Cucumber Cake - Fresh from the Oven

A trip to the Farmer's market and I came home armed with a bag full of cucumbers. After eating them raw, devouring'em in salad, relishing as pancakes,using in pachadi and enjoying as kootu , I finally had 2 of them left and wanted to put them to use in a way my hearth never saw. Google to the rescue and I absolutely fell in love with the Cucumber Bread/Cake recipe.Of course, I have seen a whole lot of Zucchini Bread Recipes on net and have been intending to try it for a long time.So when the cucumber bread recipe flashed before me it was happy hoots. The most important reason the recipe appealed to me was, my son absolutely hates cucumbers. All repeated efforts to camouflage them in various avatars has not been very successful. This cake managed to make him devour it albeit in a glam avatar. 


While my kids devoured their slices with a drizzle of butter-scotch topping !

I chose to enjoy my share with the afternoon cuppa !

Verdict :-


The cake was moist,soft and delightful. The taste of the refreshing squash and the crunch of the nuts just blended with other ingredients and made it an enjoyable affair. It is a keeper recipe, though I plan to make it a little more healthy by substituting whole wheat flour the next time; making it eggless is also an option I would love to explore !

Look who's cut herself a hearty slice ????

Cucumber the refreshing squash, that belongs to the same family as pumpkins, zucchinis & watermelons makes a regular entry in my kitchen as probably in many of your hearths. Loaded with a variety of vitamins & minerals, cucumber intake is widely acknowledged for the health benefits.High in water and low in calories, they are simply a delight for all the weight-watchers ! Other than their culinary uses, they are a treat to the tired eyes and the listless skin. The magic of these natural coolants as rustic eye-pads works wonder on eyes and they keep the skin breezy, happy, soft n supple.

 Photo Courtesy : Wiki

What's in the cake (Adapted from : here) :-

• All Purpose Flour - 315 grams to 330 grams 
• Sugar - 400 grams
• Baking Powder - 1 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1 tsp
• Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
• Nuts - a fistful (blend of almonds,pistachios,cashews)
• Sunflower Oil - 205 grams
• Fresh Cucumber - 2 - (approx 600 grams)
• Eggs - 3

Useful Pointers :-

1.	I had left the seeds of the cucumber intact- that lent a nutty, crunchy taste to the cake. Feel free to scoop it out if you please.
2.	The cucumber by nature of their high moisture content will give the batter a thinner texture ; ensure the final mix is of a pancake batter consistency
3.	Add little more flour if required.
4.	Makes a great dessert or breakfast/brunch snack or goes well with that evening cuppa

Here's How :-


Preheat oven to 160 C and keep a bread/cake tin greased and dusted.Wash, peel the cucumbers and coarsely shred them in to a colander.Apply slight pressure to the shredded mix to remove out moisture so that they are moist enough but not overtly drippy. Set aside.Combine all the dry ingredients (in blue) in a large mixing bowl. Add the shredded mix, eggs and oil. On a medium speed, beat all the ingredients till they are combined well (approx 2 minutes). 

Pour the batter in to the prepared cake tin 

Let it bake at 160 C for 60 minutes or till an inserted skewer comes clean.




Serve plain or with any topping as desired. Enjoy !


Linking it to Vardhini's Sinful Delights as well as her Bake Fest 2 guest hosted by Sangee ; also to Kalyani's Global Food Festival