I love savory quick breads and have a recipe for a zucchini parmesan 'loaf' from an old copy (2004?) of Everyday Food that I make every summer. It's delicious-on its own or spread with fresh ricotta.

Ooh, I am going to try this this weekend as a gluten free subbing the wheat flour with rice...

I made Clotilde Dusoulier's (Chocolate & Zucchini) Pistachio and Chorizo cake a few years ago...my mouth and brain couldn't reconcile the quickbread texture with the savory flavor. But my husband loves it sliced and rebaked as savory biscotti so I bake them for him.

I saw the article in the NYT too and am totally ready to give these cakes salés another go.

For those already sold on these cakes, here's a link to Dusoulier's recipe via David Lebovitz:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/09/pistachio_and_chorizo_cake.html

That looks amazing. I will definitely be making that, along with the Pistachio Chorizo cake that @slow lorus mentioned. Yum!

Looks yummy. What size loaf pan did you use? I am an anal baker and like to know. The NYT recipe doesn't say either...

@k_mw: I think since the NYT recipe offers the option of using four 12-portion mini-muffin pans you can use either a 9x5 pan or an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 pan. As long as the total volume of your pan(s) can accommodate 6 cups it will work.

I've baked my cakes salés in both 9" (for a slightly squatter loaf) and 8-1/2" (for a fuller loaf) pans as well as a longer, skinnier 10" loaf pan (looks like one was used for the photo above, maybe?).

I don't know if this is a dumb question, but does the zucchini need to be peeled?

@creative license, no -- I don't peel it.

On pan sizes, yes -- I'll amend the recipe to note that. A normal 9x5 loaf pan would work fine. I did indeed use the long 10" pan, though, which also worked well.

Thanks! I can't wait to make this.

First time baker. Made it, totally loved it! Thanks much.

The weights gave me a bit of trouble. I'd have preferred something like "1-1/2 zucchini", or better still, a photograph of the ingredient list would help me size the amounts. It is a minor quibble; maybe I'll get a kitchen scale now that there's so much excess flour and baking powder left over!

Thanks again.
--sriram.

I made this last night and love it. I saw the original NY Times article and knew that these cake sales (imagine an accent mark there) were for me. Next time I'll go a bit lighter on the salt with this flavor combo -- I have a feeling I had a heavy hand on the sea salt on top. Thanks for posting this!

@sriramalka, zucchini comes in a variety of sizes, from small to enormous. I would suggest weighing them when you buy them and then you know about how much each one weighs.

Do you think you could use some chickpea flour in place of the wheat flour?

I think the chickpea flavor would go nicely with the other flavors, but I don't know if it would make the bread too dense.

I made this last night. I spread hummous on it and it was heaven!!!!!!

Has anyone made this and measured what the equivalent amount (in cups) of grated zucchini is? I'd love to make it but don't own a kitchen scale and would prefer to measure in cups, as my zucchini doesn't always come from the store.

@MerBot, I got 3 average sized zukes from the store which weighed 1.5lbs total so I just grated one of the three. Once you grate and squeeze out all the liquid, you're looking at about a cup (packed) of zucchini.

Also, this was killer. I've had it with coffee for breakfast, with an apple for lunch and as a pre-dinner snack with a glass of wine.

I made this bread just this morning...

I found that the bread was way too salty. I know that the olives are the salties component but it was over the top salty.

I would recommend rinsing the zucchini prior to folding it into the batter. The water won't be retained by the zucchini and it will make things better down the road.

I would also suggest not salting the top of the bread prior to baking it.

Glad I read @thejoker51's comment. I added no extra salt beyond what was used to salt zucchini...but could probably do with 1/4 tsp added in with the flour. I made sure the salty zucchini was well incorporated without overbeating the batter. The bread tasted fine.

This is a nice combination. I had made some similar savory breads adapted from Dorie Greenspan's My French table with pesto and sundried tomatoes. The recipe is here in case you want to try them. http://omnivore-almostveg.blogspot.com/2011/05/cheesy-loaves.html

This is effing amazing! I made this today and JUST finished eating the first slice. If you love kalamata olives and goat cheese, you'll love this light & savory cake.

This sounds wonderful but I don't care for goat cheese. Any suggestions on a subsitute?

I made this beautiful loaf this morning and am completely enamored with the intriguing, savory taste. I knew the zucchini from my garden was 12 oz instead of 8, but I used it all anyhow, in an 11" x 3 1/2" Ikea loaf pan. It did require extra baking time and some of the bottom did stick to the pan, but none of that got in the way of the heady yet balanced flavors in this bread. So delicious! A bread suitable for every occasion, all day long.

@WSUE, not sure if you'll check back this much later, but you might try feta or even blue cheese as a substitute for goat cheese. Anything that will hold it's shape will probably be fine.

After reading this recipe and the NYT article, I riffed on this a bit based on what I had on hand: I subbed in 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour for an equal portion all-purpose, added two thinly sliced scallions in place of the garlic and used 2 oz gruyere in small dice in place of the crumbled goat cheese. I baked them up in a muffin tin for an easy breakfast, and they are delicious! Baked for ~25 minutes, turning pan midway. I'll definitely be riffing on this recipe regularly.