With maple syrup in the icing this butternut squash cake has the taste and smell you would expect from a seasonal dessert. This cake is somewhat similar to a pumpkin cake and is grated like you would grate the carrots in a carrot cake. With 2 cups grated squash in the recipe this cake turns out wonderfully moist. If someone in your family doesn’t like squash I’m pretty sure they’ll never notice.
Butternut squash cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups butternut squash peeled and shredded
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
Cream cheese icing:
- 1 package cream cheese softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 4 cups icing sugar
- ½ cup chopped walnuts for sprinkling
Instructions
- Peel the squash with a potato peeler and grate just like you would grate carrots for a carrot cake.
- In large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and oil until smooth. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, salt, cloves and nutmeg, and then stir this into the egg mixture. Stir in the squash and the 1/2 cup walnuts. Spread I n a parchment lined 13 x 9 inch pan.Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 350°F (180°C). When toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean, then remove from oven and let cool completely before topping with icing or just sprinkle top with icing sugar.
Directions for icing:
- Beat all ingredients until smooth, but hold back a cup of the icing sugar to determine how thick you'd like the icing. If you prefer a softer icing, use less icing sugar and a bit more maple syrup.Spread over top of cake. *Icing can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for 24 hours.
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