minutes, until a skewer comes out mostly clean and the cake is firm. Remove the cake from the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack until completely cool.
5 For the almond topping, put the 2 tsp coconut oil into a pan and set over a medium heat. Add the toasted flaked almonds and maple syrup and fry for 2 minutes, until the almonds are coated and glossy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. When the cake is cool, spread the icing over the top then scatter over the almonds.
Recipe taken from Healthy Baking by Jordan Bourke (Orion); @jordanbourk
