ORLY, Delicious?

I mentioned back when I was making the zucchini muffins that Delicious magazine this month has a zucchini bread recipe. And my zucchini plant is continuing production. I even had the traditional experience of discovering one as thick as my wrist, that I was sure hadn't existed on the previous day. So, well. Zucchini bread. Here it is.

I made it yesterday, and I'm eating some for breakfast as I write this. I'll put the recipe under the fold, but here are some selected quotes from the magazine. "Savoury Breads have taken over from quiche as the perfect lunch snack", and "a savoury fruit and nut bread served with soft cheeses and prosciutto is the perfect lunchtime snack." (March '09 issue, p73)

Honestly, Valli, what were you thinking? Did they swap a different recipe in at the last minute? This recipe contains nearly 400g of sugar, and no ingredient that might be construed as savoury, unless you count the zucchini. I reduced the sugar in my version, and it's actually pretty nice, but I do feel that I'm eating cake for breakfast. I can imagine it with cream cheese, but prosciutto would be going too far.

Recipe: Zucchini Bread
400g self-raising flour
200ml melted butter & sunflower oil
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large zucchini, grated
3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
* Find a loaf tin that holds about 2 litres, and prepare tin as you prefer for baking.
* Preheat oven to 150C.
* In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the flour and butter/oil. Stir very thoroughly to distribute the spices evenly.
* Mix through the butter/oil blend well, then finally fold in the flour gently.
* Pour into the loaf tin, and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until a testing skewer comes out clean.
* Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.

Notes:
Original recipe by Valli Little, Delicious magazine. This variant of mine is different in that:
1. I use self-raising flour, instead of plain plus bicarb plus baking powder.
2. I used 1/2 tsp allspice instead of 1/4 tsp mixed spice, and heaped up the cinnamon. Next time I think I'll add nutmeg, too.
3. I reduced the caster sugar from 1 1/3 cups to 3/4 cup. This could go lower.
4. 200ml of sunflower oil in the original became a melted butter & oil mix, because, well, I had butter to use up.
5. I used a bit more fruit and nuts. It could go even more, I think.
6. I used pecans, the Bloke hates walnuts. (But it might be too sweet for him anyway.)
7. I changed the mixing order a bit.

Also, I really wish she'd given a cup or weight measure for the zucchini. "Three large ones" is a bit vague. I suspect she didn't mean my huge one. I used that and a small-medium one, guesstimating that it's about the same amount as 3 of the largest you commonly see in shops. I'm wishing now that I'd measured it at the time. Isn't hindsight wonderful?

By the way, I measured my loaf tin by filling it with water from a cup measure, then I dumped the water in the bucket which I keep for the garden. To prepare the tin for baking, you can grease & line the tin, which is the old-fashioned way; or use a silicon pan as is, or line one with baking paper.