This recipe was inspired by an overload of zucchini a few weeks ago, and a newsletter from Once upon a chef that landed in my inbox at about the same time.

The zucchini came together with hand-picked black and red currants from my friend parents’ garden, so I picked this recipe from Jenn’s zucchini menu to put both ingredients to good use.

I don’t have a loaf tin, but I’m still in possession of a vintage cake tin (two identical ones, to be precise) I bought years ago when Metrový koláč (One-metre-long cake) was a hit in Slovakia. I pulled the two tins out of the top cupboard, washed and greased them thoroughly, and produced this Slovak version of Jenn’s zucchini bread.

Fluted Zucchini Cake

• 3 eggs
• 300 g granulated sugar
• 550 g zucchini
• 350 g pastry flour
• 1 cup oil (225 ml)
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar (20 g in Slovakia)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of grated nutmeg
• 1 sachet baking powder (13 g in Slovakia)
• 200 g fresh black and red currants
• castor sugar to drizzle

Method:

1. Grease two fluted tins of (30x10x5)cm with margarine, and dust them with flour.
2. Peel and grate the zucchini. Stem the currants and rinse them under running water in a colander or a sieve.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and spices with the eggs and oil. Add the grated zucchini and mix well to achieve a smooth dough. Gently stir in the currants, divide the dough into the tins and level off with a spatula.
4. Preheat the oven to 180ºC and put the tins inside. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the dough turns golden brown and starts coming off the tin sides.
5. Let cool for 10 minutes and gently run a butter knife around the cake to loosen it, then turn the cake out onto a wooden board. Dust with the castor sugar and slice into portions.

   

   I used the same cake tin to make this decadent Sunday Plum Sponge Delight – it’s definitely worth checking and trying out, especially in the middle of the plum season!