Monday 9 August 2010

Going To Seed and an unlikely (but delicious) cake ....















The summer is waning slowly, surely. The garden prepares already for next year. The seedheads are forming and already starting to rattle with the promise of next year's blooms.















Sometimes I feel like I'm going to seed a bit too! With cronky knees and a wonky back I sometimes feel so ancient and very tired. So if I can't dig the garden or weed I shall have to make do with depicting it from the comfort of my desk.


















I ripped away at some magazines this weekend, sticking the pale hues I had chosen into my diary and securing the torn edges with Golden Gel Medium. Then I brushed over lightly with a little acrylic paint. The seed heads I sketched using spaghetti dipped in ink. This works well to ensure a wavery, slightly unpredictable line - useful for "loosening up" a drawing.
























Doesn't the above picture look delicious? Lovely cake. A great way to disguise courgettes. The trick is to peel them so that there is no green in the cake. Someone might suspect a hidden vegetable that way. It is a beautiful moist cake which has disappeared very quickly down inside my kids!

Recipe for Courgette Cake:
1 medium courgette
150g sugar
100g softened butter
2 eggs
200g flour
3 tsp baking powder.

Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat as hard as you can.
Add the flour and baking powder and stir in and finally add the grated courgette.
I cooked it in a bread tin, which I had greased, at 180 degrees or Gas 4 until a skewer comes out clean on testing.
Cool on a wire tray and fool the kids it's regular, but very nice, cake.























Finally eat it up with a nice cuppa, with or without the accompanying rabbit!

10 comments:

  1. mad woman from cornwallMon Aug 09, 06:30:00 pm BST

    looks really yum.... and what a fab way to use up all the courgettes as they overrun the veggie patch. would be great to add touch of parmesan and a roasted red pepper in to mix for a bread alternative to accomp to salad ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love what you're doing with the journal, the images along with the capturing of thoughts and feelings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Always used to make a cake like this when the kids were at home 9and I baked) but I'm now used to dealing in 'cups'.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Always made this cake in the UK, but it got lost when moving to crete. So was really pleased to read your blog. Thanks will be making one this weekend yum yum

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yum! If I get any zucchini (if it ever grows!) I'll make this! It's been the strangest year in the garden.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good to see someone else using spaghetti and ink!

    ReplyDelete
  7. The cake looks delicious, might add a few carraway seeds. MMm.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your notes about the garden are so inviting and meticulous. Great idea.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your blog is very interesting and
    inspiring.
    Your journal sometimes resembles mine. :)
    Have a good time.
    Jumie from Germany

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was going to comment on 'Sturgeon moon' (love the concept) but just had to say that I had some courgette cake the other day. I also saw some in cafe when I was on a two day workshop and promised myself some on the second day but it had gone, then my friend brought me some. It must be the buzz at the moment,its funny how these things spread like wildfire, and I wish I'd had the recipe when my sons were little...they are such fussy eaters even now..but neither of them likes cake now.
    I wish I didn't!

    ReplyDelete

your comments are always appreciated - I enjoy reading them. You don't need to have a blog to leave a comment, you can select the name/URL option and fill in just your name instead of a blog link.