Traced Elements

Tag: zucchini

  • Zucchini – again!

    Zucchini – again!

    It seems to be that time of year again! So many people I know are offering up their excess zucchini’s as they have too many and don’t know what to do with them!

    So when my neighbour put out a post saying she had some up for grabs I volunteered to take one of her hands. And it was a monster! So much so that I made to make up half as much again of the recipe I found. This meant that I could make four mini-loaves and one standard size loaf. Good job I’m a fan of zucchini bread.

    Besides, I gifted back two of the mini-loaves for her, and her family, to enjoy! 🙂

    The Mini Zucchini Loaf recipe I found included walnuts which I didn’t have on hand, but the pecans worked just as well!

    So, if you have any spare zucchini’s I won’t say no. 😉

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups grated zucchini (about 2-3 zucchini)
    • 3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1 cup vegetable oil
    • 3 large eggs
    • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
    • 1 cup chopped walnuts

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two [or three] 5 1/2 by 3-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper, and then spray paper.
    2. To reduce the moisture, press the grated zucchini between sheets of paper towel. When most of the moisture has been absorbed, you can fluff with your hands or a fork and then set aside.
    3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
    4. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, almond extract and eggs and mix until well combined. Stir in the zucchini.
    5. Add dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in nuts. Divide batter between the two mini loaf pans. If you have extra batter, you can drop liners into a muffin pan and make a few zucchini muffins.
    6. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Use a toothpick to test – if it comes out clean, it’s ready to take out. Let cool for about 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from the pan to cool completely.

  • A zucchini recipe to be thankful for

    A zucchini recipe to be thankful for

    I know, I know! I’ve already written about zucchini, surely there must be some other ingredient I can use?

    Yes there is, but there was still some sitting in my fridge to be used up and Thanksgiving is just round the corner. Plus, I like to make cupcakes for all the boys and girls at my work, just to let them know that they are appreciated so having had success with my other zucchini cake and bread recipes I thought I’d give one more recipe a try.

    Zucchini CupcakesBesides, I am thankful that I had my granny to show me her love for baking and that I have people to appreciate the bakes that I try out on them.

    So enjoy these zucchini cupcakes, which have delicate pumpkin spice flavours and are so soft they melt in your mouth, topped off with a wonderfully fluffy cream cheese buttercream.

    I can’t think of anything better this Thanksgiving.

    Cupcake Ingredients

    • 3/4 cup finely grated zucchini (I actually used a cup!)
    • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
    • 2/3 cup white sugar
    • 1/3 cup brown sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1/4 cup milk

    Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
    • 4 oz brick-style cream cheese
    • 3 – 4 cups powdered sugar
    • 1 tablespoon heavy cream, if needed

    Cupcake Directions

    1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line a muffin pan with muffin papers.
    2. Gently dab the grated zucchini with a paper towel to remove excess liquid. It shouldn’t be dry, but there shouldn’t be extra water.
    3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
    4. In a separate large bowl whisk together the oil and sugars until no lumps remain. Then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract and milk.
    5. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then gently fold in the grated zucchini using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
    6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each about 2/3 full. Be careful not to fill them any more than 3/4 full.
    7. Bake in the preheated oven for 16-19 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
    8. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then continue cooling on a wire rack.

    Cream Cheese Frosting Directions

    1. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.
    2. Then mix in the cream cheese.
    3. With the mixer on low, beat in 3 cups of powdered sugar until combined.
    4. If needed, slowly beat in the rest of the powdered sugar a little at a time until the desired consistency and sweetness level is reached. If it gets a little too thick, then beat in the cream.
    5. Frost the cupcakes with a knife or using a piping bag and piping tip.

    If they last that long the cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen and thawed in the fridge overnight.

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  • Zucchini – two ways

    Zucchini – two ways

    I recently bumped into a friend who has a veggie patch and she asked if I had any recipes for zucchinis as she had lots growing. She also wanted to know what it was with Pemberton that zucchinis grew so well!

    I wasn’t quite sure what she meant until another friend gifted me the mother of all zucchinis! I mean, this one was about as large as the marrows my grandad used to grow! (Egg for scale.)

    Being curious I did a Google search on zucchinis, which are a summer squash and are a cultivar of the marrow I remember from my childhood. It appears that they can actually reach almost 1 metre (100 cm; 39 in) in length, but are usually harvested when still immature at about 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 in). They are also very productive plants and just one or two plants will produce enough for a small family. You can also harvest the large yellow squash blossoms and eat them raw or cooked. Only female blossoms produce fruit, so you can harvest most of the male flowers without slowing down the plant’s productivity. Who knew?

    With a zucchini this large I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I could make a quiche, galettes or even gnocchi. But no, with temperatures much cooler, and with my propensity towards baking, I decided to try both a savoury and a sweet bread.

    The trick to cooking or baking with the grated zucchini is to squeeze some of the moisture out before adding to your recipe. Just use a clean tea towel, place the zucchini in the centre, twist and watch the excess water drip out.

    Whether you prefer savoury or sweet I hope one of the following recipes helps you out with your glut of zucchinis, but if you still have too many then I have a couple more bread recipes that I’d like to try!

    First up is a Zucchini Cheddar Quick Bread made with buttermilk (or a home-made version as in the recipe) and which smelled as delicious cooking in the oven as it tasted not long out of it. Cheesy mouthwatering goodness!

    Ingredients

      • 1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated
      • 2 cups all purpose white flour
      • 2 teaspoons baking powder
      • 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 1 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar, white or apple cider to make home-made buttermilk or use 1 cup buttermilk
      • 1 egg
      • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
      • 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
      • 2 green onions, chopped

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 5 bread pan with non stick spray. (I would also add a layer of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to ensure that the bread does not stick.)
    2. Wrap grated zucchini in a paper towel, or clean tea towel, and squeeze until some of the liquid releases. (You don’t need to completely dry it out.)
    3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
    4. If making home-made buttermilk, combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl. (The milk will curdle a bit). If not making then use 1 cup traditional buttermilk. Mix in melted butter and egg.
    5. Add milk mixture to dry mixture being careful not to over mix to avoid the bread turning out flat.
    6. Add grated zucchini, cheese and onions, mixing lightly until just combined.
    7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
    8. If toothpick inserted comes out clean, bread is done!  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Remove carefully and cool on wire rack.

    After your savoury zucchini bread what do you need? Orange Zucchini Bread with Orange Glaze of course! The orange provided a nice zing and the glaze was a touch of sweetness against the bread itself. My orange was very juicy and I could have done with a bit more icing sugar to thicken it up. I’ll know for next time. 😉

    Ingredients

    For the bread:

    • 3 large eggs
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • zest and juice of 1 large orange
    • 3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp cardamom (optional)
    • 1/4 tsp baking soda
    • 2 cups grated zucchini

    For the glaze:

    • zest and juice of 1 large orange
    • 3 tbsp. butter melted
    • 1 tsp. vanilla
    • 3 cups powdered sugar

    Directions

    For the bread:

    1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and orange zest and juice.
    2. In another large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cardamom (if using), and baking soda.
    3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with the zucchini, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
    4. If you’d like to add any nuts, fold in about 1 cup chopped nuts.
    5. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with foil or parchment paper, letting the edges hang over the pan. This is a MUST as the bread will to stick to the pan. Coat with non-stick spray.
    6. Spread batter into prepared pan.
    7. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until top and edges are golden and a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean.
    8. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
    9. Run a knife along any edges that may have seeped and stuck to the pan.
    10. Remove bread from the pan completely using the foil or parchment paper edges. Cool completely.
    11. Meanwhile, prepare glaze.

    For glaze:

    1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the glaze ingredients until smooth.
    2. Depending on how juicy your orange was, you may need to add a little water or more powdered sugar! You should be able to drizzle or pour it, but it shouldn’t easily run off the bread.
    3. Drizzle glaze over cooled bread. Cut and serve.