Fudgy Chocolate Courgette Cake

📝 Ingredients

• 1 courgette (about 250 g)
• 150 g 70% dark chocolate
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 3 eggs
• 60 g caster sugar
• 80 g plain wheat flour
• 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt

🍴 Utensils

• Grater
• Clean tea towel
• Saucepan and bowl (bain-marie)
• Mixing bowl, whisk and spatula
• Sieve or fine strainer
• 20 to 22 cm cake tin

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (170 °C fan). Grease the tin with a knob taken from the 30 g of butter, or line it with baking paper. Wash the courgette, trim the ends and grate it finely without peeling.
2. Place the grated courgette in a clean tea towel, gather it up and twist firmly over the sink to squeeze out as much water as possible: at least 3 to 4 tbsp should come out. Without this step, the cake would stay soggy in the middle.
3. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it with the rest of the butter in a bain-marie over low heat, stirring, until smooth and glossy. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Leave to cool slightly for 5 min off the heat.
4. In the mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar for 2 min, until the mixture turns pale and slightly frothy. Whisk in the lukewarm melted chocolate, then the squeezed courgette, breaking it up well to avoid clumps.
5. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and pinch of salt over the bowl. Fold in with the spatula just until no traces of flour remain: overmixed batter makes a denser cake.
6. Pour the batter into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 25 to 30 min on the middle shelf. The cake is done when the top is domed and a knife inserted in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs, but no runny batter.
7. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 min before turning out onto a wire rack: it's very fragile when hot. Cut into 8 slices. It becomes even fudgier after a few hours in the fridge.