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.