Happy National Zucchini Bread Day

Ah, Zucchini Bread. That soft, sweet quick bread of unknown origin. 

It's most likely that Zucchini Bread originated somewhere in the late 1700s or early 1800s. I say this because it is a quick bread, meaning it relies on a leavening agent, like baking powder, to rise. 

But leavening agents like baking powder didn't exist before about the 1790s, when pearlash was discovered to be a leavening agent.

We know that home cooks were using it then because it appears in the first American cookbook, American Cookery, by Ameila Simmons. Ms. Simmons publishes no recipe for Zucchini Bread, however.

Zucchini is usually used in savory dishes, but the plants can be so prolific that it's not surprising home cooks would start to stuff it into quick breads or soups, or maybe even puddings, the way avocados are! 

When shredded into the batter of a quick bread, the zucchini strands help to bring moisture to the baked good. They melt away to nothing, so that all you're left with is a dense, cakey bread that is able to enhance the flavor profiles of whichever spice blends you add.

We suggest cardamom and mixed spice, or try pumpkin pie spice, even though it's summer time. The resulting bread will be completely irresistable.