Mini Chocolate Courgette and Raspberry Bundt Cakes with Raspberry Cream

Whew, what a long title.  I couldn’t think of what to call these though.  One suggestion when I took them into share at work was ‘5+ a day cakes’ because they are packed with courgettes, raspberry and walnuts.  However, don’t let that put you off making them – yes, they have healthy ingredients in them, but they are delicious and you would never be able to tell how much courgette has actually gone into them; you can’t really taste it.  I’ve had a couple of requests for the recipe from the few people who tried these cute little cakes, because they are seriously that good.

I made my cakes using a mini bundt tin, but you could use ordinary muffin tins.  Using my bundt tin, the recipe made 30 mini cakes.  I also served my cakes with Raspberry cream, but you could just serve them with a light dusting of icing sugar.

Ingredients:
Cakes:
¾ cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups grated courgette (about 6 courgettes)
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
⅔ cup evaporated milk
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed and excess liquid removed

Raspberry Cream:
2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 ½ teaspoons raspberry powder
300ml cream
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Prepare (grease or line) baking tins if necessary. 
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Mix in the courgette, walnuts and vanilla essence.
In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients.  Mix the dry ingredients into the courgette mixture in 3 lots, alternating with the evaporated milk.  Fold through the raspberries.  Spoon the mixture into the baking tins.  Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted can be removed cleanly.  Leave to cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cool rack to cool completely.

To make the raspberry cream:
Beat together the cream, vanilla essence and icing sugar until you are happy with the consistency of the cream.  Add the raspberry powder and beat again, until just mixed through.

*I decorated my cakes by filling the hole left by the bundt tin with the raspberry cream, dusting with icing sugar, and sprinkling with chocolate crunch bits that I purchased from The Pretty Baker.  I purchased the mini bundt tin from Stevens.

Chocolate Chippy Bundt Cake

I saw this recipe on ‘Bake or Break’ the other day and just had to try it! The original recipe called for a 12 cup bundt pan but I only own a 6 cup so I halved the recipe and converted the recipe to metric measurements.

Ingredients:
Topping:
⅓ cup chopped pecans
60 grams butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1  tablespoon sugar

Cake:
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
120 grams butter, softened
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
½  cup buttermilk
125 grams dark chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 6 cup bundt pan.
Stir pecans, butter, and sugar together with a fork. Sprinkle mixture in bottom of prepared pan.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk. Begin and end with flour mixture. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat just until blended. Mix in chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a cake tester/skewer can be inserted into the center and comes out clean.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and leave to cool.

If you have a 12 cup pan you can double the recipe and the bake for 50-55 minutes, the 12 cup makes a much taller cake, making for prettier slices of cake. It is delicious and so easy as there is no more decorating to do once it is removed from the oven and cooled.