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Spice up zucchini squash in zingerbread cake

Recipe: Add blueberries for a seasonal touch

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED MAY 31, 2020

Zingerbread makes a fine dessert with blueberries in the cake and more berries alongside. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

It's time to shake the dust off the zucchini recipe collection. A gardener's favorite squash is back in season.

We've had several good recipes on the blog already, including our two biggest hits: Chocolate zucchini bread and Zapped pickles.

But the plants are going to be producing for awhile, so we like to provide new options for The Squash That Keeps on Giving.

This recipe, adapted from " The Classic Zucchini Cookbook," brings together zucchini and gingerbread, which I usually associate with fall and winter. But add some blueberries to the mix, like I did, and it becomes a great picnic cake, a brunch offering or a vehicle to show off even more summer fruit. Whipped cream, ice cream, fruit sauce -- all good.

Two 8-inch zucchini will provide about 3 cups grated squash.

Zingerbread with blueberries

Serves 12

Ingredients:

3 cups grated zucchini (from two 8-inch squash)

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

3 to 4 teaspoons ground ginger (it's quite spicy with 4)

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses (light or dark)

2 eggs

1 cup hot brewed coffee

1 to 1-1/2 cups blueberries, washed, dried and tossed with 1/2 tablespoon flour

Powdered sugar, for garnish

To serve alongside, optional:

Whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, fresh berries or other fruit, applesauce, lemon sauce or any freshly made fruit sauce

Instructions:

Combine the grated zucchini and salt in a colander, stirring to mix. Set aside to drain for 30 minutes.

The grated zucchini drains for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, soda, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Set aside.

Put the butter and light brown sugar in large mixing bowl. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well until combined. Add the molasses and mix well. Don't worry if the mixture appears curdled.

Using a clean dish towel, squeeze the excess moisture from the drained zucchini, and add the squash to the bowl, blending just to combine. Add the flour mixture alternately with the coffee, mixing just until combined.

Gently fold in the flour-coated blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched and a toothpick or thin knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake on a rack before cutting.

Sprinkle powdered sugar over cake. Cool the cake on a wire rack 10 minutes before cutting. Or let it cool completely and serve at room temperature.

Serve plain or with any of the suggested accompaniments.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

baking recipes gardening Sacramento berries cake backyard produce produce management zucchini farmer's markets

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 2

Get out early in the morning and monitor your garden’s moisture needs. Deep water and add temporary shade structures for plants that are feeling a little burned. In particular, protect developing peppers and eggplant.

* Put off fertilization until this heat passes; plants need to concentrate on hydration instead of growth.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don’t let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Make sure to keep seeds and seedlings consistently moist.

* Plant potatoes.

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