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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 Sept. 15

Make the most of the cool break this week – and get things done. Your garden needs you!

* Now is the time to plant for fall. The warm soil will get cool-season veggies off to a fast start.

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.

* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.

* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.

* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.

* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.

* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with "eyes" about an inch below the soil surface.

* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.

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