Zucchini Marmalade Bread

I've been continuing on my zucchini craze lately -- trying desperately to eat the pounds of zucchini that appear each morning on my super-happy zucchini plant bush. I've also continued to tackle Tartine as my bed-side book of choice before I have to return it to the library. This recipe for zucchini marmalade bread utilizes both my stock pile of zucchini as well as my pantry full of homemade marmalade. It makes a moist, flavorful bread with a lot of depth. It is lovely as is, and toasts well. We enjoy eating it for breakfast as well as for an afternoon treat with a cup of tea.  If there's a break in the heat this summer, and you can bear to turn on your oven, I recommend giving this recipe a try. If the heat is unbearable, grate up some zucchini and freeze it for later.

grated zucchini and homemade marmalade ready to go

While you can certainly use regular-sized zucchini in this recipe, I used one of the big ones (you know, the ones that appear out of nowhere, 17 feet (inches) tall and luminous). I wrote about dealing with super-big zucchini in my recipe for Savory Zucchini Corn Pancakes, but here it is again:
I like to take a massive zucchini, cut it up, remove the seeds, and grate it using the food processor.  One of these 2.5 pound zucchinis resulted in about 7 cups of grated zucchini.  I put the grated portion that I plan to use in the next week in a sealed container in the fridge and freeze the rest in cup or 2 1/2 cup portions (the zucchini bread and the Savory Zucchini Corn Pancakes both call for 2 1/2 cups, so it's nice to have that amount ready in the freezer).

Zucchini Marmalade Bread 
adapted from Tartine
makes one 9x5 inch loaf

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon finely grated or powdered ginger (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I used canola, you could also use sunflower, etc)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup marmalade
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
2 Tablespoons sugar (for topping)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Prepare your 9x5 inch loaf pan by greasing the bottoms and sides with butter or oil and a sprinkling of flour. Tap the pan upside-down to get rid of the extra flour.
3. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and powdered ginger (if using fresh ginger, add this later, with the zucchini) in a medium-sized bowl.
4. In a large bowl, beat eggs, then add oil, sugar and marmalade, beating to combine. Add zucchini, salt and fresh ginger (if using), beat again just enough to combine.
5. Add walnuts and mix just enough to incorporate.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with a spatula. Sprinkle sugar evenly over top.
7. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a wooden skewer (or other testing device) comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto the rack, turn right-side-up and let cool completely.
9. Serve at room temperature or toasted. Store in a sealed container or well wrapped for up to 5 days.

Enjoy!