Zucchini (Courgette) Cake

So, I knew about all the recipes that I could find from the USA on Food Network and from the UK on BBC Food and BBC Good Food, but I got to thinking one day last week—as I reminisced about the trip my fiancé and I took to New Zealand and Australia last September—that there must be an Australian equivalent.  And there is.  I've found it, it's called Taste and it's wonderful!

One of the things I love about the Antipodes is how, as well as having a lot which is all their own (be it Australia or New Zealand or the Pacific Island nations), is what a wonderful mix it is of British and North American.  You can find Band Aid and Elastoplast brand bandages, they sell Cadbury (and a wonderful assortment of it as well) and Willy Wonka.  And this applies to their cooking as well.  So Zucchinis are Zucchinis and not Courgettes, but pie is most likely to refer to a savoury meat pie (and all squash is generically referred to as pumpkin, that's all their own).  Likewise, Taste gives all measurements in both cups and grams.  So on the days I feel like it is easier to measure out a cup of flour, I can go ahead and do that, but on the days I feel like weighing out my ingredients I know its 150g.  Which makes me very happy indeed!

I also rather like that Seasonal Recipes are, of course, reversed.  So when I just can't face looking at another summer berry trifle recipe, I can drool and dream over comforting soups, stews and pies.  And frankly, with this summer being the way it has been, good hearty, warming food is often just what we want in the UK!

Anyway, so for this week's breakfast for me and my fiancé to have, I decided to go with a recipe from their Banana Bread and Sweet Loaves Recipe Collection and try out the Zucchini (Courgette) Cake with Lemon Frosting recipe.  It took about 20 mins to make and another 75 mins to cook.  Remember though that you have to REALLY let the cake cool down before frosting it, otherwise the frosting will just melt. Although, if you ARE in a rush, and must frost the cake while it is still warm, it will still taste lovely.  It's just that instead of frosting you will have more of a glaze.

Here's a couple of pictures of how mine came out (a bit bulgy in the middle as I use a silicone—in red!–loaf tin, it isn't as stable, but it is just so much fun and makes it easy to get loaves out)!

The above picture is with a glaze (I waited a couple of hours till the cake was no longer hot, but just a bit warm...I also went a little mad in the amount of lemon juice I added to the icing sugar and lemon zest!)

This is how it looked when I re-frosted it this morning (with just a little less lemon juice)!