Zucchini Walnut Bread
from Jenny Kelly, wife of Richard Kelly, Angelica, N.Y.

Excellent bread recipe from the 1970s. Although I have not tried this substitution, you could probably substitute grated carrot for the zucchini.

Zucchini bread descends from a long line of European sweet vegetable puddings dating back to the Middle Ages. Carrot pudding is one of the oldest examples. Sweet potato pudding/pie followed in the Renaissance. Carrot pudding crossed from vegetable to cake dessert in the 20th century, while sweet potato pie remains on the dinner table.

After WWII, zucchini proved prolific in mainstream American home gardens. Which meant? Too much zucchini. Zucchini bread (portable, easy, healthy, freezer-friendly) to the rescue! Food historians generally drop zucchini bread squarely in the American 1960s & 70s. It was promoted (as was carrot cake and banana bread) as a *healthy* alternative to standard desserts. Recipes proliferated, especially in the mid-1970s.

FMM: I remember when I first made this bread back in the 1970s and was very impressed. Maybe because it was made with zucchini, but I remember that it also tasted really good - it had a nice spice flavor to it. Not as spicy as a bread made in the fall such as Pumpkin Bread which is made with 1 tsp. cloves, but spicier than the loaf I made recently. I still found the bread very good, but it was not as spicy as I remember it. It raised up really nice and had a good texture, so it is a good recipe in that respect. I looked this recipe up on the Internet to see what others were doing. The recipes were very similar but most added more spice - 1 - 2 teaspons cinnamon and at least one used 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. The next time I made this I made these adjustments and liked the bread better.

FMM: The changes I made below, the whole wheat flour and decreasing the amount of sugar, still yielded a bread that was very good. Cori and I thought you could not tell the difference. It may have been a little drier than the original recipe. The zucchini did not have a lot of liquid; you could add a tablespoon or so of water or milk.

Also see Zucchini Muffins. The recipe is very similar.

2 eggs
1 c. sugar [3/4 cup]
1/2 c. oil
1 3/4 c. flour [3/4 cup whole wheat, 1 cup all-purpose flour]
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (increase to 1 tsp.)
(add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)
3/8 tsp. baking powder
1 c. zucchini, unpeeled and grated (do not drain)
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat the eggs. Gradually add the sugar, then the oil. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the egg mixture, alternatively with the zucchini. Stir in the raisins, walnuts, and vanilla.

Turn into a greased and floured loaf pan [I use a 8½" x 4½" x 2½" pan for a taller loaf] and bake at 350 degrees F. for 55 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes and turn out onto wire racks to cool.

Makes 1 loaf.