Courgette and Lemon Loaf with a Honey and Lemon Drizzle Topping

This tea loaf is lovely and light with no refined sugar. I used lavender honey and lemon juice for my topping which married well with the courgettes, however you could use thyme or chestnut honey, maple or date syrup for a different taste completely or skip the topping altogether. 

Although I've not tried to make this a gluten free recipe yet, the egg can easily be replaced with a vegan friendly flax egg or whipped aquafaba egg.

Serves: 10-12

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 40-45 minutes

You will need a 20 x 10 cm loaf tin

Ingredients: 

200g of courgette, grated

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

4 tbsp of date syrup (or maple syrup)

1 egg (or a vegan egg - see options below)*

2 tsp of lemon zest

200g of plain flour

1/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

For the Drizzle Topping (optional):

Juice of 1/2 lemon

4 tbsp of honey (lavender/sweet chestnut or thyme) or maple/date syrup

*Vegan Egg Substitutes: 

Chia Egg = 1 tbsp of chia seeds + 3 tbsp of water

Flax Egg = 1 tbsp of milled flaxseed/linseed + 3 tbsp of water

Aquafaba Egg: 3 tbsps of whipped liquid reserved from a can of chickpeas (e.g. Duchy Organic canned chickpeas in water: https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/waitrose-duchy-organic-canned-chick-peas/091002-46855-46856)

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC/Gas mark 3. Liberally grease the loaf tin and set aside.

2. In a medium sized bowl add the grated courgette, egg, oil, syrup and lemon zest and beat well until all the ingredients are combined. In another large bowl, sift in the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the courgette mixture and mix well, ensuring you don't overwork the mixture.

Put the loaf mixture into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes until a sharp knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. 

3. Whilst the loaf is cooking, whisk the lemon juice and honey/syrup until well blended and set aside.

4. Once the loaf is baked, remove from the heat and immediately drizzle the topping over the loaf (optional) and leave the loaf to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack until it has cooled down completely.

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