Zucchini Bread

Four to five years back, i haven't even heard of this vegetable, zucchini.

One day, at work, one of my colleague brought this delicious cake and said its zucchini bread.

A yummy cake using a vegetable..I was all excited about the idea :)

I ate a piece and fell in love with it, though I had know idea what zucchini was or how it looked like.

Anyway, during my next trip to the grocery store,i went straight to the produce section looking for this mystery vegetable, and grabbed a couple of them.

Since then every summer, I make this delightful bread a number of times.

One of everybody's fav evening snack. (Can also be a breakfast too)

Easy to bake, calls for vegetable oil instead of butter, lots of veggie, all in all a win-win.

Even today, there are lots of veggies in the produce aisle I haven't given a try. I guess, I have to think outside the box (I mean, outside my limited staple vegetable choices)

I use zucchini in stir-fries too. It tastes so good.

Here is the recipe, adapted from allrecipes.com

You'll need:

Recipe makes 1 loaf

All purpose flour: 1 1/2 cups

Sugar: 1 cup

Eggs: 2 nos

Vegetable Oil: 1/2 cup

Baking soda: 1/2 tsp

Baking powder: 1/2 tsp

Zucchini: 1 cup (grated)

Salt: 1/2 tsp

Vanilla extract: 1 1/2 tsp

Ground cinnamon: 1 1/2 tsp

Chopped walnut: 1/2 cup

How to make:

Preheat oven to 325 degree F.

Grease and flour a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.

Sift together flour, salt,cinnamon powder, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, add the sugar, oil and the vanilla extract.

Mix in the sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well.

Stir in the grated zucchini and chopped nuts and mix well until combined.

Transfer the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 40-50 min, or until the tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool the pan on a rack for a few mins.

Enjoy the cake or the bread, what ever you call it...i guarantee,  its gonna taste good :)

Upside down plum cake

Don't you love to bake all these fancy cakes...I do...Its my first time baking an upside down cake. I have always wanted try the upside down pineapple cake.

But, its summer time and have lots of stone fruits handy...so tried this plum cake...look at that! isn't she a beauty :) an absolute treat for the eyes...also for your tummy too.

I did make some plum jam too...recipe coming soon...

Don't get carried away by the looks..This cake is pretty simple to make. The cake part is just easy as any ordinary pound cake.

And you can go all artistic in arranging the plum slices :)

This is what I like about summer....I get to do a lot with peaches, plums, mangoes, zucchini, water melon, avocados, corn, cherries and what not?
I guess some people are born to eat, and our family is definitely one of them :)
How about you? 

Here is the recipe

You'll need:

6 large plums,each pitted and cut into 8 wedges

All purpose flour: 1 1/2 cups

Butter, unsalted: 1 1/2 stick (12 tbsp), softened

Sugar: 3/4 cup

Brown sugar: 3/4 cup (for the topping)

Baking powder: 2 tsp

Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

Milk: 1/2 cup

Eggs: 2 nos

Ground cinnamon: 1/2 tsp

Salt: 1/4 tsp

How to make:

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
In a small sauce pan melt 4 tbsp of butter. Once the butter melts and start turning brown in color, immediately add the brown sugar. Cook butter and sugar, stirring continuously, for 2-3 min.
Pour the mixture into a greased 9 inch cake pan, spreading all over the bottom of the pan using a spatula.
Arrange plum slices in overlapping concentric circles on top of the butter-sugar mixture.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon powder.

In  large bowl, beat the remaining 8 tbsp of butter and sugar together using an electric mixer.
Add eggs, one by one, beating constantly. Add in the vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients, alternately with milk and continue beating until light and fluffy.
Spread cake batter on top of the plum. Bake for 40-45 min until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean.
Let cool for a few min, and flip over the cake on to a plate.
tah- dah!!! Enjoy your slice with vanilla ice cream on top :)