If you think carrot cake sounds a bit strange, why not confound your friends with these courgette muffins. We implore you not to knock these moreish munchies until you've tried them.
Ingredients
- 250g courgettes, grated
- 100g sultanas
- 4 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 large free-range eggs
- 175ml sunflower oil
- 200g light muscovado sugar
- 225g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 60g almonds, toasted and chopped
- Grated zest of 2 limes
For the icing
- 300g half-fat cream cheese
- 50g icing sugar
- The juice of 2 limes
- Almonds, toasted and finely chopped, and extra grated lime zest, to decorate
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Line a 12-hole large muffin tin with muffin cases (or, to make 1 big cake, grease and line a 23cm round, loose-bottomed cake tin).
- 2. Roughly grate the courgettes and squeeze by hand to drain excess moisture. Pat dry with kitchen paper.
- 3. Put the sultanas in a saucepan with the orange juice and honey. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4 minutes until the raisins are plump and the liquid is absorbed, being careful not to let it burn.
- 4. Put the eggs, sunflower oil and sugar in a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for about 3 minutes, until creamy. Sift over flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Fold in with the almonds, the grated courgettes, the sultanas, and the grated zest of 2 limes.
- 5. Spoon into the muffin cases or tin and bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes or the cake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- 6. Leave the muffins or cake to cool in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Beat the half-fat cream cheese with icing sugar and the juice of 2 limes until smooth and creamy, adding more icing sugar to taste, if needed.
- 7. Spread the icing over the muffins or the cake. Sprinkle with more almonds, toasted and finely chopped, and extra grated lime zest.