Name: Brown Butter Honeynut Squash Cake
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 lb of honeynut squash, (about 2 or 3 small ones, or 1 kg); 1/2 cup butter, (110 grams); 1 cup brown rice flour, (140 grams); 2/3 cup almond flour, (65 grams); 1/2 cup granulated sugar, (100 grams); 1/2 cup light brown sugar, (100 grams); 1/4 cup tapioca starch, (30 grams); 3/4 tsp kosher salt,; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/4 tsp ginger; 1/8 tsp nutmeg; 3 eggs, (room temperature, lightly beaten); 2 tsp apple cider or apple juice; 2/3 cup chopped dark or bittersweet chocolate; 1 1/4 cups icing sugar, (sifted, more if needed); 2 tbsp hot water, (or more if needed); 3 tbsp olive oil, (not too strong or grassy); 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds; 2 tbsp cocoa nibs, (or chopped dark chocolate)

As soon as honeynut squash hits the markets, I pick up copious amounts for roasting.

Honeynut Squash

They look like butternut, but way smaller, almost too cute to handle! They are a cross between butternut and buttercup, and they have the most glorious sweetness, making them fabulous for pies and cakes. Of course they also work great as a creamy soup, or as a sauce for pasta. Or slice them in half and roast them, drizzled with maple syrup, or stuffed with rice and veggies for a wonderful autumn side dish. At first they were hard to come by, with a very small window at the markets, come mid September, but they have become more and more popular, so more farmers have added them to the yearly roster. Here’s a great article on the history of the Honeynut Squash, by Bon Appetit.

How to Roast off Squash for Baking

This applies to any squash you want to use for baking, whether butternut, honeynut or even kabocha or pumpkin. In order to create a beautiful purée to bake with, we first need to roast off the squash to soften the flesh. Plus roasting really intensifies the sweetness. All you need to do is cut each squash in half, and scoop out the seeds (I use a serrated grapefruit spoon for easy removal of the stringy bits). Turn them over cut side down onto a baking sheet (no need to line it) and pop it into a 400F oven till the skin softens, and the flesh becomes completely soft and tender. Depending on your oven, and the thickness of the squash, this can happen within 45-60 minutes. You’ll know they’re ready when a knife pierces the skin and into the thickest part of the squash easily. Let them cool on the counter and then scoop out the flesh into a blender or food processor. It should be easy to purée the cooled flesh, but if for some reason it is having a hard time become homogenous, just add a spoonful of water. With thicker squash or pumpkin, cut into quarters and adjust the roasting time.

Whatever you don’t use for baking can either be added to soup, or you can freeze in a sealed container for future cakes. It will keep in the freezer for three to four months easy.

How to Brown Butter

One of the great flavours of this cake is brown butter. Once you’ve made it, you will want to brown butter as often as possible!! It is as easy as adding the amount called for to a small sauce pan (I actually have a small butter pot, designed for cooking or heating small amounts of butter etc. Set the pot over medium heat, and allow the butter go from melted to foamy to bubbly to nutty. It will take about 8-10 minutes, don’t rush it, and don’t use too high a heat, or else the butter solids at the bottom of the pan will quickly go from nutty to burnt. Not good. As soon as the nuttty aroma is there, the separate bits are visible on the bottom, and the foaming has started to subside, the butter is ready to cool down. Let it cool before using in your batters.

This is a Gluten Free Cake

That’s right, this is a gluten free Honeynut Squash cake, which always surprises Jim, because it just doesn’t taste like it at all. The texture is lovely. And it’s all due to the almond flour. Almond flour really does give the most tender texture in baking, and I use it all the time, even in recipes that aren’t technically gluten free. The other flour in this recipe is brown rice flour, as well as tapioca starch. Together the three create a wonderful texture that keeps us coming back to this cake as often as possible.

Along with brown butter, you will love the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, as well as the apple cider in the batter. Feel free to use apple juice if this is what you have in the fridge. And as a final touch, chopped chocolate is folded into the batter at the end before baking. Because… chocolate!

If you would rather bake this up using an All Purpose wheat flour, you may like the Kabocha Olive Oil Bittersweet Chocolate Cake.

Olive Oil Glaze

This is one that I am borrowing from an earlier blog post, a Kabocha and Chocolate Loaf, with an Olive Oil Glaze. It’s such a great glaze, that I just couldn’t resist using it again. It’s just icing sugar, olive oil and milk. You can leave it as is, or sprinkle some chopped nuts, cocoa nibs, or even candied ginger as a finish. Or forego the glaze and just dust the cake with icing sugar, it’s all good!

Final Thoughts

This is a great snacking cake, but can be a legitimate cake for dessert. Or bake it up in a muffin tin and top them with cream cheese icing. Oh yeah baby! See here for my trusty Cream Cheese Icing.

Once you’ve made this once, you’ll be making it weekly, I promise. And yes, feel free to substitute the roasted squash purée with canned pumpkin, it will work great.

Love Jen