Chocolate Courgette Loaf with Nutella and Dried Cranberries

I love eating courgettes but baking with them is even better! I've been patiently waiting for courgette season to try a horde of recipes that I've been saving. Top of the list is a double chocolate chunk courgette loaf cake bookmarked from Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... Initially, I couln't decide between muffins and a loaf cake and in the end the loaf cake won out. I decided to change things up a little and added dried cranberries for extra sweetness and colour and my favourite nutella for the chocolate flavouring. I baked this twice as the first time was a FAIL! I didnt squeeze the water out of the courgette and the loaf was really moist but tasted good. The second time I drained all the water out and it turned out beautifully. The nutella added a hint of nuttiness to the loaf and the dried cranberries worked well with the flavours. I can't wait to bake this again and try different variations but I'm definitely trying the original recipe next. 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter this month is Z for Zucchini also known as courgette. 

It's also going to the Extra Veg challenge hosted by Jen from Jen's Food this month. The challenge is run by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. This is a great way to incorporate extra veg into your diet.

For the same reason it's also suitable for Eat Your Greens challenge hosted by Shaheen from A2K- A Seasonal Veg Table. 

As courgettes are in season, I'm sending it to Simple and in Season hosted by Ren. 

 I got a lovely fresh courgette from a colleague's garden - look at the size of it!

 adding in all the lovely ingredients 

 a nutella swirl on top 

 

 Love the burst of colour from the cranberries 

 This is the failed loaf - it didn't hold it's texture and sunk in the middle 

Makes 1 large loaf

2 eggs

150g brown sugar

120mls vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

250g plain flour

120g dried cranberries

130g nutella plus extra for topping

2 small courgettes or 1 large courgette- grated and drained. I put mine in a clean tea towel and squezzed the water out. Worked really well. 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Prepare the courgettes - grate then drain the excess water out. 
• In a large bowl, mix the sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together.
• In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs and add in the vegetable oil.
• Pour the egg and oil mixture into the dry ingredients and give it a brief stir.
• Add in the courgette, dried cranberries and nutella.
• Mix well.
• Pour into a loaf tin and level the top. Add swirls of nutella on top. 
• Bake for approximately 60 minutes but check at 45 minutes for doneness. You may need to to put a piece of foil on top to prevent the top from burning after the 45 minute mark.
• The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.