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Hazelnut fruitcake

By Jane Hornby

Enjoy this ‘glut and nut’ cake, made with excess courgettes and apples, with a cup of tea

Prep:10 mins
Cook:1 hrs 30 mins

Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 501
fat 28g
saturates 13g
carbs 59g
sugars 42g
fibre 2g
protein 7g
salt 0.87g

Ingredients

225g soft, unsalted butter, plus a little extra for the tin
100g bag blanched hazelnuts, half very roughly chopped
225g light muscovado sugar
225g self-raising flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp mixed spice or ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
175g courgettes, coarsely grated
1 eating apple, grated (about 85g/3oz flesh)
250g mixed dried fruits

Tip

Timing
Courgettes can hold quite a lot of water, which can affect the finished texture of your cake. If your grated courgettes seem watery, place them into a clean cloth and wring out some of the liquid into a bowl. Then add the courgettes to the cake mixture as normal. The timing for cakes containing courgette can depend on the water content of your courgettes, so return the cake to the oven for another 10-20 mins if it needs it. Simply test with a skewer and make sure it comes out clean.

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a deep, 20cm round cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment. Put the whole hazelnuts, plus 1 tbsp each of the sugar and flour, into a food processor and whizz until the hazelnuts are as fine as you can get them.
Add the butter, remaining sugar and eggs to the processor, then tip in the vanilla, spice, ¼ tsp salt, remaining flour and baking powder. Whizz until smooth. Remove the blade, then stir in the grated courgettes, apple and dried fruit.
Spoon the mix into the tin, smooth the top, then scatter with the chopped hazelnuts, pressing them into the batter a little. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins (see tip, below), covering the top loosely with foil after 45 mins, until the cake is risen and golden. Cool in the tin for 20 mins, then remove and cool on a wire rack.