Recipe: Zucchini bread (1 medium loaf)
Ingredients:
- 1+1/4 cups KAF whole wheat flour
- 1 cup KAF bread flour
- 3 TB sugar
- 1 TB baking powder
- 1+1/2 tp salt
- 3 TB olive oil
- 2 cups packed with shredded zucchini
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 tp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Procedure:
1. Beat eggs with milk and oil.
2. Mix whole wheat flour, bread flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ground nutmeg in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, 1 cup at a time and stir until it becomes a thick batter.
3. Add zucchini in small batch and stir vigorously to mix well. Then pour into a 9"x5" loaf pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake on middle rack for 1 hour to 1 hour+15 minutes. To test doneness, check the top; if it is wet and wobbles when touched, then cover with foil and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes.
Results:
4:51pm, one zucchini finely shredded:
5:14pm, dry ingredients and wet ingredients mixed separately:
5:21pm, dry ingredients and wet ingredients mixed together to form a thick batter:
5:26pm, zucchini added, which also add moisture to the batter:
5;32pm, batter transferred to a greased loaf pan:
5:34pm, thickness of batter:
5:36pm, batter topped with cheese just before baking:
5:53pm, loaf baked 20 minutes:
6:15pm, loaf baked 35 minutes:
6:16pm, loaf's internal temperature:
6:17pm, thermometer coming out sticky:
6:41pm, loaf baked 1 hour:
6:42pm, thermometer coming out quite clean:
6:49pm, loaf baked 1 hour 15 minutes;
6:51pm, loaf's height:
6:52pm, loaf's top:
6:52pm, loaf's bottom:
6:53pm, loaf's side:
6:53pm, loaf's heel:
7:02pm, loaf cooled 15 minutes and sliced, too early!
7:14pm, the gummy texture of a slice when it's still very hot:
7:02pm, a bite; not too pleasing:
10:28pm, loaf cooled thoroughly and sliced; much much better now:
10:27pm, loaf yielding 17 slices in total (6 when hot, and 15 cooled):
10:26pm, a center-of-loaf slice:
10:27pm, a heel-of-loaf slice:
10:27pm, the thinness of crust when cooled:
I slice the loaf and freeze it. To serve, I take a slice out to warm up on counter top (or in microwave if short of time). Then I toast it to get the crispiness. It makes a great breakfast when served with green pepper jelly and tea.
Observations:
1. The quick bread takes a lot longer than yeast bread to be done. I think it's because of the hydration level in the batter.
2. I am taken by surprise by the sweetness of this loaf. It's not as sweet as the corn bread that I ate at Copper Canyon. That was practically cake! This is slightly sweet, actually sweeter than I'd like it to be. I can also taste the saltiness, along with the egg.
3. The crust becomes hard shortly after it's done. The crumb is a little gummy when the loaf is still hot.
4. When I bake this loaf for dinner, I forget to take into account that the loaf needs to be cooled for about 1 hour. I cut it too soon.
5. Perhaps because it does not taste as I expected (when it just comes out of the oven), my first reaction isn't quite happy. But then, after the loaf cools down, the gummy texture goes away, and the flavor becomes more developed. The loaf has continued its cooking while cooling. The sweetness integrates with the rest of the ingredients to give a much richer flavor. I really like it. It doesn't qualify as a sweet bread, but it's definitely sweeter than other loaves.
To do:
1. Next time I'd allow it at least 1-2 hours to cool before slicing and eating it.
2. I may try to reduce the sugar to 2 TB to reduce its sweetness.
It delights me greatly when my husband says he likes this bread at his breakfast. I serve him two slices, toasted and with a thin spread of cream cheese.
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