The harvest of zucchinis of all sizes and shapes is once again abundant, with sharing going on between friends, and some on sale at farmers’ markets.
It could be said that zucchinis on their own are tasteless but add them into cake recipes or stir fry them and they take on the exciting tastes of other ingredients, making them versatile for use now or frozen for later.
This week’s recipes have been shared by friends.
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Zucchini Loaf
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated raw zucchini
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsps. baking soda
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1/2 cup coconut, optional
Mix all ingredients together in order given. Pour into greased and floured loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees F for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack then remove from pans. Cool completely. Wrap and store in refrigerator or freezer. Note: maple flavouring may be substituted for the vanilla. Sugar may be split between one cup white and one cup brown sugar.
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Lemon Zucchini Cake
1 1/4 cups white sugar
6 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsps. lemon juice
1 tsp. almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour less 2 tbsps.
2 tbsps. cornstarch
1 1/4 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini, drained and squeezed dry
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsps. lemon juice.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
Combine flour, starch, baking powder and salt and whisk then set aside.
Combine sugar and olive oil then whisk in milk and eggs. Add lemon juice and almond extract and stir to combine.
Add flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Fold in zucchini.
Pour into loaf pan and bake 45-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Top of cake should look dry.
Cool 15 minutes on rack then remove from pan to serving tray and cool.
To make glaze, combine powdered sugar and lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Slice and serve.
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
