'Courgetti' Fritters with Lemon and Feta - Watch them vanish!

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Courgettes are like magic beans. You set off for the market. On the way you get conned into handing over your cow for a few small seeds. You return home delighted with your "bargain", but your mum chucks them out the window in disgust and practically at once they spring forth from the ground and start growing like beanstalks almost before your very eyes! Once they flower, they magically produce courgette after courgette - seemly overnight - and suddenly you have the equivalent of a courgette factory and the need for 101 courgette recipes.

One of my favourite ways to eat this vegetable to is spiralize it into 'courgetti' and then tip these delicious veggie noodles into whatever pasta sauce that is heating on the stove, give them about 3 minutes to heat through, then serve. Courgetti also make a delicious salad, tossed in soy vinaigrette and toasted sesame seeds. They are also great stir-fried with garlic, ginger and chillies.

Another is the ‘Some Like it Hot’ Courgette Vichyssoise from the book – a lovely light summery soup and a doddle to make.

My latest favourite, though, is Courgetti Fritters with Feta and Lemon. They can be a snack, a starter, an unusual side - and a delicious way to make courgettes vanish as quickly as they appeared.

For 8 – 10 fabulous fritters you will need...

2 courgettes (zucchini), approximately 600g in total

1 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

80g spring onions, finely chopped

80g feta, crumbled into small crumbs

60g fine fresh breadcrumbs

1 small clove of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 large egg, lightly beaten

a little flour for dredging

A pinch of salt and a little freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil for frying

Start by spiralizing the courgettes (skin and all) using the fine noodle attachment of your spiralizer*. Using a scissors, cut them into lengths about 6cm – about 3 inches - long, otherwise they’ll end up being an unmanageable tangle. Put them in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the teaspoon of salt. (*If you don't have a spiralizer, coarsely grate the courgettes instead).

Leave for about 30 minutes so that the salt leaches some of the liquid out of the courgettes

Squeeze the courgettes to remove as much liquid as possible and drain this away. Place the courgettes in a clean tea towel and wring out as much liquid as possible.

Place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients except the flour and mix until well combined.

Divide the mixture into 8 – 10 portions. Using floured hands, form them into flat little cakes, about 1cm thick. Place on a lightly floured plate while you heat a little of the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.

Cook the fritters for about 3 -4 minutes each side, or until golden brown and serve hot. Simple!

I love them as a snack with either the crisp apple (or cool as a cucumber) Tzaziki in the Starters, Snacks and Light Bites section of the book.

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Double-Hazelnut Vanilla Caramel Cake – quite a character!

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Re-reading Kathryn Stockett’s best-seller, The Help, I couldn't get one of the characters out of my mind. Appearing almost as often as the main protagonist, Minnie’s Caramel Cake seemed to be a huge part of the story. It made me hungry every time I picked up the book.

I tried to find a definitive recipe for Caramel Cake, but – like Irish stew – it appears to be one of those recipes that no matter what version you use, you’ll set someone’s tongue a-tutting.

Soooooo, I’m not going to try and recreate a Caramel Cake. I am going to make a Double-Hazelnut Vanilla Caramel Cake – hazelnut sponge cake, with a layer of creamy Nutella filling, slip in some crushed meringue, add a layer of caramel, another layer of Nutella/meringue filling. Top this sugar-fest with more caramel - the filling doubles as frosting.  You’ll need a sugar thermometer for the caramel topping.

For 10 generous slices you will need...
... to pre-heat the oven to 160°C


For the Cake Batter

200g butter, at room temperature

180g caster sugar

4 eggs, beaten

150mls fresh milk

1 teaspooon vanilla extract

330g plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

50g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Method

·     First, butter and base-line two 23cm sandwich tins.

·     In a large mixing bowl (or food mixer) beat together the soft butter and sugar until fluffy and paler in colour.

·     In a jug, mix together the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.

·     In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.

·     Slowly add about a quarter of the egg mixture to the butter, beating continuously until combined. Then, add about a quarter of the flour mixture. Continue beating while you add alternate lots of egg and flour to the butter mixture until both have been used up.

·     Finally, add in the toasted hazelnuts and mix until just combined.

·     Divide the mixture between the two buttered, base-lined sandwich tins and bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Prod lightly with a finger. The sponges should spring back. If not, give them another 5 minutes or so and test again.

·     Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.

While the cakes are baking, make the fillings...

For the Creamy Nutella Filling

240g cream cheese

130g Nutella

220g icing sugar, sifted

2 single-portion ready-made meringues, crushed into pea-sized bits

·     Place the cream cheese, Nutella, and icing sugar in a mixing bowl and with your hand-held blender set to low, beat together until combined in a smooth mixture. The meringue comes in later...

For the Caramel Filling and Topping

330g sugar

250mls milk

30g black treacle

50g Kerrygold butter

8 tablespoons condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·     Place the sugar, milk and treacle in a saucepan and stir together over a low heat until the sugar has melted. Turn up the heat a little, stirring continuously, until the mixture is bubbling and has reached the ‘soft ball’ mark on your sugar thermometer (116°C or 240°F). Don’t worry if the milk separates. It will all come together in the end.

·     As soon as it has reached the ‘soft ball’ stage, remove it from the heat and add the butter, letting it melt. Stir the melted butter into the mixture – it will seem like this is never going to happen at first, but persist! When the butter has vanished into the mixture, stir in the condensed milk and vanilla extract.

·     Leave the mixture to get cold, beating occasionally to break up the surface crust that forms as it cools.

Assemble when the cakes and the frosting are cold

·     Split each of the cakes and fill both with the Nutella mixture. Sprinkle the filling with crushed meringue before joining the cake halves together again.

·     Pour a generous layer of caramel on top of one cake and stack the other cake on top.

·     Pour the rest of the caramel over the stacked cakes, smoothing with a palate knife. Ensure that the sides are covered.

·     At this stage it looks very brown so I coat the sides with chopped toasted hazelnuts (that makes it triple hazelnut!) or desiccated coconut and drizzle the top with dark chocolate which sets hard and makes a lovely contrast to the soft caramel. You may have other decorating ideas. Either way, prepare for a sugar rush.

Tip
Use ready-made caramel or Dulche de Leche in place of the caramel frosting if you want to save yourself a bit of stirring. 

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