When your Zucchini get out of hand.
Zucchini Bread, or
“what to do when your garden becomes the Little Shop of Horrors.”
The other day, my mother tried a piece of my Zucchini Bread.
“What is that flavor?” she said. “Mine has never been this nice.”
“Cloves,” I told her.
“I don’t like cloves,” she said. “But I love that.”
I have to admit it was particularly good batch. I usually grind whole cloves and if you are not diligent with the mortar and pestle, the flavour of the chunks of clove can over power the loaf.
This time I hadn’t been able to find whole cloves at the store, so I used ground and found it was better for this bread.
Also, I wrung out the grated zucchini just the right amount and the moisture level was perfect. Last time I was showing someone how to wring out the excess moisture in a tea towel, was over zealous and the bread was a touch dry. But do wring it out to prevent a soggy loaf.
Nobody likes a soggy loaf!
It’s a great way to use that excess zucchini at this time of year, or get a nice size one at the farmer’s market and knock yourself out!
In The Good Neighbor, (yes! out this week!) Stephanie goes out to her garden and finds:
The stump end of a mammoth zucchini peeked out at her from under a leaf. Not good. Zucchini were the jesters of the garden, growing to ridiculous, bulbous proportions when your back was turned…
Hefting a giant zucchini in one hand, she measured its weight, reminded of a childhood summer day spent grating the big ones for zucchini bread, the smell of cloves and cinnamon filling the air. She put the offender under one arm, the basket over the other, and started down the shoreline path to the cabin.
Cloves and spice, Aunt Augusta’s trademark. Stephanie must have the same recipe I have.
Enjoy!
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Zucchini Nut Loaf
Sweet and moist with the (subtle) flavour of cloves and cinnamon, this is the perfect sweet bread to have in the freezer to whip out for unexpected company. Or when you just need some comfort food yourself.
CuisineSweet Treats
Servings
2loafs
Cook Time
1hour
Servings
2loafs
Cook Time
1hour
Ingredients
4cups
grated zucchini
2cups
granulated sugar
1 cup
oilolive oil works fine
2tsps
vanilla
Dry Ingredients
3cups
all purpose flour
2tsps
cinnamon
1tsp
ground cloves
1 1/2tsp
baking powder
1tsp
baking soda
1tsp
salt
1cup
chopped walnuts
Instructions
Grate the zucchini. Lay in a towel and wring out some of the water. water will run out. Don't squeeze until totally dry or the bread will be dry.
In a large bowl mix the sugar, oil and vanilla with a large spoon. Beat in the eggs and stir in the zucchini.
Combine dry ingredients in another bowl. Add to zucchini mixture and stir.
Spoon batter into 2 greased loaf pans, or five tiny ones so you can give some away.
Bake at 350° F for 1 hour - until toothpick comes out clean.
Turn out of pans onto wire rack and cool right side up.
Wrap airtight when cool and keep in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freezes well.
