Summertime – Zucchini Time

The zucchini are getting ripe......There are so many versatile ways to use the ripe fruits. 



At the moment I’m trying out a new cake recipe, this time with hazelnuts in a loaf pan. 

By now it’s the 3rd cake in my collection. 

With almonds and lemon glaze



With chocolate, in a round pan



So far, all of them have been super delicious and very moist.

With the light zucchini cake, my grandson said:

"Graaaanny, what kind of cake is this?" 
"A sponge cake"
"What’s in it?"
"Flour, sugar, eggs. Like in every cake"
"And that there?" pointing with his finger at the green bits in the cake from the zucchini
"That’s a particularly tasty ingredient" - and he tried it and thought it was delicious. To this day he still doesn’t know there’s zucchini in it.

There has already been jam too - zucchini mixed with mountain peaches - very tasty


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And I’ve already canned some for winter too, like cucumber slices. 

Yesterday we had zucchini fritters




What recipes and ideas do you have for using up your zucchini? 

 

Ina, that sounds very summery and delicious, especially with some freshly baked bread....

Thanks for the suggestion

Zucchini aren’t exactly my favorite vegetable, but because they’re so “neutral,” I find them wonderfully versatile.
I often add them to stir-fries, casseroles, or grate them into sauces.
They make everything much juicier—for example, when grated into bread.
I also love them stuffed and baked in the oven—just cut them in half, scoop out a little of the flesh, and fill them however you like. Whether you use ground meat, feta, or an egg mixture doesn’t matter—the main thing is that the seasoning is right. If you like, grate some cheese on top.
Then bake the whole thing in the oven at about 160 degrees; the time will vary depending on the thickness of the zucchini.
 

I like zucchini best when it’s grilled or baked with Parmesan in the air fryer. 

I love zucchini and can’t wait until we finally set up a garden bed here so that, hopefully, I can harvest some myself next year.

I like them best lightly seasoned (salt, pepper, paprika) off the grill or roasted in the oven. But I also enjoy them stuffed with ground meat and baked au gratin, or simply breaded and fried like schnitzel.

That’s a lot of suggestions for my zucchini.

Grilled, breaded, and with Parmesan—I’m going to try the savory versions next. 

One delicious variation we tried this year was using them in a couscous salad. We had some leftover mixed vegetable stir-fry with zucchini, which we let marinate overnight in the fridge with vinegar, oil, and spices, then turned into a salad the next day with couscous, other fresh vegetables, and feta. It was really delicious, and we’ve been making it this way more often now.

Dear Petra, your cakes really make me want to try baking them myself. Could you share the recipes with us or tell us where you found them? I’m especially interested in the round cake, but the others too. I’m on the hunt for good zucchini cake recipes—

we’ve had a zucchini glut since July from just one plant. They grew so fast that we couldn’t keep up. I found a few recipes on smarticular. I also froze some for the winter. I can use those for soups, stews, or vegetable dishes. We often ate finely grated zucchini salad with a great dressing and added a few other goodies like feta cheese, eggs, corn, and peas...

I also put some on a baking sheet to roast. Cut the zucchini into 3 slices and generously topped with garlic, spices, and feta cheese. It tastes delicious. The two of us managed to finish a whole zucchini this way.

Best regards, Monika

Dear Monika, the zucchini slices on the baking sheet sound delicious too. At what temperature and for how long does the whole thing go in the oven?

Here for you is my zucchini cake with chocolaterecipe

4 eggs
240 g sugar (brown is best)
1 packet vanilla sugar

Beat until frothy

grate 400 g zucchini with the peel on

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In a bowl

200 g ground hazelnuts
1 tsp. cinnamon
300 g flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. cocoa powder

mix together.

While beating, slowly pour 250 ml oil into the frothy beaten eggs.

Now fold in the grated zucchini with a wooden spoon.

Then fold in the mixed dry ingredients from the bowl with a wooden spoon.

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The batter is very runny. Pour the whole thing into a greased and floured cake pan
and bake at 160 degrees for 45 minutes. (Please be sure to test it with a skewer)

Once the cake has cooled, add a chocolate glaze on top.
I chose chocolate couverture because it was palm-oil-free.

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The photos and wording are mine

Dear Petra,

thank you so much for the delicious zucchini cake recipe! The cake is sure to be delicious.


Here’s the recipe with zucchini slices or longer pieces on the baking sheet:

There are two options. Either cut the zucchini (a larger one) into slices about 1 to 1.5 cm thick. Or you can first cut the zucchini into pieces about 10–12 cm long. These pieces are then cut into 3 long slices. We really like this version.

Then place all the pieces on the baking sheet and brush them with olive oil—you’ll need quite a bit, so it’s best to use a pastry brush. Then season with a little herb salt (or similar). After that, I place garlic slices on top and sprinkle some bruschetta seasoning over them. If you like, you can also add some cubes of sheep’s milk cheese. The process is similar for the slices.

If there’s still room on the baking sheet, you can arrange a few mushrooms or other vegetables there as well (also drizzled with oil).

Then I put it in the oven on the convection setting at 200 degrees for about 20–25 minutes. The accompanying vegetables are the best indicator of whether everything is done, since they brown first.

Enjoy! I’ve used this method to use up many large zucchini.

Best regards
Monika

This recipe is my own.

 

Dear Monika, thank you for your recipe. It sounds very tasty and seems perfect to me as a light summer meal — served with my homemade bread — mmmmm. Hopefully the next zucchini will be ripe soon. 

My second recipe for a zucchini sheet cake

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Beat 3 eggs, 300 grams of sugar, and 1 tsp. cinnamon until fluffy.

Slowly stir in 200 ml sunflower oil and 100 grams ground almonds.

Then stir in 400 grams grated zucchini.

Finally, add 400 grams flour and one packet of baking powder.

Spread the whole mixture onto a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes.

When the cake is done and has cooled slightly, add a lemon glaze (lemon and powdered sugar) on top.

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Rated “Very tasty” by the family.

I like to eat them as stuffed zucchini boats from the grill. For the filling, I mix cream cheese with finely chopped, sautéed mushrooms and chives (and maybe a little finely chopped bacon), season with salt and pepper, and then stuff the mixture into the hollowed-out zucchini halves.

Oh Petra, that sounds really delicious and simple. I’ll definitely try it, though with less sugar.

Mel, we’ve done that with the big zucchini, too. Once you hollow them out, there are lots of ways to fill them. We used feta cheese, olive oil, lots of garlic, and vegan ground meat. Tastes great!

Hugs, Monika