Deep breath… Are you in the glut??!!! Funniest thing, I keep on using all of my own, so when my next door neighbour left a carrier bag of stunning courgettes on my doorstep yesterday I was so grateful! What an awesome gift! It means I’ve been busy until 10pm with two of my most favourite recipes, the chocolate courgette cake and the spicy courgette and tomato chutney.

  

As we’re now coming to the end of July, if you are careful about how you ‘jar’ your jams and chutneys, they will keep perfectly for Christmas and make the most amazing gifts for friends and family. I make hampers for my loved ones and they get bigger and better every year!.

Don’t ever think that because a courgette is bigger than you might normally choose, that it’s no good. These make great cake and chutney! This chutney recipe also works well with marrow, just remove the seeds. You only need to peel if it’s not fresh, or the skin is too tough. 

So it’s all about best and effective use of time and a good bit of multi-tasking here… So chutney on first as that takes a good two hours to bubble down, then you can cake bake while that’s on the stove. 

Chutney Ingredients:

1.4kg courgettes

900g onions

900g brown sugar

3 inches of fresh ginger root

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1tsp chilli flakes

1tsp salt

900ml malt vinegar

900g tomatoes

Chop everything and pop into a preserving pan. Turn up the heat and let the juices start to run. Add your vinegar, sugar and spices all together and mix well.   

  

Make sure you stir regularly with a wooden spoon to ensure it doesn’t catch to the bottom of the pan. Simmer. Then you can get on with your cake(s). I had enough courgettes to make two batches, one for home and one for hubby to take to work (he won’t tell them it’s a courgette cake until there’s only crumbs left in the tin teeheeeee) and for ease went with my loaf tins with pre-made liners which are an absolute revelation in life. This recipe is enough for a good full loaf tin and 3-4 muffins (for the chef!) or a flat tin approximately 20cm square. 

Cake Ingredients:

250g plain flour

350g grated courgette

375g caster sugar

75g good quality cocoa powder – I use Green & Black’s

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tsp mixed spice

4 free range eggs

250ml vegetable oil

Remember to stir your chutney! 

    

Back to the cake… Put your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, then measure your oil into a jug and add the eggs. Whip the oil and eggs together to form an emulsion and add these to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Mix well for a minute or so. Fold in your grated courgette with a metal spoon. Pour into your cake tin! Bake at the centre of a pre heated oven 180 degrees for an hour or so. Test with a skewer to ensure it comes out clean, if not, pop it back for another five minutes.

Remove from the oven when baked, allow to cool and dust over some icing sugar. Then wait for it to be devoured!!!

    
Back to your chutney! 

It’s ready to jar up when most of the liquid is gone and you can drag your wooden spoon through and just see it’s path. I’ve tried to photograph that below.

   
Warm your jars through with their lids in the oven at 100 degrees then jar up using a jam funnel if you can to keep the mouth of the jar nice and clean. Pop on your lids and you’re done! This one I’ve found gets better and better like a good wine so if you can leave it till Christmas you’ll be grateful for it at Boxing Day lunch when you’ve got all your cold turkey and gammon and cheeseboard in front of you.

   
Enjoy peeps. I’m off to make some scones x