I’ve had a bumper crop of green and yellow courgettes this year, and they are still ripening thick and fast. Apart from enjoying them as a vegetable, they do make a good substitute for grated carrot in a cake. After a successful weekend bake-in, I thought I’d share my recipe for courgette and lemon loaf cake with you. It is moist and tasty, and improves with keeping (if you can leave it alone!). Perfect sliced and eaten on its own with a cup of tea, or served as a dessert with coconut yogurt and blueberry compote. Enjoy!

Serves: 8-10

• 2 medium eggs
• 150ml sunflower oil
• 150g caster sugar
• Finely grated rind 1 unwaxed lemon
• 115g yellow courgette, trimmed and grated
• 50g ground almonds
• 150g plain gluten-free flour blend (such as Dove’s Farm)
• 7g gluten-free baking powder (such as Dr Oetker)
• 3 tbsp Demerara sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven, gas mark 4). Line a 1kg loaf tin with a baking parchment liner and sit the tin on a baking tray.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar and lemon rind. Stir in the courgette and ground almonds.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder on top and carefully mix all the ingredients together. Pour into the tin and sprinkle thickly with Demerara sugar.
4. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour until risen, golden and firm to the touch – insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, it should come out clean if the cake is cooked. Cool for 30 minutes before removing from the tin and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap and store for 24 hours before serving to allow the flavour and texture to develop. The cake freezes well, leave to cool then wrap and freeze for up to 6 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature, in the freezer wrappings.