Best of Show Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I started making zucchini dishes in 1982 when my husband, 12-year-old daughter and I were living in Blue Jay, Ohio, on the Indiana border.  We had two acres which my husband had filled with every kind of plant, tree and bush that would produce something edible – barely leaving room for a small house in the center.  He loved to grow zucchini because he was rewarded with basket after basket of them and as a novice country dweller, I tried to make use of every single piece of fruit or vegetable he brought in the house.

By 1987, I had tried a lot of zucchini recipes and was looking for something different to take to our Hamilton County Fair (Cincinnati).  I decided to take a favorite recipe from the Bear Wallow Zucchini cookbook and change it from a spicy zucchini bread to a chocolate one.  The bread not only won the blue ribbon at the fair, but also won the Best of Show rosette.  It’s a delicious zucchini treat.

• Servings: Two 9-inch loaves OR two 7-1/2-inch loaves plus one 5x2-inch loaf OR six 5x2-inch loaves and one 7-1/2-inch loaf
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• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1-¾ cup granulated sugar
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups grated zucchini (unpeeled)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour loaf pans of your choice

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs; add cocoa and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in oil, sugar and vanilla.

Stir in zucchini.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, soda and salt.  Stir into zucchini mixture.  Stir in walnuts.

Pour into greased/floured pans, filling about 3/4 full, and bake @ 350 degrees F.

Loaves are done when a tester inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean

• Two 9×5 loaves – bake for approximately one hour
• Two 7-1/2×3-¾ loaves and one 5×2-1/2 mini-loaf  – bake for approximately 50 minutes (check mini-loaf at 35 minutes).
• Six 5×2-1/2 mini-loaves and one 7-1/2×3-¾ loaf for approximately 50 minutes (check mini-loaves at 35 minutes).

Allow bread to cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to cool completely on a rack. 

This is one quick bread that could easily be a dessert.  It’s rich, chocolatey, moist and full of crunchy nuts.  But the most important thing to me in 1987 was that it used 2 cups of zucchini.

My picture was taken for the fair’s publication, “The 132nd Annual Hamilton County Fair Salutes its 1987 Best of Show Winners”.  (I had won Best of Show with three different items that year.)

Best of Show Raspberry Cherry Pie

In 1983, I had won our big County Fair Pie Contest (Hamilton County/Cincinnati) and really didn’t want to push my luck by entering the following year, but my oldest daughter insisted it was my duty to defend my title.  So, I looked around my country kitchen, crowded with fresh produce, and decided to make a Raspberry Cherry Pie, using our home-grown black raspberries and tart red cherries.  I baked it on a hot Saturday morning, took it to the fairgrounds and when the contest was over, was told I was the first one in the history of the contest to win two years in a row.  I got a blue ribbon, best of show rosette, an engraved silver bowl and a half-bushel of apples.

The years went by and I was always baking something new for our Sunday dinner – never got around to making the prize-winning pie again.  Then, my husband was ill with Alzheimer’s and we had to leave our country home and the raspberry bushes and the cherry trees, so it has been over 25 years since I first made this pie.

A month or so ago, my online friend, Darlene, blogged about a dessert she had made using frozen tart cherries from Meijer.  I hurried to the store, picked up a bag of cherries and some red raspberries, and came home to bake an old favorite.  It was just as good as I remembered it.

• Servings: 6
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• Pastry for double crust 9″ pie (click here for my favorite recipe)
• 1 cup tart red cherries (I used frozen)
• 3 cups fresh raspberries
• 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 Tblsp. fast-acting tapioca
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 Tblsp. butter
• 1 Tblsp. milk

Preheat oven @ 375 degrees F

Measure one cup of cherries into a large bowl.  If cherries are frozen, they will thaw by the time the pie is completed.

To the cherries, add the raspberries, sugar, salt, tapioca and vanilla.  Toss to mix well and let stand for 10-15 minutes.

Stir fruit to distribute sugar and turn into a pastry-lined 9″ pie pan.  Dot with butter, add top crust and crimp to seal.  Cut vents and brush with milk.

Place on a flat pan to catch spills and bake @ 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes until top crust is golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack. 

I probably took a little more care in preparing a fair entry, but not much.  To me, the idea was that it should be one of my normal Sunday pies – with all its little rough spots and bubbling over.

In 1987, when we went to the fair, my daughter told me that one of her entries was going to be my birthday present.  When we got to the Hobbies & Crafts Department, I found she had made a miniature model of the Hamilton County Fair Pie Contest, correct down to the tiniest detail with ribbons, trophies, a table full of pies and baskets of apples.  It won a Best of Show Rosette for her.

Every year, I display the model during the county fair season and remember all the good – and hectic – times we had at the pie contests.

The Pie Contest

I didn’t want to enter the county fair pie contest at all.  My experience with pie baking consisted of old-fashioned pies for Sundays and holidays – nothing that was worthy of a contest.  But my oldest daughter insisted and so I got up early on a hot August morning in 1983 to bake a pie for the Hamilton County Fair (Cincinnati, Ohio).  I had a lot of fresh blackberries we had picked in the wild bramble area behind the house and some green apples from the trees in the front yard.  It sounded like a good combination and I baked the pie.  I felt a little dismayed when I saw the juices had bubbled out of the top crust as usual, but cooled the pie, wrapped it in foil and started out for the fairgrounds.

Contest entries were flowing in by the time we got there.  It was an open class contest so there was every conceivable kind of pie – apple, strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, lemon meringue, chocolate cream, a fancy strawberry pie with mint leaf garnish – I was starting to get a little worried.  I didn’t want to embarrass myself with such a low-key entry.  I was only hoping for one of the runner-up baskets of apples with no thought of winning a ribbon.  The pies were being arranged on large tables set end-to-end and at one point I almost went over and removed my entry but my daughter insisted on going through with the ordeal.

It was an interesting experience watching the entrants and their supporters, the judges, the passers by – all in intense heat in an antique building with windows open and an occasional swishing electric fan.  There were 34 entries in all, each one lovely and surrounding my very ordinary-looking pie.  Finally, after about an hour and a half, the winners were announced, beginning with the runners-up – no basket of apples for me.  Then the third place was announced and the second – I was almost relieved that it was finally over – when I heard the blue-ribbon, Best of Show winner called – BLACKBERRY APPLE PIE!  I was astounded and went to the contest director to ask if there could be a mistake.  I couldn’t believe that a Sunday dinner pie had won this contest.

I had my picture taken for the newspaper holding my pie and blue ribbon in one hand and the Best of Show rosette and an engraved brass tray in the other.

Then, my daughter and I got to carry all this plus a half-bushel of apples through a very crowded Saturday afternoon fairgrounds midway to the parking lot.

I entered this pie in a lot of other contests after that and it always won for me, but I never again had the thrill that I had that hot August day when I WON THE PIE CONTEST!

BLACKBERRY APPLE PIE

• Servings: 6-8
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• Pastry for two-crust 9″ pie (See recipe here)
• 3 cups blackberries
• 1 cup peeled & thinly sliced green apple
• 3 Tblsp. quick-cooking tapioca
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 Tblsp. butter
• 1 Tblsp. milk
• 1 Tblsp. sugar mixed with 1/8 tsp. cinnamon for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In large bowl combine berries, apples, tapioca, 1 cup sugar, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.  Mix well and allow to set while preparing pastry.

Turn berry mixture in a pastry-lined 9″ pan.  Dot with butter, adjust top crust, cut vents and flute edges.  Brush top with milk and lightly sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Set pie pan on a larger flat pan to catch spills.

Bake @ 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack. 

A remake of the pie some years later with the coveted rosette.

Blue Ribbon Zucchini Marmalade

For 20 years, we lived in a rural area where my husband delighted in tending a huge vegetable garden.  He liked to grow zucchini because he got such great results.  Prior to moving to the country, I had cooked zucchini once when I was in my 30s because a kind Italian neighbor lady had given me some and raved about how good it was.  I wish I could have told her how much experience I got later in life with her favorite vegetable.

Trying to keep up with the zucchini my husband brought into the kitchen daily, I fixed it every conceivable way.  My sister-in-law from Somerset, Kentucky, gave me this recipe for using SIX CUPS of the stuff, so I made several batches.

MOCK ZUCCHINI MARMALADE

• Servings: 8 half-pint jars
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• 6 cups peeled, seeded, chopped zucchini
• 6 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 6 oz. package Jello (I used banana-strawberry)

Combine zucchini, sugar and lemon juice in large pan.  Bring to boil and let boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After 15 minutes of boiling time, add the drained pineapple, bring to a boil and boil for 6 more minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in Jello.  Place in sterilized half-pint jars, cap and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.  Let cool on a rack before storing.

Makes eight half-pint jars.

This is a good web site for information on canning and preserving foods.

We all enoyed the “marmalade” and I decided to enter it in the Hamilton County (Cincinnati) Fair in 1984.  I was thrilled and surprised when it won not only the Blue Ribbon, but the Best of Show Rosette. 

County Fair White Cake

My youngest daughter’s adventures with baking award-winning cakes for our county fair started in 1983 when she was a 13-year-old 8th grader and never that interested in fairs – to attend or to exhibit.  But her older sister and her mother were immersed in getting things ready for the Hamilton County (Cincinnati) Fair and she decided to enter the cake division.

Cakes were not allowed to be frosted, so all of the attention was centered on the attributes of the cake itself.  She made the cake, I took it to the fair and she won a Blue Ribbon and even got her recipe printed in our community newspaper.  Here is the recipe:

BLUE RIBBON WHITE CAKE

• Servings: 8-10
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• 2-3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1-2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 4-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2/3 cup Crisco shortening
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 5 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large mixer bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add one cup milk and Crisco.  Beat with electric mixer for 2 minutes at medium speed.  Add 1/3 cup milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold into batter.  Pour batter into two greased and floured 9″x1-1/2″ round cake pans.  Bake approximately 25 minutes until cake tests done when a toothpick is inserted near the center.

Cool in pans for 15 minutes, remove from pans and cool on wire rack.  Frost as desired.

The years passed by,  she married, had two children, and out of nowhere in 2006, 23 years after her first blue ribbon, she decided to enter again.  But this time she was adamant that she was going to get a Best of Show Rosette.  Her sister and I, seasoned fair exhibitors, tried to tell her it was very difficult to get the Rosette which would represent the best cake out of all kinds of cakes – white, chocolate, spice, layer, sponge, angel food, pound, etc.  She said the Rosette was all she really wanted and she would retire from fair competition after winning it.  In spite of a broken oven, coping with two young children and taking the cake to the fairgrounds on a day so hot that we were afraid the cake itself would dissolve – she did it.  She won the blue ribbon and the Rosette for Best of Show.

The cake was a favorite she had been baking for quite a few years as my birthday cake – White Velvet Cake from the Cake Bible cookbook.

WHITE VELVET CAKE (Cake Bible)

• Servings: Makes two-layered 9-inch cake
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• 4-1/2 large egg whites (4 full liquid ounces)
• 1 cup milk, divided
• 2-1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 Tblsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 12 Tblsp. butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend.  Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk.  Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened.  Increase to medium speed and beat for 1-1/2 minutes.  Scrape down sides.  Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.

Pour batter into prepared pans and smooth surface with a spatula.  Pans will be about 1/2 full.  Bake 25-35 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cakes should start to shrink from the sides of the pans only after removal from the oven.

Let cakes cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes.  Loosen sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto wire racks.  To prevent splitting, reinvert so the tops are up and cool completely.

Frost as desired.

Note:  Two 9×1-1/2″ cake pans should be greased, bottoms lined with parchment or wax paper and then greased again and floured.

Can be frozen for two months.  Texture is most perfectly moist the same day as baking.

The fair exhibit rules called for a single layer with no frosting, but I’m including the recipe for the lucious caramel frosting that she always uses for my two-layer birthday treat.

QUICK CARAMEL FROSTING (Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

• Servings: Frosting for 9-inch layer cake
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• 6 Tblsp. butter
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

Melt butter and brown sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan, stirring over moderate heat until sugar is dissolved.  Add the milk and blend.  Cool in the pan.  Then beat in the confectioners’ sugar until the frosting is thick enough to spread.

I don’t expect my daughter to enter a fair again but I do expect her to bake this wonderful cake for my birthday in September.

UPDATE:  My daughter did bake the cake for my birthday and it was delicious, as always.

Best of Show Dill Spears

Twenty-five years ago (1983), my husband, daughter and I were living on two acres of land on the Ohio/Indiana border.  Fruit trees took up about one acre and a huge vegetable garden took up the other half, barely leaving enough room for a small house.  My husband loved his mini-farm and spent every spare minute away from his normal job working in the garden.  He got excellent results and from the first asparagus in April to the remnants of the garden in the fall, I tried to use everything he hauled into the house every day.

He enjoyed walking down the rows of the garden in the early summer, pointing to each plant and telling me what kind of vegetable it was and how many plants he had.  He did this every day – a little boring, but he was so proud of his garden.

We always had a bumper crop of cucumbers and I processed them immediately to be sure we had crisp, crunchy pickles all year around.

The first year I seriously entered a county fair was in 1983 when I was brand-new to canning and preserving.  Imagine my surprise when we went to the fair and saw I had won a blue ribbon and a coveted BEST OF SHOW rosette for my Dill Pickle Spears.  That year, they had gotten creative in displaying canned goods and had them arranged on an old red wagon.  At the very top was a big, beautiful rosette and a completely empty pickle jar.  The judges told me they had liked the pickles so much that they had eaten all of them with their lunch that day.

Here’s the recipe:

DILL PICKLE SPEARS

• Servings: Approx. 10 quarts
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• 4 lbs. pickling cucumbers, cut in spears
• Dill seeds
• Whole peppercorns
• 2 cups of 5% acid strength white vinegar
• 4-1/2 cups water
• 1/3 cup pickling salt

Place spears in sterilized hot quart jars.  Add 1 tsp. dill seed and 3 peppercorns to each jar.

Combine the vinegar, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Pour over the cucumbers, filling to within 1/4″ of jar top.  Seal and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I’ve found an asparagus steamer is good for processing just a few jars. Let jars cool on a rack before storing. Allow pickles to cure for at least 2 weeks before using for best flavor.

Makes approximately 10 quarts 

This is a good website for canning and preserving foods.

As a Best of Show Winner, I had my picture taken and there was a small article in our local newspaper with the recipe.

My husband passed away 4 years ago and since the dill spears were his favorite and not mine, I don’t make them any more.  But I think of him every time I drive by a big vegetable garden and remember the first Best of Show ribbon I ever won.