
You know how it is when you go out to the garden
everyday, picking and weeding your way through,
and then you find the baseball-bat sized zucchini lying there?
How could you have missed it?
Well, obviously, it happens a lot to me.
I have no problem with finding bright yellow squash,
but the camo zucchini elude me.
When a zucchini gets this big,
it's time to make zucchini bread.
Zucchini bread is a favorite amongst the Hawthornelets.
I remember when Middle Hawthorne
was little, he'd always ask me for Bikini Bread.

Dogwood has decided to come investigate.

A few soccer plays with a pistachio.
and Dogwood's off to look for something else
to occupy his wee brain.
When Dogwood stays with Nana
he tends to get overstimulated.

I'm thinking about taking up juggling.

My mise en place for Mama Hawthorne's Zucchini Bread:
2 cups zucchini, grated and drained
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil (I used vegetable.)
3 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pecans (optional)
I used black walnuts.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease and flour 2 9-inch bread pans.
Shred zucchini and set in a colander to drain.
Mix eggs, sugar, and oil.
Sift flour and spices and add to above.
Add vanilla, pecans, or in my case, Black Walnuts,
and the squeezed and drained zucchini.

I always start out with my eggs.
Beat until a light lemon color.

Gradually beat in the sugar.

Slowly beat in the oil.

Dry ingredients ready for sifting
into the wet.

Sift gently into batter.

I like lots of vanilla.
I'm using a tablespoon,
although Mama Hawthorne called for 2 teaspoons.

I'm squeezing as much juice as I can
out of my zucchini slices
which have been
draining while I prepared everything else.

That's a good 1/4 cup.

Lastly, fold in the nuts.
Pour batter into greased and floured pans.
Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Remember, if you have smaller loaf pans
to reduce the cooking time.
We happened to have on hand some shelled
Black Walnuts we'd picked up at a farmers market.
Black Walnuts do the trick in this zucchini bread.
Instead of the safe, omnipresent pecan ...
WHOOT!
there's something in there different -
something you entirely didn't expect
and ...
and ...
YES, indeedy, you do like it.

Here's my finished batter - rather heavy.

1 large loaf pan
and 3 small loaf pans which I had buttered.

The three small loves were done in 45 minutes.
Test with a skewer.
It should come out fairly clean.
A little crumb on a skewer is fine.
You want a moist cake or bread.
You don't want it totally clean
since it's probably dried out by then.

Remove and let cool on racks.

This recipe makes enough to fill 2 9-inch loaf pans.
I only had 1 loaf pan and substituted
3 smaller pans.
And one of the smaller loaves
has already been
whisked away to a neighbor
who does a favor for me.
He brings me the grass clippings from his yard.

Nice texture.
Fairly tight crumb.
Studded with black walnuts.
I like to slice these,
spread some sourwood honey and butter on them
and toast them for breakfast.
Except there's a problem.

Dixie and I went to the pool,
leaving the loaves cooling on the counter.
When we came back in,
this is all that's left.

I don't think this will make it to breakfast. : (
Apparently, the Young Twenty-Somethings
that were here
must have liked my zucchini bread.
Um, Rosie, where are the fried zucchini blossoms this year?
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