Quick Spelt Butternut Squash Cake

Quick Spelt Butternut Squash Cake

I often make Butternut Squash Soup and don’t like to tamper with the quantity of ingredients in it, so I found myself with a hunk of spare Butternut the other day and my husband suggested I made a cake with it. I had actually been toying with this idea myself (he won’t believe me) as these beauties are so very sweet and perfectly suited to cake making.

After a quick check of the fridge and the cupboards I realised I had the perfect ingredients for something similar to a carrot cake. I’ve never made a carrot cake but have always wanted to! I researched carrot cakes and then came up with my own Quick Butternut Squash Cake, most people on forums seemed agree that wholemeal was best so I decided to go one better and use Wholegrain Spelt Flour as I love it for both its flavour and health benefits.

I was over the moon with the result of this very quick to put together cake. It’s perfect for making when you are having visitors for tea and equally good served as a dessert. The air is just filled with a perfume of butternut squash and orange and the taste is even better! For something so delicious you really wouldn’t know how easy it is to make (which is my favourite kind of recipe)! From now on, I’m going to purposely leave a small chunk of Butternut Squash behind when I’m cooking so that I can make this delicious cake again.

This recipe was previously published in Great British Chefs!

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Quick Spelt Butternut Squash Cake

A moist delicious butternut squash cake, studded with sultanas and crystallised ginger then topped with a zesty orange cream cheese frosting.

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Keyword Butternut Squash, cake, orange

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 6

Author Camilla

Ingredients

• 75 g Wholegrain spelt flour
• 1 ½ tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Ground allspice
• 160 g Butternut squash grated
• 75 g Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
• 75 g Softened butter or buttery spread
• 2 eggs medium
• 50 g Sultanas I plump mine in boiling water & pat dry
• 5 – 10g Crystallised ginger finely chopped
• Grated zest of an orange
• 1 tbsp Orange Juice
• For frosting:
• 50 g Icing sugar
• 135 g Cream cheese
• 2 tbsp Orange juice
• Decoration:
• Zest of an orange

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 190°C
2. Line a 20cm round shallow tin with baking paper and grease.
3. Sieve flour, baking powder and allspice into a bowl.
4. Add the butternut squash, Muscovado sugar, butter, eggs, sultanas, crystallised ginger, orange juice and zest then whisk (by hand) together until blended.
5. Pour into the tin and level.
6. Bake in the centre of oven for 20 - 25 mins until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool for 10 mins in tine before transferring to a cooling rack.
8. Beat together the icing sugar, cream cheese and orange juice to form the frosting.
9. Spread over the cake when cool and decorate with orange zest strands.