Ok. Winter may ‘officially’ be over, but when the sky turns a charcoal gray and rain darkens the pavement, it’s time to retreat indoors…and bake.
This super simple bread+cake hybrid is so damn delicious (did we mention it has cream cheese frosting?), but packed with nutritious vegetables to take the edge off your guilt when you cut yourself a second slice. Thanks to Flourishing Foodie for the recipe!
Courgette & Carrot Loaf
makes 1 loaf
What you’ll need:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar* (see below if you’re having a hard time finding brown sugar here!)
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 1/2 cup golden raisins (we omitted these)
- 1 8oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
What you’ll do:
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF/163ºC.
- In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
- In a large bowl, combine the eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, and butter. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Slowly add the dry to the wet. Stir until combined.
- Add the zucchini, carrots, and raisins. Combine.
- Grease a loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan, and give it a few taps on the counter to spread the batter.
- Place into the oven and bake for 1 hr. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 min in the pan. Remove from the pam and let cool on a wire rack for 50 min – 1 hr.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Spread the cream cheese icing onto the cooled loaf. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
Can be stored in the fridge for a week. Enjoy with coffee or a big glass of milk. Bon appétit!
*having a hard time finding brown sugar here in Switzerland? We just ordered 6 bags from ch.iHerb.com (and it lasts for years!)–you can find it here.
Sounds yummy! BTW, brown sugar can be found in any Coop or migros in Switzerland, no need to fly it in!
Really? We haven't found it. It's not the raw cane sugar that we are looking for (that is also brown)–this is a special sticky brown sugar that's made with molasses. We only find it at Aligro when we're lucky, but they don't stock it all of the time. Or you can pay beaucoup bucks for it at the American store in Nyon.
Aha, so it's not regular brown sugar then! Does it have a name?
It's just called 'brown sugar' to us 😉
Yes it does have a name in French and btw you can easily find some in France when doing your proper expat grocery shopping on the other side of the border… Just ask for some "sucre vergeoise" the only way to bake any US sweet reciepe…