Zucchini Bread Revisited

Two of the most prolific July produce grown here on the property are zucchini and blackberries. Being seasonal, they are also pretty inexpensive in the store around here. Having recently enjoyed the moist deliciousness of the chocolate zucchini bread, it was easy to return to that recipe and make it again. This time I stayed closer to the original recipe. I did add orange zest to the sugar and rubbed it in so that the sugar soaked up the orange oils and color. When I added that sugar to the eggs the fragrance of oranges was delightful!

I kept the strong flavor of cinnamon and then added the flavor, color and texture of freshly picked blackberries. They were folded in at the end, which was tricky since the batter is pretty thick and I didn't want to crush them too much. I think you will enjoy this version if you like blackberries. Their sweetness and tang and intense berry flavor is a nice counterpoint to the mellow zucchini and spicy cinnamon and fragrant orange.

The best size squash for zucchini bread is medium sized with very small seeds. Save the baseball bat huge ones for soup or spaghetti sauce! I used my food processor to shred my squash, but a good box grater works well, too. Use the large holes so that your shreds have some substance.

Zucchini Loaf From Seattle - With Blackberries
adapted from Maida Heatter's Cakes

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
scant 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini, packed, about 1 pound zucchini
2 eggs
zest grated from 1/2 an orange
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 pint fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or grease a 10 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan (10-cup capacity) or two loaf pans with combined 10-cup capacity. Dust the pan or pans with fine, dry bread crumbs and tap to shake out excess crumbs.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Clean the zucchini well and cut off the ends, then shred into large slivers. Don't drain. Pack into a 2-cup measure and set aside.

Beat together the eggs. In a small bowl rub together the orange zest and the sugar with your fingertips until blended and fragrant. Add to the eggs, then add the oil and beat to combine. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. Add the sifted dry ingredients and beat just to mix. Mixture will be thick. Add the zucchini, along with any moisture that has collected and mix thoroughly. The zucchini shreds thin the batter a little. Fold in the berries with a spatula, keeping them as whole as possible.

Scoop dough into the prepared pan(s), smooth the top(s), and bake. A large pan will take about 1 hour and 35-50 minutes. A cake tester gently inserted into the middle comes out clean and dry. Batter will rise up as it bakes and form a crack on top. That's O.K.

Smaller pans will take less time. Check after 40 minutes. A tiny one could be done in 30 minutes or less.

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Cover with a rack, turn over and remove the pan, turn over again. Cake will be right side up.

A Bread For Zucchini Madness

It happens every year...too many zucchini. It may be from your own plant, it may be the sneaky neighbor who deposited a big bag of them on your porch early in the morning, or maybe you got carried away at the farmer's market. Now you are looking for ways to use them up...look no further.

My great good friend NoHandle sent another wonderful guest post. You are going to want to make this zucchini bread my friend. If you really like it, maybe I can get some of my extra zucchini to you (just kidding). The best part about this bread is there is no chocolate. Although I love chocolate, it doesn't love me at present. Thanks NoHandle!

Zucchini Bread Again?

Perhaps the only thing more pervasive than the excessive production of the zucchini plant (it would be considered a weed if the fruits weren't edible) is the profusion of recipes you find about now to create uses for the aforementioned excessive production. Leaving bags of the stuff on neighbor's porches can go undetected for only so long, and then they force you to stop. And no fair setting the bag on fire; that is a different prank. 

At any rate, I noticed, in my hour of need, that  my favorite blog (this one) had almost all chocolate zucchini bread recipes, and so cried out for a non-chocolate rendition. (I'm a big fan of chocolate, but not everyone in the household is, and I don't want to be the only consumer of the bread; that would partially defeat the purpose. She really likes this one.) So, I cast about and found a decent looking one on the Food and Wine site. It had only one ingredient that I didn't currently have in the cupboard (and that was just a matter of timing) so I printed a copy and off I went.

To begin with, most recipes say a “medium” zucchini produces 1 cup of shredded (and squeezed out) flesh. I must have had a monster then. It produced a bit over three cups, so although the (doubled) recipe called for two cups, three cups it was to be. The remaining quarter of a cup or so went to compost.

The next issue was with the yogurt, for which the recipe the recipe called “non-fat” which in my mind meant “not really food” and the grocery store was apparently in the former camp. I ended up with a honey-flavored full-fat product, which meant there was a measure of sugar in it. The amount of sugar called for in the recipe seemed excessive, so I didn't feel bad about cutting it back in this case. I also ended up a bit short on the flour, so in included a half-cup or so (I didn't measure it) of whole wheat flour to round it out. With the extra zucchini, I wasn't too concerned with exact measurement, I just added a bit to just about everything (except sugar and oil; with full-fat yogurt, I slacked off on the oil too). And of course this was double the recipe (two loaves instead of one) which led to needing an extra large bowl to combine everything where the recipe called for only a large bowl. I think we've all been there when scaling up recipes. Mine was a glass salad bowl.

Oh, the recipe calls for coarse chopped walnuts, but we prefer smaller bits, so I used my trusty nut grinder, which produces bits about the size of half of a lentil, and smaller.

My other departure was to not consider sugar a “wet” ingredient, and including it with the dry. I mixed the eggs and oil first to create an emulsion, then added the yogurt, which preserved it. The dry (plus sugar) ingredients were already combined, so I added some shreds, and some of the liquid, to the dry, mixed that up, and added the rest. I don't have a stand mixer, but I recommend one for this application. Mix at slow speed, as the flour and batter tend to fly. My heavy-duty hand mixer was adequate to the task, but a lesser one might have started smoking, quite literally, from the strain, and that would have ruined the aroma from baking. It is a very, very dense batter. I also poured the batter alternately into the pans to keep the results consistent. I weighed them both to ensure they had about the same amounts. It was about 56 ounces each (including the weight of the pan, a bit over a pound) in case you were wondering. 

The baking time is a rather lengthy hour and ten minutes, and with two moist cakes in the same oven, a bit longer is better. I was satisfied at one hour and fifteen minutes, but another five or so wouldn't hurt. There is another long wait as the loaves cool, at least a half-hour. This is quick bread for the patient.

Note that even with surplus zucchini the pans were not quite full when baking was done. Freeze at least one to bring back memories of the closing days of summer (and the bounty of the zucchini plant) in the midst of winter, and enjoy the other while still warm (and for a few days thereafter). 

Your neighbors will appreciate this more than the raw fruit, so bake some more! (You have more zucchini, don't you?)

Here is the recipe as I did it. The measurements are approximate, but this is forgiving one.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup walnut halves

4 cups all-purpose flour (substituting about ½ cup whole wheat flour works too)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ cup sugar (scant)

4 large eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil (I used pure olive oil; not extra virgin nor even virgin. It has nearly no olive taste.)

1 cup honey-flavored Greek yogurt

3 cups coarsely grated zucchini, squeezed in a ta towel to remove as much liquid as you can

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter (or cooking spray) and flour two 9-by-4 ½ inch metal loaf pans. Spread the walnut halves on a small (cookie) sheet pan, and toast them for about 10 minutes, until they are fragrant. Cool them in the freezer for 5 minutes while you make the batter, then chop in fine pieces.

In a very large bowl, whisk the flower with baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If you combine the sugar at this point the dish still works. In a medium (medium is still big enough) bowl, beat the eggs and vegetable oil together until well combined, and then beat in the yogurt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with the grated zucchini and toasted, chopped walnuts. I found adding about 1/3 first of both, beating, and then the remaining made the process easier and the result smoother. Beat until the batter is evenly moistened.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the loaf is risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 195 degrees in an instant read thermometer).

Let the loaf cool on a rack for 30 minutes before un-molding and serving. A few additional minutes cooling of the released loaf will make slicing easier, as the center is still fairly moist.

Enjoy, NoHandle.

Not Quite Health Food

Yes, you CAN eat your vegetables and get a chocolate fix at the same time. It still isn't exactly health food but with the right recipe it can be close (as long as you don't add icing like I did). A few days ago King Arthur Flour added its recipe to the many out there for Chocolate Zucchini Bread. It isn't often that I believe I have a better recipe than King Arthur Flour's kitchens have, but this time it's true. Thanks to amazing YA writer Tanita Davis and her friends, I have a super special chocolate zucchini bread that also has double chocolate due to the chocolate chips and is easy to jazz up with ingredients like dried or fresh cherries, dried cranberries, etc. It even makes a spectacular 'cake' to celebrate a round number birthday, which is how I used it this week. Trust me, that added fruit makes it an extra-special recipe as does the fact that it uses plain yogurt which adds tang, helps reduce the amount of oil needed and helps the bread stay moist. Recipe is below, along with an icing recipe.

The owner of Cool Fitness in Santa Rosa, an inspirational and delightful personal trainer, coach, athlete and businesswoman, reached a round number birthday a few days ago. To celebrate I brought in a 'cake' made out of chocolate zucchini bread mini-muffins which were arranged in the shape of the birthday being celebrated, then frosted and decorated. It was almost as sparkly as she is. The idea of making a 'cake' this way was borrowed. I'm pretty sure I first saw it in a book about cupcakes, but since I do surf the web, it really could have been anyplace. You can make almost any shape that way, although this was the first time I tried it. I used the version of the chocolate zucchini bread with the dried cherries. Thanks to second sister down and her family for the great Michigan dried cherries!

One of the nice things about this week was that I also had some time to do some things that had been on my list for a while. One was making a new cover for the seat of a chair in the living room. Turned out that the base had broken down, so Sweetie fashioned another from some plywood. I covered that with multiple layers of batting and then the fashion fabric cover. I found the fabric in Monterey...it is sort of a batik style. It has always been a chair with a stiff seat and straight back, but sometimes that is the perfect chair. Grandma L loves sitting in it. Here is how it looks:

The other thing I've been meaning to do is to play around with a borrowed SLR camera, a Canon Rebel. Very cool camera! Here is the second photo I took with it:

Not bad for a beginner, right? Pi was, as usual, right by my side keeping me company. He really is a lovely dog, even if he STILL is chasing cats.

PHENOMENAL CHOCOLATE CHERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD or MINI-CAKES
based on a recipe by Tanita Davis & Robin Brande & Jama Rattigan

3 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs or equivalent egg substitute
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2-3 medium zucchini)
½ cup chopped nuts ( I used walnuts)
½ cup chocolate chips
½ cup sweet dried cherries (preferably from Michigan), chopped into about ¼ inch dice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9x5" loaf pans with canola spray. Alternatively, lightly grease 24 mini-muffin pans.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs (or egg substitute and water) with the sugar until well combined. Add oil, yogurt and vanilla. Beat to combine, then stir in zucchini. Add wet bowl to dry bowl and stir until just moistened. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips and cherries.

Spoon evenly into pans. Bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean if baking in loaf pans. If baking in mini-muffin pans, bake 15. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then turn onto racks. This bread is yummy when eaten still warm...the chips are melty and the fragrance is full chocolate!

To make a 'cake' out of the mini-cakes, line a flat serving plate or board with foil. Group the mini-cakes into a shape, then swirl on icing to join the cakes into the shape. Decorate as desired. I used the following buttercream icing:

Vanilla Easy Buttercream Icing

1/2 pound confectioners' sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons hot milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sieve the sugar into a bowl. In another bowl beat the butter until soft and fluffy. Beat in the sugar.

In another, small, bowl mix together the hot milk and the vanilla. Add to the sugar mixture and beat until smooth. If mixture is too stiff, add a bit of hot milk. If too thin, add a bit more sugar.

Enough for 12 cupcakes or 24 mini-cupcakes.

ABC Award and Seasonal Banana Bread

There is a recipe on this post, but it is waaay down there. First there is the ABC Award (Awesome Blog Content) from Katie of Apple and Spice. I've visited Katie's blog for quite a while now and I can confidently say that she is not only a wonderful blogger, well deserving the ABC Award herself, but an intrepid one. She has always baked delicious treats but made the change to gluten-free with such grace that, unless you really look carefully, you can't tell if her goodies have gluten or not...no 'poor me' from this fabulous baker! In some ways it has unleashed an even greater talent for baking and creativity. Do visit her blog so you can see what I mean!

So I thank Katie for the Award, but I took a while to post about it because it came with a list to make. I always have trouble with those lists. You've got to give some random facts about yourself, one for every letter of the alphabet! So here's my 26 alphabet related facts about me, although I'm not sure how fun it is. Mostly these are things I do, 'hats' I 'wear':

a - artist, author These two go together since my book Classic Comfort Food depends on the artistic photographs to shine.

b - baker, bread maker, business woman At one time these went together, too, when I had a wholesale muffin business. Now baking is for fun and gifting. Bread making is a passion that seems to go on and on. Being self-published, I'm running my own business again.

c - cook This is a life-long vocation and pleasurable pursuit. Fortunately, it's something I get to do every day. It is also one of my vehicles for another 'c' word, creative.

d - designer, daughter Although graphic design is my latest effort, I've also had a stenciled designs tee-shirt business, have designed gardens and clothing for myself and lots of other things. I'm grateful that my Mom is still alive so I get to be her daughter a while longer.

e - economist of the household variety

f - friend My first friends were my siblings and they are still my friends. I'm lucky to have a handful of true blue friends whom I can be completely myself with. Virtual friends like Katie are a blessing and I still struggle with how to be a good virtual friend myself.

g - graphics specialist, gardener During the past year these have been two interests that have been really high on my list of priorities. Just finished designing a children's book and have more graphic design projects lined up. The garden is burgeoning with flowers and veggies and I love being out in it enjoying the fragrances and colors.

h - homemaker Although other pursuits often mean my house isn't dust free and pin neat, it is a home and one where visitors say they always feel relaxed. I feel very lucky to live where I do and I love our home.

i - InDesign user Until last September I was a confirmed Pagemaker and QuarkXpress graphic designer. Now I love InDesign. All of these are programs used for page layout and graphic design. I spend a lot of time using them (and Photoshop) so it is really great to have found such a wonderful program.

j - journeyer In truth we are all on a journey into the unknown...exciting isn't it?

k - kitchen wench Anyone who loves to cook and bake as I do either finds someone to help with the clean up or becomes a kitchen wench. Although Sweetie helps sometimes, often it's me and the sink.

l - lover When he was in kindergarten, our son Max made a picture that said he was special because he was loving. It was very true. I think it might be true for me, too. I love a lot of people and I try to let them know it.

m - mom The hardest job of all, and much of the time the best one, too. My daughter Katherine is one of the greatest joys of my life.

n - never bored If you know me at all this one won't surprise you. I always have many more ideas and things I want to do than there is time. Occasionally I find it frustrating but mostly it feels like money in the bank.

o - outside-the-box thinker This sort of goes with the one above. Never met a recipe I didn't itch to change. When I 'problem solve' I often come up with unexpected solutions. Sweetie knows I think differently. My siblings claim I have my own logic system. This is not always the most comfortable trait to have.

p - Pi lover I'm besotted with our new dog, Pi. It's as simple as that.

q - queen of the hill We live at the top of a hill with a nice view back over the plain. Looking out that way from our deck I often feel like the queen of the hill even though most of what I see isn't really mine except to look at. I do appreciate how beautiful it is.

r - reader Books are everywhere in our home and I usually have a stack of unread books next to the bed. I love to read and so am rarely up on the latest TV shows or even music. So many books and so little time is absolutely true in my case.

s - seed starter and saver Growing things from seed is such a creative, life-affirming process. I've figured out how to get a high germination rate and every year start seeds, especially veggies, for the garden. I also save seeds from sweet peas, morning glories, scarlet runner beans (and more) for growing next year.

t - tomato maven There is nothing like a ripe tomato from your own garden, especially some of the heirloom tomatoes. I've gotten pretty good at growing them, plus I always give away seedlings in the spring to friends. If the seeds germinate really well I usually have more than I can plant.

u - universe's child This refers to a belief that, mostly, things are unfolding as they should. It is counter intuitive having lost my son 13 years ago yesterday in an auto accident when he was almost 17, but it still seems to explain a lot of other things.

v - voter This year especially it's an important thing. From the Presidential race to the local fire service race and everything in between, many, many things that impact my life and yours will be influenced by how the people vote and by how many actually cast their ballots. It may be weakened by forces beyond my control, but the democratic process of voting is still essential to America staying free and strong so I vote. You should, too.

w - wife The most important of all my pursuits, and the most enjoyable. I'm lucky in love. Thanks Sweetie!

x - xacto knife wielder Hey, it's getting tough to find activities. I did this the other day when I made special "Signed by Local Author" labels for some cookbooks to be sold at a local market, so it counts.

y - young at heart Now that I see gray hair when I look in the mirror, this one is kind of funny, but true anyway.

zzzz - tired of me yet? zucchini grower extraordinaire Since I'm sharing pounds and pounds of zucchini every week with neighbors and friends, eating some every day, and since I have one plant where the leaves are each about a foot and a half across, I claim this title with happiness.
I think I'm supposed to nominate others for this award, and there are certainly plenty of blogger who qualify, but not sure I want to also 'award' them the list making. Might need a few more days to decide. Stay 'tuned'.

Now for the recipe. Lots of ripe bananas often means Banana Bread! 

The wonderful thing about a basic recipe is that you can use it as the basis for creative changes. My Mom's Banana Bread from Classic Comfort Food has been altered to make it tropical, to use dates and nuts, to be a base for a Christmas time cranberry banana bread and more. I did switch out butter for the vegetable oil and exchanged some of the sugar for either brown sugar or molasses. The fruits and nuts change often and sometimes I throw in something like coconut or (today) shredded zucchini. As you can see it is a versatile recipe.

This time I'm going to add some orange zest for a fresh zing, summer berries for sweetness and a bit of the zucchini that is taking over the garden (because I need to find ways to use it up). It makes a lovely summer tea time treat!

Mashed Up Banana Bread with Berries and Zucchini
based on my mom's banana bread in Classic Comfort Food, 2012
makes one loaf

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 ripe bananas (or 2 large), mashed
1 tablespoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup fresh blackberries
1/4 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup shredded zucchini, loosely packed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Beat butter, brown sugar and sugar together until fluffy.

Add eggs and banana pulp and orange zest and beat well.

Sift together the whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. Set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture. To remaining flour mixture add baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl combine the blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and zucchini. Sprinkle the reserved 1/4 cup flour mixture over and lightly stir to coat the fruits and zucchini with the flour mixture. Set aside.

To the banana mixture add sifted dry ingredients, vanilla, and milk and yogurt. Mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated. Stir in fruit-zucchini mixture and nuts.

Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake about 1 hour. Test for doneness with a toothpick in center. When done, toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs on it. Cool well. Store overnight before cutting...if you can wait that long. A serrated knife makes cutting easier.

Zucchini Time Chocolate Bread

If you love zucchini squash this is a great time of year. If not, keep a watch on your porch because sometimes gardeners get overwhelmed with too many and will drop some on your doorstep under cover of darkness.

My squash plants are producing like mad. Fortunately over the years I've found fellow squash lovers who gladly take the extras so no midnight furtiveness is necessary for disposing of them.

One of the ways I love to eat zucchini is in a quickbread with cocoa and chocolate chips added. The first variation I baked had fresh cherries added. Another time I added chopped almonds, almond meal and fresh diced apricots but that version didn't please me, so it never made it onto the blog. This past week, with the help of Cucumber Spraygun who is visiting from the east coast, we made a version with walnuts and dried cranberries (Craisins) that was delicious.

For someone who usually bakes by herself, its sometimes difficult to bake with someone else, even an excellent baker like CS. I kept forgetting things so it was a good thing that we had laid out all of the ingredients. First I forgot that the sugar doesn't go with the dry ingredients...it gets beaten with the eggs. CS caught my mistake and we were able to scoop about 1/2 cup of the sugar out of the dry ingredients and beat it with the eggs. At the end I was so intent on not overmixing the batter that we completely left out the nuts
.

CS sprinkled them heavily on top which was a great save since it meant toasted walnuts...yum...but we think it may also have caused, somehow, for the bread to rise really high in the middle. Last, but not least, I didn't check the bread often enough so the edges ended up slightly burnt which is not good with chocolate.


The good news is that despite all of those errors we ended up with a lovely bread that was moist inside and delicious. It's also easy to make if you pay attention.

Some of the shredded zucchini that we prepared for going in to the bread was excess, so that went into meatloaf and a salad in subsequent days. We also eat zucchini grilled and I put it into my favorite spaghetti sauce, which can be found here. I'm thinking of making some banana bread and adding some shredded zucchini to that. I'll let you know if I do.



There are a few recipes, including the Cake Slice Baker July challenge, which will be posted later. Right now its more fun doing other things with CS and Sweetie...hope you understand. XO Elle

Chocolate Zucchini Bread with Dried Cranberries and Walnuts
based on:

ELIZABETH'S PHENOMENAL CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD
brought to you via Robin Brande & Jama Rattigan & Tanita Davis

3 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs or equivalent egg substitute
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2-3 medium zucchini)(measured after being squeezed dry)
½ cup chopped nuts ( we used walnuts)
1 pkg (12-oz) chocolate chips
½ cup died cranberries (Craisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9x5" loaf pans with canola spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In a separate bowl, beat eggs (or egg substitute and water) with the sugar until well combined. Add oil, yogurt and vanilla. Beat to combine, then stir in zucchini. Add wet bowl to dry bowl and stir until just moistened. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips and Craisins.

Spoon evenly into pans. Bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Check before 55 minutes...chocolate can burn easily.. Cool 10 minutes in pans, then turn onto racks. This bread is yummy when eaten still warm...the chips are melty and the fragrance is full chocolate!