Almost A Harvest

As the recent weather has picked up it's game, we've been treated to a few gems in the Muirson kitchen. We un-intenionally shared our lettuce and strawberry crops with the chickens and have munched our way through the rocket and coriander in some yummo salad's. I am constantly suprised when I go out there and my once little green leaves are now nestling veges and hanging fruit.

There have been a few failures, the carrots are no where to be seen, the chickens dug up the seed potato's, chch proved to cold for the basil and capsicum and the brocolli was swarmed with butterflies. However the pumpkins, cauliflowers, courgettes and beans are all cranking. The Tamata's. Well they are another story. I am left awake at night thinking of different ways to use the abundance we are soon to have. A roadside stall on Hoon Hay road may be in order. There are trusses and trusses of giant tomatoes still awaiting there final coat of juicy redness.

 

 

The tomato's that have ripened up early are pretty darn sweet. I think I may have scrunched my face in a combination suprise,pride and because they genuinely had too much flavour for my face to handle. A few have developed blossom end rot, but this can be tackeled with a bunch of lime well watered into the roots. The zuchinni's are also finding their way into our kitchen early. With too many than we can handle I've whistled up a spiced zuchinni cake with a lime cream and pistachio's

I seem to feel slightly anxious when I see the bare dirt where my failed vege's were. A sense of failure and dissapointment I think. This little Muirson plot is helping me comprehend my minute amount of control I have in life's turns. It still doesn't get old seeing a fully grown zuchinni from what was such a tiny seed.

Which leads me to the next solution for when your zuchinni plant decide's to give you heaps of fruit at once. A delicious refreshing cake that definately won't dry out.


Spiced Zuchinni Cake, with a Lime cream and pistachio's

Ingredients -
1 ¼ cups  flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon minced crystallized ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup vegetable oil
1 apple stewed,drained and well mashed
2 eggs
1 cup shredded zucchini (2-3 zucchini)

Lime cream -
200g cream cheese (the hardblock)
50g butter softened
3/4 cup of icing sugar (less or more depending on how tart you want it)
juice and finely grated zest of 1 lime

1/4 cup of pistachio's chopped

  Directions -   Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

Line and spray a smaller scale cake tin
In a bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, crystallized ginger, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
In another bowl combine oil, well mashed stewed apple, eggs and sugars; add to dry ingredients and mix well. Add zucchini; stir until thoroughly combined.
Pour into cake tin
 Bake at 180 degrees C for 30-35 minutes or until a cake needle inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Once the cake has cooled
Using an electric mixer beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth, add 1/2 of the icing sugar and half the lime. beat well and taste. Add remaining ingredients according to preference

Top with pistachio's and your favourite flowers

 







Keep refridgerated and covered. It's even better the next day
Enjoy x