Zucchini Cake for gluts, funerals, and dog days

swinging bridge :: sugar baby watermelon :: green heron :: reflections :: hitching post

The outdoors has about got us beat. The weather is in the upper nineties day after day. Our little bluebirds fledged the nest this morning and I'm convinced it was most likely because they were so tired of sitting on top of one another in this heat and not really because they were curious about being in the world.

These are the days of my childhood when we would lay around on the floor of the front room, watching soap operas and eating Cheetos while mom would insist that all the house's curtains be drawn for the duration. Farm chores were only possible in the earliest and latest hours of the day, except of course the chores that required liberal use of a water hose. 

While I am not experiencing my own zucchini glut {I'd give anything for enough rain for a glut of anything} I know someone somewhere has a surfeit of squash. Here is my go-to recipe for extra squash and/or zucchini and/or apples. It freezes beautifully unfrosted, so you can bake as many as you can muster in July and August and enjoy them for later holidays, babies, and funerals. By contrast, if you cannot bear the idea of turning on the oven, just shred your squash, zucchini and/or apples, freeze them in batches of about two cups, and bake when the time is right for holidays, babies, and funerals. 

Susan's Zucchini Cake 

* I am not privy to the details of this recipe's provenance, I only know that it came by way of a family friend, Susan. I loved the cake when we enjoyed it together, mailed her one of my recipe cards, and she wrote it out and sent it back. I feel a person's recipes are so much more special if captured by their own pen. 

3 eggs, beaten

1 c vegetable oil

2 c granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 c grated zucchini {drained if super wet, seeded if super large, peeled if very tough}

*******

3 c all purpose flour

3 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour bundt pan. 

2. Combine and mix well all ingredients from top of list in one bowl. 

3. Combine all ingredients from bottom of list in one bowl. Sift or whisk to combine. 

4. Make a well in dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients in. Mix gently using spatula or wooden spoon, only just until mostly combined. (Think Alton Brown's "muffin method.")

5. Pour evenly into prepared bundt pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until done. 

6. Turn out and allow to cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting or wrapping well and freezing.