Coming back to reality was a lot tougher to do this week than it's been for a while now. Probably due to the fact that I went out two nights in a row, which is a bit of a rarity, at least... since I've been at this job. Friday night was our firm's sports club dinner, which isn't what it sounds like, and things got kind of hectic as I was on the committee for the thing. Although the committee after party was well worth the trouble, and getting a free room at the hotel might have been as good a payment as I could have hoped for.
The Usual Suspects
I realized I'm getting older when it took me a full day to recover from a night out... but still young enough that I woke up from my nap, slapped on a "night out" outfit and went off to the city again. Though I paid for it on Sunday... with a free spa day courtesy of the firm.
Hello, Cutie Pie x
I know, I know, I have no right to complain... as the only reason I'm knackered this morning was my weekend folly. And also because the Zucchini Bread took half an hour longer to bake than expected.
It's been a while since my last update here, not because I haven't been baking but rather due to my being too lazy to resize, watermark and upload photos. So this morning I made the effort to whip out my iPhone and snap a few quick ones before leaving. Yea... it's exhausting work, that. However, I felt this was a recipe worth sharing, one I adapted from two seperate recipes I found online and made some tweaks to.
Zucchini Bread
- 3 cups self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (optional)
- 3 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground dried ginger
- Pinch of salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups grated zucchini (use a big grater so it's less watery)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, I didn't go for it this time around)
- Preheat oven to 160C, grease your loaf pan - I used aN 8" x 4" pan, however the recipe can be split between two... I just like a taller bread
- In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Set aside
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and vanilla
- Add the flour mixture to the wet mix in one go, beat on medium speed for a 3 minutes or so, just until fully incorporated
- The zucchini goes in last, mix either with a spatula or if you're lazy like me, whizz at medium speed on the Kitchenaid
- Bake for 60 minutes (meant to be, but since I poured it all in one pan, it took 1 hour 30 mins), or until a skewer poked at an angle to the bottom comes out completely clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then pop it out and let the bread cool completely on the cooling rack
Excellent bread! Though I have to figure out a way to tweak the recipe further, need less sugar in it. The combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger powder made for the best smelling thing I've ever produced in that oven. Next time, I may even add the lemon glaze halfway through the baking process to add a little extra zing! Though this will probably be more suited to an afternoon tea party, for breakfast the plain bread is best.
Although I find that not many people are willing to try out zucchini bread... which I don't get. Hope you try it out though.
x Nabs, Queen of The Nile
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