Sweet

Chocolate ginger cake (and canine neurosis)


With the hunting season in full-swing,  I’m having to deal with a labrador hovering on the brink of nervous breakdown; he doesn’t like the sound of guns (despite the fact that, technically at least, he’s a ‘gun dog’). It’s a touch and go situation and I’m still sticking to my vegetarian resolution in solidarity, so this cake contains no meat whatsoever 😉 Just a word of warning: it does contain grated courgettes so if, like me, you live with men and children with entrenched prejudices about how and when vegetables should – or, more to the point, should not  – be consumed, my advice is to keep the recipe under wraps. It’s delicious and that’s all they need to know. As cakes go, this one is also exceptionally healthy: buckwheat flour is gluten-free and full of fibre, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, courgettes speak for themselves and organic cocoa powder is rich in iron.
Ingredients (roughly 10 slices)
1 cup buckwheat flour ½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch of bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt (fine grain)
1 cup organic cane sugar ½ cup cocoa nibs (optional)
¼ cup organic coconut oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup of almond or oat milk (or regular milk if you prefer)
3 cups’ grated courgettes
1 teaspoon of fresh, grated ginger
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, cocoa nibs, salt , bicarbonate of soda and baking powder) in a bowl and mix well. In another bowl, combine the ‘wet’ ingredients (eggs, milk, grated courgettes, ginger and melted coconut oil) and mix well. Combine both sets of ingredients, folding the mixture to obtain a smooth batter. Pour the batter into a loaf tin (preferably pyrex) roughly 25cm long by 6cm deep. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean.

2 Comments

  • cat

    I don’t especially like cakes and I don’t like chocolate much either so for me to have become addicted to this says, well quite a lot really. It is utterly delish and has become a household favourite. My only concern is what to do when the courgettes run out…

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