Apple Zucchini (Courgette) Spice Bread

A while back I was thinking about zucchini, and this idea for an Apple Zucchini Spice Bread came to me. I sat down and wrote everything out (except the exact spices and amounts) and kept an eye on my co-op to see when they would be sending a courgette (the French name for zucchini ‡). This week, I received two pretty squash, and I headed to the kitchen. I joked to a friend that this is my mad scientist lab time. I settled down to the real work, which was deciding which spices to add and how much of each. This may sound odd, but I often do these things by smell, sniffing two spices together gives me an idea if that is the combination that I want. This time I was going for a delicate chai spice blend involving seven different spices, but I didn't want the spice to overpower the apples. Everyone that tried this reacted favorably, and I think this may actually be my new favorite quick-bread.

Here is the first loaf, hot out of the oven. If you look close, you
can see chunks of apples peaking through the crust.

• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar (since the apples were not very sweet, I added 2 Tbsp sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour (1½ cup all-purpose+½ cup whole wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cardamom
• ¼ tsp coriander seed powder
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp white pepper (you can use black pepper, but I didn't want the pepper to show)
• 1 zucchini (courgette) finely grated including the skin and any liquid
• 2 apples (peeled, cored, and diced) I used pink lady


Preheat oven to 350°F (app. 175°C*)- if using stoneware, check the recommendations of your manufacturer regarding oven temperature.
Prepare loaf pan (I buttered the pan and lined the bottom with parchment)
Cream butter & sugar, add eggs one at a time.
Whisk dry ingredients together.
Alternately add dry ingredients and grated zucchini (courgette) and mix only until all ingredients are evenly incorporated.
Fold in diced apples and spoon batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 60-80 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the loaf comes out clean (I needed 80 minuted, but I monitored the loaf the entire time).

Enjoying a still-warm slice with a hot cup of organic Assam black tea

‡Wiki page "Zucchini"


*I use an online conversion chart and round up or down, as seems appropriate. Please adjust according to your judgement, and send me a message if you find an error. Thank you.