After staying up all night to watch the ball drop, or in some places a large shoe, a giant peach, or a live possum, you want something super delicious to wake up to. And this, is that somethin' something. Not only is this really tasty, but you can prepare this days before you want to serve. Actually I'll say my peace now, it does taste better if you wait for like two days. The bread sinks down into the tin, and the flavors meld together, I think it's just superb. But please don't wait more than two days because then you will have a different kind of green thing running through your bread, and it won't be the zucchini.
I was granted the privilege to make this zucchini bread with my legendary Auntie Rosa on my trip to Connecticut this Christmas. We actually made ten loaves which if you do the math equates to about, a lot of work. But it was so worth it. We used her hundred year old recipe which was handed down to her by her mother, and her mother before her. How could this recipe be bad! Anyways like many quickbreads this only takes a few moments to prep so first things first preheat your oven to 325. That's just good time management.
Using a grater, or a 3000 year old food processor (no offense Auntie Rosa) we are going to shred the zucchini into, well, shreds. Quarter your zucchini into chunks small enough to handle. No need to peel off the skin because zucchini rinds are very thin, plus when we bake them it'll all soften anyways. Once all of your zucchini is prepped we can begin the wet assembly.
This includes your eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil. Usually I would blanchir my eggs first and then drizzle in the oil, but Auntie Rosa's recipe said otherwise. Who was I to argue with a 100 year old recipe. And for those of you who stumbled on the funny french word in the sentence before, to blanchir means to make white or light in color. In baking, this term refers to creaming eggs or egg yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Instead we combined all three ingredients together until homogenous and smooth, I think it worked out the same. And once everything is combined stir in the milk and the zucchini.
In a separate bowl we're going to sift together our dry ingredients. A.K.A your baking soda, not baking powder, salt, flour, and cinnamon. If you consider "love" a dry ingredient you can add this in as well. Dump your dry mixture into the wet base and stir until just combined. Try to dig from the bottom of the bowl so as to fully incorporate the flour stuck to the bottom. You don't want to overmix the batter so as soon as everything is combined stop and walk away. I've had to handcuff my hands behind my back to resist the urges to stir but hopeful you all are better behaved as I am.
Butter and flour your loaf pans. I believe the ones we used can be described as the mini or medium disposable loaf pans but I'm not completely sure. I think it's best if you just look at the picture and figure it out for yourself. By the way if one of you do figure it out please leave a comment below so I can add it in to the post. That would be very much appreciated. Divide the batter equally, I'm not sure why you wouldn't, into your pans about 3/4 of the way up. These will rise and you don't want muffin tops on your bread. Sprinkle with some roughly chopped nuts, Auntie Rosa uses walnuts, and wait until the oven is preheated.
Bake for about an hour, or until when you insert a toothpick into the center...ah you know the spiel.
Transfer them onto a wire rack and let them cool completely before serving. Like I said before I think these taste even better after a couple nights on the countertop. Auntie Rosa likes her bread sliced, toasted and spread with cream cheese, and I have to agree. The fluffy, moist, slightly sweet and nutty zucchini bread goes hand in hand with the cool tangy cream cheese. I especially love the crust on the top that gets nice and caramelized and sweet, simply heaven. Thank you Auntie Chow for this wonderful chow-fection and letting me bake with you, it was truly, an honor. I really hope you all make this recipe, scroll down for the recipe. And as always,
Chow!
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| The preferred method of consumption. Toasted with Cream Cheese. |
3 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil
2 cups of raw zucchini (grated with skin on)
2 cups of sugar
3 cups of flour
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 cup of chopped nuts (enough to sprinkle)
*For 2 loaves
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