Fruits of August Tea Party: Zucchini Cake with Plums

We'll close out our Fruits of August Tea Party recipes with the piece de resistance - a vegetable masquerading as bread masquerading as cake - Zucchini Cake with Plums. 

I grew up in the Midwest, and the eternal joke out there is that come late summer, Midwesterners, who normally don't lock their car doors, will do so, not to deter thieves, but to prevent overzealous gardeners from filling up their back seats with baseball bat sized zucchini. 

There are many, many ways to eat the glut of zucchini that invariably embarrasses any gardener foolish enough to plant more than one plant. I enjoy zucchini roasted or grilled with other vegetables either in tomato sauce, or balsamic vinaigrette. But as a born and bred Midwesterner, the ultimate way to eat zucchini, is as cake.

Now, there are plenty of zucchini BREAD recipes out there. But don't let them fool you - they are bread in shape only. In fact, this recipe started out as a bread, but since I am a canny cook, I didn't let the title, or the pan shape, fool me. 

​This recipe comes from a solidly wonderful cookbook called Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland: 200 Recipes Blending Bold New Flavors with the Traditional Foods of the Upper Midwest, by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson, originally published in 1994. 

Cover my copy of the "Savoring the Seasons" cookbook by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson.

A lot of really lovely midwestern cookbooks were published in the 1990s, as people realized that "fly over country" actually knew how to cook, and not just jello salads (Sorry, That Midwestern Mom). Savoring the Seasons' chapters are organized by ingredient origin and use, and the Zucchini Bread recipe shows up in the chapter titled, "Come for Coffee: Cakes, Cookies, and Bars." 

I used the recipe almost exactly as written, with a few minor changes. First, I wanted cake, not bread. Second, I wanted to include local Italian prune plums. Finally, because I was including plums, I skipped the suggested chopped nuts.

As the recipe came together, it reminded me a lot of Marian Burros' Plum Torte, as both have a very thick batter. Because of this, I knew my adaptations would work and would be delicious. In the 1980s, the New York Times published Burros' famous Plum Torte every September for nearly a decade, before discontinuing the practice. Amidst massive protests, they put the original online. The recipe for the Zucchini Bread does slightly resemble the plum torte, but the end result is even more delicious, in my opinion. 

Zucchini Cake with Plums

The original Zucchini Bread recipe in "Savoring the Seasons."

This is a very generous recipe, essentially making two hearty cakes. I recommend planning to give one away (or bring to your coworkers), or freeze one for later. If you'd like to make the original, leave out the plums, and bake in bread pans. If you don't like cinnamon, reduce it or substitute with a little nutmeg or cardamom. 

​3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar (the original called for 2 cups)
1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used homemade and measured with my heart)
3 cups unpeeled, grated zucchini (about 2 medium)
6 large Italian prune plums

Preheat the oven to 350 F and butter well two 9" cake pans. Grate your zucchini (a rotary grater is a big help here). In a large bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract together, then add the dry ingredients (flour first) and stir well to combine. The batter will be thick. Stir in the zucchini until all it well-coated and combined. Pour equal amounts of batter into each cake pan, then drop lightly onto counter to remove bubbles. Halve prune plums and remove pits, then place on cake in a star pattern. Add more prune plum halves if you like. Sprinkle the tops with a little granulated sugar (optional), then bake at 350 F for 45-60 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch.

Let cool in the pans, then tip out onto wire racks to finish cooling. This delicious cake is dense, moist, and full of cinnamon flavor. The sweet-tart prune plums add a beautiful contrast in both color and flavor. You could serve it with whipped cream or ice cream, but I prefer it plain. 

The two zucchini plum cakes before baking.

One of the completed cakes glowing in the late afternoon sun.

I will definitely make this recipe again, but I think I would substitute some or all of the flour for whole wheat or spelt flour to add a little nutty flavor and make for a sturdier crumb. I would also reduce the cinnamon slightly and perhaps add some other spices to mix things up a bit. 

We ate much of this delicious cake ourselves, and I took the second cake to work, so I did not freeze one. But given the cake's crumb I think it would freeze well. 

Did you grow up eating zucchini bread or zucchini cake? What's your favorite way to eat August's ubiquitous vegetable? 

My tea-sized slice of zucchini plum cake on my plum-colored Moroccan amethyst glass plate.

And that's it for the Fruits of August Tea Party, folks. Check out the original post for all the recipe links, or scroll back through the blog if you missed any. Until the next party, my dear readers!