ZUCCHINI AND TOASTED STRAWBERRY BUTTER CAKE

Okay, I think I need to eat some vegetables, but I am craving for a cake. I do have some zucchinis at home and a few strawberries left in the fridge....hmmmm..... *ding! ding!* Let's be creative and make a cake with them!

Ermmm, how should I want the texture of the cake to be? I want a soft, not so dense cake, not like chiffon or sponge which are too soft. Okay, a soft butter cake base then.

The whole cake turns out to be quite good, actually. A bit more work, but it is worth the effort. Try it!

ZUCCHINI AND TOASTED STRAWBERRY BUTTER CAKE

Ingredients

About 5 strawberries, diced

3 Zucchinis

250g butter, salted, softened

180g caster sugar

150g cake flour

90g plain flour

3g baking powder

5 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla essence

40ml evaporated milk + 10ml water

Method

1. Dice strawberries, place on baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake at 80C for about 2 hours. If your oven can go to 60C, please do so for about 3.5hrs. The fruits should be dry enough, need not to be completely dehydrated. You should get about 1/3 cup of toasted strawberry. Set aside to cool.

2. Shred zucchinis and place in a colander. I let the peel to remain for visual effect. Sprinkle with salt to draw out moisture. Leave it for about 30 min, then rinse under running water thoroughly to remove salt. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible. You should get almost 1 cup.

3. Preheat oven at 180C. Grease 7" round pan using butter wrapper.

4. Combine softened butter with sugar. With electric beater on high speed, cream till light and fluffy, until sugar is dissolved or finer.You will need to scrape down the batter a few times to ensure even creaming.

5. Sift cake flour, plain flour and baking powder onto a plate. Set aside.

6. Crack an egg into the batter. Scoop 1 -2 tbsp flour mixture from step 5 into batter along with the egg. This is to prevent curdling. At low speed, beat till egg is fully incorporated.

7. Repeat step 6 until all eggs are used.

8. Scrape down the batter. Add vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until fully combined.

9. Pour in remaining half of flour mixture into batter. At low speed, beat batter for about 20 seconds.

10. Pour in evaporated milk mixture into batter. At low speed, beat batter for about 20 seconds.

11. Now, pour in all remaining flour. At low speed, beat batter for about 20 seconds.

12. Scrape down batter and beat again on medium speed for about 20 seconds.

13. Spread almost-dry zucchini shreds and toasted strawberry dices onto batter. Fold in gently and evenly.

14.  Pour batter onto prepared pan and bake for about 50 min, or until skewer comes out clean when poked in centre.

15. Remove pan from oven, leave cake to cool in pan for 5 min. Then remove cake from pan and cool completely on cooling rack.

SWEET POTATOES AND BROCCOLI CAKE

Ever heard of such a cake? Due to recent haze, my appetite seems to be screaming for vegetables. After the zucchini and strawberry butter cake, this is my next creation. My mother in law is a sweet potato person, so I think she will like this one. The cake is steam-baked for that extra moist, but please do not keep it for too long to consume. It is best eaten within two days.

This cake is made with real ingredients, no chemicals like baking powder or baking soda involved. It is a healthier version cake, and as with my taste-bud, I do not like to make it too sweet either. So if you are looking for healthier choice of cake, you may want to consider this. 

SWEET POTATOES AND BROCCOLI CAKE

Ingredients

100g steamed sweet potatoes, mashed till fine

50g steamed sweet potatoes, diced (more of less is fine, for visual only)

50g broccoli florets (use only green parts, more of less is fine)

6 egg whites

60g caster sugar

6 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

80ml canola oil

120ml water

130g cake flour

20g corn flour

Methods

1. Preheat oven at 150C. Boil water and place in a roasting pan. Place roasting pan into oven at the lowest rack. Line 8" square pan with baking paper, set aside.

2. In a clean and dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites till foamy. Add sugar by tablespoons while beating whites at low speed until the whites become stiff and glossy. Set aside.

3. In another mixing bowl, put in egg yolks and sugar. Beat on high speed until the yolks are fluffy and thick.

4. Pour oil and water into yolk mixture. Beat till combine. Mix in mashed sweet potatoes evenly.

5. Mix cake flour and corn flour and sift into batter. Fold in flour gently.

Tip: Coat diced sweet potatoes with flour as you sift the flour mixture

6. Take 1/3 of egg whites to gently fold into yolk batter. Then pour the mixed batter into egg whites and gently fold in to combine.The batter should be light and airy.

7. Gently place flour coated sweet potato dices and broccoli florets evenly at the edges of of batter to prevent sinking and causing air to deflate in batter. Very gently fold in the vegetables.

8. Pour batter into square pan. Give a few taps to burst big air bubbles in batter. Place at middle rack of oven and bake for 40min. Turn down temperature to 120C for the next 10 minutes.

9. Once cake is done, remove cake from pan, invert cake and cool completely on cooling rack.