Hi everyone, I hope you are enjoying my hidden vegetable blog. This week, No. 4 in this series, is a zesty courgette and carrot cake I first discovered on the Lidl website and tweaked slightly to make it my own.

This is one of my family's favorite desserts. It's the one I get the most requests for at family gatherings and parties. I've spent years trying to outsmart my children and grandchildren hiding vegetables and pureed fruits in my recipes but this Courgette and Carrot Cake is probably the only one where the children know that there is carrot and courgette in it but still want to eat it anyway! So it is a huge success in our household.

I hope your families are enjoying these easy and delicious recipes featuring hidden veggies too.

Sue x

Courgette and Carrot Cake From the Hidden Vegetable Series

Ingredients for the cake:

• 2 courgette peeled and grated
• 1 carrot peeled and grated
• 200 g butter softened
• 200 g sugar
• 200 g self-raising flour
• 50 g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• 40 g sultanas
• 1 lemon zest only
• 1 orange zest - reserve the juice For the frosting:
• 400 g cream cheese
• 200 g butter softened
• 200 icing sugar
• 1 orange, lemon or lime zest

To decorate:

• 1 handful flaked almonds
• 1 lime zest only

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6. Grease and line 2 20cm cake tins.
2. Coarsely grate the carrot and courgettes, then place into a colander over the sink and squeeze to release any liquid. Repeat twice, or until barely any more moisture comes out. Toss in 10g of the flour and set aside.
3. Sieve the flour into the bowl of a food mixer and add the sugar, baking powder, salt, and almonds. Zest the lemon – reserving the juice for the frosting – and add to the bowl along with the orange zest, sultanas, butter and eggs.
4. Mix for 2 minutes, then add the courgette and carrot to the bowl and mix for a further 2 minutes, or until well combined – do not overmix.
5. Divide between the lined cake tins and bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the tip of a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tins, then turn out onto a rack and leave to cool completely.
6. For the frosting, place the very soft butter into a bowl and add a tablespoon of the reserved orange juice. Beat or whisk until combined, then add the icing sugar to form a smooth buttercream. If you like, add a squeeze of lemon juice, too.
7. Stir in the cream cheese and lemon zest, mixing gently with a wooden spoon until combined.
8. Spread half the frosting in the middle of the cake and use the rest on top. Decorate with a little lemon and lime zest, or curls of citrus peel and a sprinkling of almond flakes.