Zucchini And Pistachio Cake

I discovered this recipe in my friend Caroline Gladstone’s blog post for Out & About! This cake is delicious and easy to make, and as Caroline wrote, “Harry is a genius in the kitchen and transforms the humble vegetable into a mouthwatering (and healthy) cake, where the vegetable substitutes for the usual fat.” Yummm!

Zucchini and Pistachio Cake.

3 3/4 oz pistachios
10 1/2 oz zucchini
3 medium eggs
7 oz golden caster sugar
8 oz plain white flour
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 oz icing sugar, sifted
Roughly chopped pistachios

Preheat the oven to 350F

Grease and line an 8in cake tin with baking parchment.

1. Put 3 3/4 oz pistachios into a coffee grinder and blitz them to a powder. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, you can use a food processor; it just won’t grind them as finely.
2. Cut off the ends of the zucchini and grate them finely.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until pale, light and creamy. (If you don’t have one, a wooden spoon and mixing bowl are fine.) Fold in the zucchini, ground pistachios, flour, lemon zest, baking powder and baking soda. Combine everything, scooping up the mixture from the bottom of the bowl, but be careful not to over-mix.
4. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
5. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto a wire rack, carefully peel off the paper and turn the cake the right way up. Leave to cool completely.

To make the icing, simply mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice until it’s smooth. Put the icing mixture in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to let it firm up, before spreading it over the cake with a small palette knife. Leave to set a little, then sprinkle with the chopped pistachios.