COURGETTE, HONEY & THYME CAKE WITH EDIBLE FLOWERS
COURGETTE, HONEY & THYME CAKE WITH EDIBLE FLOWERS
Recipe
I have never particularly enjoyed gardening, finding it all a bit too messy and most of the time the fruits of my labour being underwhelming. But New World's Little Garden pots changed this for me. Sprouting my own plants from seeds on my windowsill, placing the little pots in soil at the first sight of green and then watching as everyday the plants grew a little taller, has been a surprisingly enjoyable activity!
FOR THE CAKE
2 free range eggs
150ml honey
60ml olive oil
150g courgette, grated with a cheese grater
Leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
Zest of one orange
100g ground almonds
100g spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
Generous pinch sea salt
50g roasted hazelnuts, chopped
FOR THE HONEY CREAM CHEESE ICING
250g cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp honey
FOR THE DECORATIONS
Pansies, nasturtiums, purple tansy, sweet pea, thyme sprigs
- Preheat oven to 180C fan bake, and line a 22cm cake tin with baking paper.
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, combine the eggs, honey and olive oil. Beat until smooth. Add in the grated courgette, thyme and orange zest and continue to mix until everything is incorporated.
- Next add in the ground almonds, spelt flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Finally, fold through the chopped hazelnuts.
- Pour into the cake tin and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until a knife put in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile make the honey cream cheese icing. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth and continue to add all the other ingredients.
- Once the cake is fully cooled, neatly ice the top of it.
- Decorate as desired with edible flowers and a few sprigs of thyme.