When I make baked goods like banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread, etc, I always have an internal debate with myself: is this bread or is it a cake? My boyfriend always says, “I’m gonna have a slice of cake,” and I grumble exasperatedly, “It’s not cake, it’s bread!” Is it bread, though? Or is that just my convoluted way of rationalizing having cake for breakfast, afternoon snack, and dessert. After making this ginger-cardamom zucchini “bread,” I’m beginning to lean toward the latter.
If you think about the technical structures of bread and cake—the former following a general combination of flour, water, salt, and its leavening agent in the form of yeast and the latter following a more complex combination of ingredients that include the perviously mentioned along with plenty of sugar, spices, perhaps other sweeteners, and its leavening agent in the form of baking powder—it’s clear that our favorite recipes for banana and zucchini bread are actually cake recipes.
Okay, so. Thinking about it that way, when my boyfriend says the word “cake” and I get annoyed, it’s because I know that he’s actually right in his terminology and I’m rationalizing my sweet tooth. There’s my confession of the day! While I may need to start admitting he’s right and come to terms with the fact that zucchini bread is actually cake, I’m probably not going to stop eating it for breakfast, afternoon snack, and dessert.
a spicy twist on a classic loaf
I adore zucchini bread (or should I say cake?), but it’s something I eat very rarely. It reminds me of Christmas morning, because years ago, it became a tradition that my mom would make a couple loaves of zucchini bread in the fall and then freeze a loaf to save for breakfast Christmas morning. I have to say that the idea is pretty genius. While it’s nice to have a special treat Christmas morning, you definitely also don’t want to be cooking anything while you can be sitting in front of the fire watching everyone open presents.
I’ll get back to the zucchini bread, since I realize I’ve been talking way too much about Christmas when it’s still August.
Anyway, I love the moist deliciousness of zucchini bread, and while it’s a sweet treat, I always feel good about consuming healthy, seasonal zucchini. The recipe I’m about to share with you takes traditional zucchini bread up a notch by incorporating the incredible spice blend of cardamom, ginger, and turmeric.
The spices give the bread-cake a warm and slightly spicy flavor that tingle your taste buds and leave you wanting more. I didn’t even have cardamom in my spice arsenal before making this recipe, but you better believe I’m going to be using it more often now!
sugar, spice, and everything nice
You’ll need a combination of pantry staples, fresh produce, and some funky spices for this recipe.
Zucchini This summer squash is in season and super plentiful, so find some that are fresh from the farm
Vanilla extract and sugar These will help sweeten up the bread-cake
Lemon Add some zest and zeal!
Eggs and EVOO These ingredients are paramount for creating the moistness
Flour and baking powder Staples of any bread-cake
Ground cardamom and ginger This is where all the fun comes in
You can definitely skip the streusel, but I highly recommend adding it for that extra pop of spice. For the streusel, you’ll need flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, baking powder, salt, and butter.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and whether you want to call this “bread” or “cake,” feel free to dig in at all times of the day.
⟶ the recipe
ginger-cardamom zucchini bread
ingredients
2 medium zucchini, trimmed
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
¾ cups olive oil
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the streusel
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
¼ cup rolled oats
½ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
Prep time
45 minutes
Cook time
1 1/2 hours
Total time
2 1/2 hours
Makes 1 loaf
instructions
Begin by preparing the streusel. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, spices, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir in butter, and use your fingers or a small fork to work butter into the dry ingredients, but it’s absorbed, and small clumps have formed. Set streusel aside while preparing the bread.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Coat a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray or vegetable oil, and set aside.
Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the zucchini. Wrap the shredded zucchini in a clean kitchen towel, and wring out the juices over the sink until zucchini is as dry as possible. Transfer shredded zucchini to a medium bowl, and stir in the vanilla extract.
Place sugar and lemon zest in another medium bowl, and work the mixture together with your fingers. This will allow the zest to really open up and become super fragrant.
Add eggs and oil to the sugar mixture, and whisk until completely combined. Add the grated zucchini, and stir everything together.
In a separate bowl, sift flour, and add the cardamom, ginger, baking powder, and salt. Whisk dry ingredients to combine, and then add to the zucchini mixture. Gently fold ingredients together with a rubber spatula until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and spread the streusel evenly over the top.
Bake zucchini bread for about an hour and 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Let zucchini bread cool on a rack for about 15 minutes before using a rubber spatula to loosen bread from the loaf pan. Turn it over onto a cutting board and serve for breakfast with a cup of coffee or for dessert with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
⟶ recipe notes
- Adapted from Bon Appétit
⟶ modifications
- To add some heartiness, swap the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour in the bread-cake portion of the recipe
⟶ make it ahead
- Wrap in foil and store on the countertop for up to 3 days. To keep for longer, freeze bread for up to 6 months, thawing for about a day before serving
