Mashed cooked squash adds rich flavor and plenty of moisture to this spicy, delicious, easy cake. Serve this humble, homey cake plain with coffee, tea, or cold milk, or dress it up with a bit of whipped cream or ice cream. This cake is a great way to use leftover squash (if there's a bit of butter or sugar in the squash it doesn't matter much).
Note that the spice mixture is quite flexible. The cake is tasty, if fairly simple, with just cinnamon. But you can fine-tune the combination to suit your tastes - and the contents of your spice shelf.
Don't have any cooked squash sitting around the house? See How to Cook Squash.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, granulated sugar, or some combination of the two
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup mashed roasted winter squash (any kind but spaghetti squash will work!)
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour or some combination of the two
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg and/or ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground cardamom (optional but delicious)
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves (optional but adds depth)
- 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (optional and sounds weird but tasty!)
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 325°F and butter an 8-by-8 baking pan. In a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy looking, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition (this step helps build the structure of the cake, don't skip it). Beat in the vanilla and then the squash.
- In a small bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to the squash mixture and stir just until completely combined. It will be a thick batter.
- Pour the batter into the buttered pan. Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.
- Let cool at least 10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Makes 9 to 12 servings Winter Squash Spice Cake.
