Tuesday, December 6, 2011

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 !




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 cakeFeel 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
  

26 comments:

  1. Scrumptitious cake, moist and yummy.

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  2. This is something which I can never imagine..cucumber in a cake ! looks so scrumptious and is an innovative recipe. Lovely :)

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  3. Hey this looks so so innovative....i never ever heard of this kind of cake,,,,good job..cake looks yummy

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  4. Lovely cake .. new use of cucumber Priya. You could link this to Bake Fest hosted by Sangee and to Sinful Delights if interested.

    Vardhini
    Event: Sinful Delights
    Event: Stuffed Paratha

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  5. unique cake. looks very soft, perfect and delicious.

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  6. Woww.. interesting recipe.. looks too good dear.. thanks for the recipe :)
    Indian Cuisine

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  7. Sounds interesting..soft and moist cake..

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  8. Very novel recipe with cucumbers!

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  9. Quite an interesting cake,looks super moist and prefect..

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  10. Never heard of a cucumber cake before..thanks to you now I know..and it looks every bit delicious as any other cake !! (maybe even more so !!)

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  11. Very innovative recipe..........The cake looks perfectly baked & moist.

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  12. Ok, I have never EVER heard of a cucumber cake! WOW! We love our Persian cucumbers and the kids eat them with a bit of salt - I wonder what they would think of a cucumber cake?

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  13. cucumber in a cake..i couldn't just believe it..looks awesome Priya..

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  14. very delicious cake...look yum n sounds very interesting

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  15. Such a unique cucumber cake Priya...must have tasted awesome.

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  16. Very new and interesting cake it looks so very soft and yum.

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  17. Very nicely done! I've seen zucchini being added to cakes but this is new!

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  18. Very innovative recipe..Looks moist and yum..

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  19. whaaaaddddd! yumeee! Cucumber in a cake! that's awesome! :D

    Do go through the rules of my event > Jingle All The Way and link your post there if possible :)

    Kavi | Edible Entertainment
    Ongoing events:
    Jingle All The Way &
    Microwave Easy Cooking

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  20. What a great idea to use cucumber in a cake:-)
    The recipe sure is a keeper!!

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  21. wow...this definitely needs applause...awesome...love the ideas of using cucumber,,beetroot etc in cakes...simply awesome..

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  22. ooh ! very innovative.. Guess this could be made eggless too ! must try soon

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  23. Priya - I'm glad you like the recipe. I had to do *something* with that year's abundant cucumber harvest! Your adjustments look wonderful. I'll be trying the butter-scotch topping the next time I make it. Thank you for sharing it with people!! :-) - SoulDogWalker/JaneDoe

    (I followed you from Food52. Great blog!)

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  24. wow..mouthwatering...:)its looking awesome..hi 1st time here & u have a vey nice blog...
    can u link it to my ongoing event Yummy desserts for new year...

    http://pran-oriya-recipies.blogspot.com/2011/12/eee.html

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