Every two months our food pornography arrives in the mail. Packed full recipes it’s always an inspiration for catering to come. I’ve been collecting these since we came to New Zealand and after four years have amassed quite stash. I like to pull out the back copies for the month we’re in to get ideas to keep me on my culinary toes. The recipes are solid, no nonsense affairs and so far have been a resounding success every time.
Although the number of pages has been reduced in recent months as the level of advertising has dropped one thing that has stayed in the quality of features and number of recipes.  It would be a dull month in our kitchen with our Cuisine magazine missing.
For all its wonders it was in fact another magazine I read regularly that gave me baking inspiration this week. Gasp, I know a rival for my foodie fix! Fear not though, there is a strong connection.
With the courgettes still producing more fruit than I can handle I was pleased to see another vege cake to try out. This time Chocolate and Courgette Cupcakes. I’m now a total convert to the benefits of vegetables in your cakes having tried carrot cakes, carrot and peanut cupcakes, courgette cake, and Chocolate and Beetroot Brownies. It’s a great way to deal with your vegetable glut but these cakes have been so tasty I would bake them again anyway.
There is something cathartic about grating courgettes for a cake. It seems to have a greater significance than if they were being prepped for a savoury dish. Don’t ask me why it just does.
As always it’s best not to mess too much with the cake mix otherwise it goes quite tough. Also it’s nice to be able to see the flecks of green in your cake to remind you of the key ingredient.
I am a great fan of muffins and cupcakes. Great for portion control as long as you have the self-control to stick to only eating one at a time. That is however a challenge since these do taste rather nice. So nice in fact I packed MT off with the vast majority for morning tea in his office on Monday to save me from commiting dietary suicide this week whilst I’m working from home.
Now I know that you now need to rush out and get yourselves some courgettes or you can just wait for the glut from your vegetable patch to arrives. The recipe is here if you dare.