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PUMPKIN OR BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE

There are still pumpkins in the shops but you can use butternut squash instead.This cake is wonderfully moist and very light. A friend tasted it and even called it ‘awesome’! I used a small pumpkin weighing 750g to get the amount needed. You will need a deep round 20cm (8in) cake tin.

Ingredients:

  • 350g (12 - 13oz) grated pumpkin or squash
  • 250g (9oz) butter
  • 250g (9oz) golden caster sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 175g (6oz) self-raising white flour
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 175g (6oz) self-raising wholemeal flour
  • 23g (1oz) desiccated coconut
  • 25g (1oz) mixed peel
  • 1 orange

Frosting

  • 50g (2oz) butter
  • 50g (2oz) cream cheese
  • 110g (4oz) icing sugar
  • 1 orange

Decoration (optional)

  • 110g (4oz) marzipan or sugarpaste
  • Orange and green food colouring

Method

Grease the tin and line it with greaseproof paper and grease it. Heat the oven to Gas 4 / 180C.

Cut up the pumpkin, removing the seeds, and peel it. Coarsely grate the flesh and weigh it. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light. Beat the eggs together and gradually beat them in.

Sieve together the white flour and the bicarbonate of soda, and then fold in with the wholemeal flour, coconut and mixed peel. Mix in the grated zest of the orange and enough juice to make a dropping consistency.

Put into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for approximately 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours or until firm in the centre. Remove from the tin on to a cooling rack and allow to go cold.

Frosting: soften the butter with a wooden spoon then beat in he cream cheese and icing sugar, adding the grated zest of the orange.

Spread over the top of the cold cake, swirling with a palette knife.

Decoration (optional): Colour the marzipan or sugarpaste orange. Divide it into 9 portions. Form pumpkin shapes from 8 pieces. Add green colouring to the last piece and make stalks. Note: if not using pumpkin just form balls to make oranges with no stalks.

Place these around the top edge of the cake.

Tip: if the frosting is a little too soft, put it in the refrigerator to firm up before spreading on the cake.

Posted in Recipes on Nov 20, 2012