Zucchini Bread w/Cream Cheese-Sour Cream Frosting
As the air has a dry, cool feel, nights have become chilly, the southern California signs of autumn are filling our every breath. However, the garden still has summer bounty to enjoy and our long growing season is still gifting us wonderful zucchini.
Even though it is lovingly homegrown and picked just moments before being prepared, it is getting late in the year for our zucchini. They don’t have that tight crispness and the seeds are getting bigger and a bit obtrusive for many dishes utilizing zucchini.
What to do? Zucchini bread of course. Although most of you had already guessed this since you read the post title. Is there any better way to use up a tired veggie than make a quick bread out of it? Hell, half the time you don’t even know there is a vegetable in the bread.
There is the added bonus for me, in that baking it also one of my favorite ways to warm up the kitchen. In the cool morning air, the siren’s call of the oven is overwhelming. It’s worth getting up early to feel the oven gently warming the home from its kitchen heartbeat and then to have the sweet smell of the quick breads intoxicating the air. As I made and drank my cappuccino amongst such sweetness, accompanied by my love and pups, the feeling of perfect contentment filled my soul.
This recipe was initially based off of a recipe from the “Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and Other Good Things” cookbook. Every gardener should have this cookbook on their shelves. Countless times some of my favorite veggie recipes began from this book, then I would tweak it here and there to my own personal preference.
For the little additions to the zucchini bread, we used what we happen to have in the cupboard, but feel free to substitute your favorite dried fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, or any other add-on you like. We’ve topped this one with a cream cheese/sour cream frosting, but the zucchini bread is excellent without the frosting. You are the one going to eat it. Make the recipe to your own taste. 😉
-Todd
Zucchini Bread w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Zucchini Bread
- 2 cups grated Zucchini (if seeds are too big, you can scoop them out before grating)
- 2/3 cup (150ml) Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup (100g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup (80g) Brown Sugar
- 2 Eggs , beaten
- 2 cups (240g) Flour
- 1 teaspoon (5g) Baking Powder
- 3/4 teaspoon (3g) Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon (3g) Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon (5g) Cinnamon, freshly grated if possible
- 1 -inch Fresh Ginger , grated
- 3/4 cup (110g) Dried Currants, or whatever dried fruit you want-raisins, blueberries, strawberries, etc
- 3/4 cup (90g) Pecans, chopped
- Dark Rum or Kahlua (enough to to cover currants)
Cream Cheese/Sour Cream Frosting
- 4 oz (113g) Cream Cheese, at room temp.
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Sour Cream
- 1/4 cup (30g) Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) Dark Rum
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) Cinnamon, preferably freshly grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9.25" x 5.25" bread pan and set aside.
- Begin by macerating the currants in the dark rum. By the time everything else is mixed, they will have plumped up enough to use.
- Grate zucchini into a large bowl. Add vegetable oil, sugars, and beaten egg and mix until well combined.
- Put flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a sifter, then sift into the zucchini mix. Add sea salt, cinnamon, and ginger then gently stir until just combined. -Do Not Over-mix.
- Drain currants, then add the currants and pecans to the zucchini mix and stir a couple times until it is just mixed.
- Pour into greased bread pan, place on a baking sheet and put in oven. Bake for approx. 45 min., or until a tester toothpick comes out clean. (If top starts to brown too much, place sheet of aluminum foil over the loaf to protect it.)
- Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit.
Make Frosting
- Whisk all ingredients until well combined and smooth. Frost at will.
- Feel free to adjust to your own taste. This is made to be not too sweet, and to compliment the ingredients in the Zucchini bread, however if you'd like it sweeter, up the powdered sugar. Lemon zest would be another good addition.
Not having a lot of cream cheese, but having a yen for carrot cake (I used a modified version of my mother-in-law’s which, gasp!, starts with a commercial spice cake), I looked for sour cream cream cheese frosting – and came upon your recipe here. Out of the many I saw, yours seemed to have the most reasonable amounts (c’mon: 6 – 7 c. powered sugar???), so I thought I’d modify it a bit and use it.
Not having that amount of cream cheese and morally opposed to any type of alcohol, I tinkered with your formula and ended up with 3.5 T. butter, ~2 oz. cream cheese, .25 c. sour cream, .5 t. cinnamon, ~4 T. organic powdered sugar, and 1 t. imitation vanilla. Quite tasty – so thanks so much for the base recipe!
While this looks amazing, I don’t really feel one could call this “bread”.
It’s a zucchini cake, like carrot cake but with zucchini. Now I suppose this could be one of those instances where the name of the item in question doesn’t actually reflect what it truly is, sort of like a cheese cake, which is not really a cake but a pie. I’m not an English native speaker, but to me bread is usually defined by yeast and small amounts of sugar if any.
I love rum so I want to try this recipe out asap. More recipes with rum please!
Actually this style of “breads” are usually referred to as “quick breads.” More or less muffin type recipes done in a loaf style. Make the same type of recipe into a different shape, you’ve got cake.
Hope you try it and like it as much as we do. If you’re a rum fan, try upping the rum amount to get a little extra flavor. 😉
OK. Woah. This looks too delicious. I could practically smell the bread baking just looking at that first photo. Beautiful post, as usual! Love the fun new header, too!
-Rachael
I love love love zucchini bread and have never thought to top it with any icings or toppings of sorts. I am intrigued though. I’ll admit, I’m a little bit more of a purest when it comes to my zucchini. But I did make this Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Bread the other day, and I can’t imagine anything more delicious than a sour cream frosting on top.
THanks!
Ah, Todd, but Zucchini are fruits! Heehee. I had my first taste of zucchini cake in Tartine just a few weeks ago, but I always thought it needed some frosting- the recipe here looks nicely balanced, and not too sweet of course! 🙂
I wish I had a plant in my garden to use up, though 🙁
I had thought about bringing that up, Diane studying Botany in school has illuminated for me the difference between a fruit & a veggie, but I didn’t want to destroy everyone’s notion of what a vegetable is, so I let it slide. Since you’ve done it for me, I’ll back you up. Zucchinis are a ripened ovaries, they are a fruit. A vegetable is the edible vegetative part of a plant. Like a carrot. Some people are gonna be messed up now!
I know people rave about zucchini bread, but it often makes me yawn. You won me over with the rum-soaked fruit and the spiked frosting. It’s like zucchini bread goes clubbing.
Hello and congratulations! I am nominated in the same category, but I wanted to say “Hello” and say good luck. It’s an honor to be nominated alongside you! GREG
This really does look amazing. I was just introduced to your blog after you received your Foodbuzz nom… and now I definitely understand why!
sounds wonderfully yummy and I have been looking forward to baking now that our SoCal nights are cooling – thank you for the recipe
Wow!
You’ve guys have really outdone yourselves
this time. The bread looks delish.
By the way, great job on the photography.
Cheers.
It was great to meet you both at BlogHer! I loved talking with you. I also love the look for this recipe. When I make my zucchini bread I substitute some applesauce for the oil, it adds great flavor. I love the idea of frosting on it!
This recipe sounds fantastic! I’ve been in the mood to make some “fall” treats, so I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks!
Thanks for visiting and the complimentary comments, everyone. Hope those who try the recipe love it as much as I do. Feel free to share your favorite fall quick bread recipes. Happy baking.
-Todd
Oh, all the breads that will be baked. How fun the fall will be.
You know, I’ve never had a zucchini bread that made me go “yay!” but this one might be it. Will be it. Thank you!
Love the idea of Kaluha or rum. Most be so delicious. That’s a bread for me. 🙂
what would you say if i told you i require about 12 times more frosting than that? cause i do. it’s my favorite part. 🙂
I would say that I totally understand. I’ve got more of a sweet jaw, than just a tooth, so frosting has always been my favorite part. However I feel better when I keep the sugar consumption to a moderate level, so I’ve learned to savor it in smaller quantities, as more of a highlight than a primary. 😉
Oh my, this is the best looking zucchini bread I ‘ve ever seen. Rum-soaked currants….Sounds wonderful, I am thinking about using the same idea for pumpkin bread. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds fantastic! My garden is no longer producing zucchini, but I am still getting some from my CSA. I love your zucchini bread recipe… Hopefully I will get some more zucchini in this week’s share so that I can give it a try!
Nice touch with the frosting!
apple cider instead of alcohol for teetotalers or children?
That would definitely work. The alcohol’s use in macerating is to help rehydrate the fruit, so the texture comes off nicer when the bread gets baked. Apple cider is a great substitute.
I actually have zucchini bread in the oven right now. Its my mil’s recipe who is a teetoler so no kaluaha, though I wished I read had read this before.
“Dark Rum or Kaluha”
Oh hells yes. Pretty boss of you to put kaluha in zucchini bread, Todd.
That top photo is absolutely gorgeous. With mention of the ginger, currants, pecans and rum-laced frosting, this bread is very inviting.
Nice idea! It’s rainy here too (in France!) but I can find zucchini easily… I’ll try soon your recipe. Thank you…
Sounds perfect this morning to warm up the kitchen and my tummy. It’s rainy and cold here in the Midwest. Our zucchini is finished, but apples are abundant. I think I could substitute?
An apple bread would be tasty. You might have to play with it a bit due to the different moisture content. We are going apple picking soon, so I might just have to experiment. Great idea.