How to turn an overabundance of marrow into a glorious cake | don't waste

"Do you have any ideas for cooking zucchini?" Hetty Ninnis, Senior Producer and Head of Sustainable Landscapes at Newquay Orchard in Cornwall, asked me recently. "We missed a picking day and ended up with 50 kilos of stuff." Inspired, I imagined this cake.

Marrow, Orange and Olive Oil Cake with Cashew Cream

Newquay Community Orchard has set up a new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at Fentenfenna Farm just outside of town. She works with La Cantine du Verger, providing vegetables in exchange for meals to her volunteers. This symbiotic relationship between farm and restaurant creates a closed-loop system that reduces waste by saving excess produce, like Hetty's wheelbarrows full of squash. A large surplus of any ingredient needs lots of ideas for storing it, and squashes are delicious fried, steamed, or barbecued, like in my recipe from a few years ago for Burnt Squash with burnt butter. They also make a delicious, moist and flavorful cake.

If you want to make ahead, make the cashew cream frosting the night before. Soaking the cashews before blending is not essential, but it will give them a more satisfying and creamier texture.

I use wholemeal flour traditional such as emmer, einkorn or spelled flour, for flavor, nutrition and planetary health, but regular whole wheat flour will work well too.

For the cashew cream glaze250g Fairtrade cashews1 tbsp orange blossom water or orange juice¼ tsp sea salt4 tbsp unrefined sugar

< p class="dcr-3jlghf">For the cake130ml extra virgin olive oil180g unrefined sugarZest and juice of half an orange, plus extra zest for garnish2tsp psyllium husks350g wholemeal flour 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp sea salt 100 g ground almonds 350g marrow, grated with skin on, plus extra skin for garnish 300ml oatmeal, almond or soy beverage 2tsp cider vinegar

Prepare the cashew cream first. Soak the walnuts in plenty of cold water for four to eight hours, then drain them and blend them in a high-speed blender with the orange blossom water, salt and sugar, until achieving a very thick double cream consistency; if needed, add a little extra water (or orange juice) to thin it out or extra cashews to thicken it. Store in the fridge.

Now for the cake. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, unrefined sugar and zest of half an orange. In a second smaller bowl, combine the psyllium husks with the juice from the half orange, let coagulate for 30 seconds, then whisk in the oil mixture until emulsified.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, salt, ground almonds, squash, oatmeal beverage and apple cider vinegar, then mix until the everything is well mixed. Transfer to a greased and lined 20cm cake pan and bake at 200C (180C fan)/390F/Gas 6 for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

< p class="dcr-3jlghf">Remove and let cool completely in the pan, then unmold and glaze the cake with the cashew cream using a spatula. Sprinkle a fine grater with orange zest and marrow skin on top, slice and serve.