Glazed Orange Zucchini Bread

The fifth week of April and the farm is fully in motion. Every morning is a list: check the cold frame, water the seedlings, inspect the asparagus bed, look at the peas, note what needs doing by weekend. This is the pleasurable machinery of a kitchen garden in its startup season and I move through it without hurry but without stopping. There will be weeks in July when the productivity outpaces the processing and I am behind on all of it, and there will be weeks in October when I am putting things to bed, and both of those feel different from this — this week is pure beginning, everything possible and nothing harvested yet.

Bill called with news from the maple operation. His four jars of first-year syrup have been eaten, two of them by him and one by his daughter and one gifted to the neighbor who helped him. He is already planning next year's expansion — he wants to add four more trees to his tapping operation, which would bring him to twelve, the same number I run. His neighbor offered to sell him a small used evaporating pan at a price that amounts to generosity, and he is considering it. I told him that having his own pan was the difference between participating in someone else's operation and running his own, and that the difference mattered more than the technical production. He said he thought so too. He ordered the pan that afternoon.

I had Owen from next door in the garden Saturday afternoon for what I think of as a proper lesson, the first one. I showed him how to thin carrots — we had direct-sown carrots in the cold frame that were now too thick to develop and needed thinning to two inches apart — and I explained the principle as I worked: the plant that you pull is giving its life to the plant it leaves room for, and the plant that is left will be better because of it. He worked carefully and asked two good questions about whether the thinned plants were edible (yes, the carrot tops and the tiny root are both good in a salad) and whether thinning hurt the remaining plants (no, it liberates them). He left with a handful of carrot tops for his mother's salad and a look of someone who has done something real.

Owen’s question about whether the thinned carrot plants were edible — and his delight at learning they were — reminded me of what I love most about a kitchen garden: nothing is wasted if you’re paying attention. That same instinct is behind this glazed orange zucchini bread, which I first made the summer the zucchini got ahead of me and I needed a recipe worthy of the abundance. The orange glaze turns something humble and prolific into something you’d be proud to hand a neighbor — the way Bill handed that jar of syrup, or the way Owen walked home with a fistful of carrot tops and something to show for his afternoon.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | Servings: 10 slices

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1 medium), excess moisture squeezed out
For the Orange Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2–3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/2 teaspoon orange zest

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy removal.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
Mix wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil until smooth and slightly thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract, orange zest, and orange juice.
Combine and fold. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the shredded zucchini evenly throughout the batter.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes.
Cool. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift out using the parchment overhang and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice (start with 2 tablespoons and add more for desired consistency), and orange zest until smooth and pourable.
Glaze and serve. Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cooled loaf. Allow it to set for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Glazed Orange Zucchini Bread — What the Garden Teaches You to Do With What It Gives