I am curious how many people that took up gardening last year because of Covid are still gardening this year? I do know that my local gardening store was a little more prepared for it this year; unlike last year when they were out of just about everything. We have had some sort of a garden for well over 30 years now and it seems to continually keep growing; no pun intended. Though this was the first time in; so long I can’t remember when that I wasn’t able to get any garlic in the ground last year for this Spring’s harvest but we are dealing with it fine.
This year we had more summer squash and zucchini so I didn’t make as many baked goods with the super large zucchini that sometimes just appear in the garden. There are a couple of recipes that are my go-to for those super large what the hell do I do with this monster.
The first thing I make is zucchini bread. This is a crowd pleaser and I love that I can make so many small loaves for the freezer. Personally for just the three of us we do not leave a full size loaf of anything. We are usually all set with eating the same thing over and over again by day 2; but feel obligated to eat the whole thing before it goes bad or dries out.
I am going to share a couple of recipes with you today so if you are gardening or lucky enough to come across some super large “what to do with me” zucchinis you can start with one of these or both. I think you will be very happy either way.
Lemon Zucchini Tea Cake
Equipment
- 9 inch cake pan
Ingredients
cake
- ¾ cup oil can you use applesauce or coconut oil
- 1¾ cup shredded zucchini drained
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 x-large eggs
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice use the same lemon you zested
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- handful of fresh blueberries
cream cheese frosting
- 1 8 ounce box cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
- 1 16 ounce box confectioners sugar roughly 4 cups - I buy mine in a large bag
Instructions
cake
- In a stand mixer or use your hand mixer; combine the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until light in color 1-2 minutes. Add the applesauce, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla beat until well combined another 1-2 minutes. Add the zucchini, beat till combined; another minute. Sift the flour, soda, powder and salt. Add this mixture to create the batter and beat till combined; do not over mix.
- Grease or spray your pan and add the batter, place in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. Bake until your wooden toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool, loosen the edges and invert the cake onto a wire rack to completely cool. Once cool, spread cream cheese frosting and top with some blueberries
cream cheese frosting
- In a stand mixer, cream together the room temperature cream cheese and butter. add the vanilla and confectioners sugar blend until smooth and creamy
- spread the frosting all over the top of the cooled cake and cover with blueberries. Slice and enjoy!
Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 package vanilla pudding
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups AP-flour
- 2 cups zucchini grated and drained
Instructions
- preheat oven to 350'F grease baking dish
- in a mixing bowl add the eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and mix well
- in another small bowl add the vanilla pudding, baking soda and powder, plus the flour and stir or whisk to combine.
- add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix till combined.
- Add the shredded zucchini and stir till everything is mixed together.
- fill baking dishes 3/4 full and bake for 45-55 minutes. adjust timing for which ever size dishes you are using
Made the Zucchini Bread today! It came out great – thanks for sharing this recipe!
So happy it worked out well. I have to confess the first time I posted the bread recipe several years ago I left off the sugar. My friend was making it and even faced time me and he was like. Are you sure it looks right? Oops my bad!