Tea party nibbles: courgette and goat cheese mini cakes

On Saturday, my friend Lucy from In Norfolk was hosting a Christmas tea party with a homemade theme. She had baked many wonderful cupcakes and biscuits, one of her friends had crafted exquisite truffles, another had brought a delicious carrot, parsnips and chili soup accompanied with cheese scones. I didn't have time to do anything complicated as I had been away from home or working late most of the week, so the two courgettes and goat cheese I had in the frige were the perfect base to whip up something tasty in a couple of hours.

To make 18 mini courgette and goat cheese cakes, I used:

• 2 cougettes
• 3/4 of a goat cheese bûche
• 2 eggs
• 130g self raising flour
• approximately 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
• about 100 ml of milk

Start by slicing the courgettes and sauté them in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and a few coriander seeds, and leave aside to cool once they're nicely golden, but still have some texture to them.

In a bowl, mix the flour with the eggs and sunflower oil, and add a bit of milk so the mixture is similar to an American pancakes' preparation. I probably added around 100ml. Add the goat cheese cut in rough pieces, season with a bit of salt and pepper, and mix well. Finally add the courgettes in, making sure the consistency is even.

Pour the mix into individual tins that you have oiled in advance, and stick an extra little piece of goat cheese in the middle of each cake. Bake for 25 minutes in an oven pre-heated at thermostat 5.

The preparation will be cooked but the goat cheese melted, so I found it best to let them cool on a wire rack before placing them in a pretty basket for serving.

We were only a few people at the party, and there was tons of food, but I didn't bring many of these back home, so I take it they weren't too bad!