Marrow or Courgette Cake
Marrow Cake
Cake is not something that springs to mind when you think of cooking a marrow. I was given a lovely, fresh marrow by my friend Mauree a few days ago. I didnt really want to make stuffed marrow, so decided to try a few different things, some savoury, some sweet. The idea of a moist marrow cake appealed to me, so I decided to cook this cake exactly the way I make my Carrot Cake, following a 'reader recipe', with very minor changes. It is a really nice cake for those of you who grow their own courgettes or even Bottle Gourds (lauki)-Mamta, This amount will make 6 muffin sized cakes and one small loaf cake.
September 2013.
Ingredients
325 gm. grated marrow flesh. This is the weight of peeled and grated marrow.( It was given to me by my friend Mauree.)
50-60 gm. raisins
125 gm. Self Raising Flour (maida with raising agents)
125 gm. plain wholemeal flour (you can use chapatti flour)
2 tsp. of cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (jaiphal)
1 tsp. mixed spice (use garam masala if you dont have it)
1 tsp. ground ginger powder (saunth)
1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder)
250 ml. vegetable oil
175 gm. dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp. honey
For Baking
A 22 cm. or 9 inch round cake tin. You can bake it in a square tin of same size (20-22 cm. or 8-9 inch), if you need to cut squares for serving.
Instructions
Heat oven to 160C or 325F or gas mark 3.
Peel and slice marrows. Remove seeds and pith. Grate and measure required amount.
Squeeze handfuls of the grated flesh to remove excess fluid.
Measure self-raising flour, plain flour (wholemeal), cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg and bicarbonate of soda. Mix them together. Keep aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together oil, brown sugar, eggs and honey, until smooth, approximately 3 minutes by electric beater.
Sieve dry ingredients into the bowl and fold them in gently until the whole mix is smooth. You can do this with the beater blades, with the electricity turned off.
Add grated, squeezed marrow and raisins and fold them in with a wooden/plastic spatula.
Pour this cake mixture into a greased cake tin or muffin moulds, as you want. Tap gently to spread it evenly. I often use silicone containers or non-stick muffin moulds.
Cook at 165C for 60-80 minutes or until cooked (oven performances vary). To test, insert a bamboo skewer into the centre of the cake and pull it out. It should come out moist but clean. Do not overcook or your cake will dry out.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes before taking out of the tray. Cool on a wire rack. I like my cakes un-iced, but you can ice them if you wish, once completely cold.
