Zucchini Bread

I had one more zucchini left in the fridge after making zoodles and it was getting a little bit soft. And then I remembered that I bookmarked Cheah's Zucchini Bread recipe. I was quite intrigued that zucchini could be used in cakes and I was curious. After all if carrots can be baked into carrot cakes why not a zucchini be baked into a zucchini bread?

This "bread" is actually a cake and it is probably called a bread because it is baked in a loaf pan and resembles bread. But I prefer to call it cake, if you know what I mean. Making this zucchini bread is pretty much like making a muffin. You can use oil instead of butter and you simply mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and you are all done. Everything is mixed in one bowl and that was perfect because I baked this zucchini bread on a Saturday when there was no water supply.

I made some changes to Cheah's recipe in terms of the amount of ingredients and substituted nuts with more raisins. I also topped the cake with pumpkin seeds. It took about 50 minutes for the cake to be done and I was quite pleased with the appearance of my zucchini bread. 

Most of all I was very curious how it would taste. It wasn't until the next morning that I had a slice and I was very pleased that the cake tasted quite good. The texture is moist but dense in a good way.

Even though I reduced the sugar, the cake was still on the sweet side due to the natural sweetness of the raisins. My partner liked this cake (the man loves anything with raisins) and he too found the cake a little too sweet.

So the next time I have a zucchini lying idle in the fridge, I know what to do with it!

Zucchini Bread
Recipe source : Adapted from No-Frills Recipes

Ingredients :
- 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
- 200g self-raising flour
- 100g sugar (for my own reference : to reduce to 50g due to sweetness of raisins)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1.5 cups grated zucchini
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup golden raisins

Method :
1. In a large bowl, mix sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2. Stir in the grated zucchini followed by the oil. Mix till well blended.
3. Sift in flour 1/3 at a time over the liquid mixture and mix well.
4. Add raisins.
5. Pour batter into a lined 4" x 9" x 3" loaf pan.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 160C for 40 to 45 minutes or until cooked.
7. Let cool in pan for about 10 mins before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.