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Brown Butter Honeynut Squash Cake

Roasted sweet squash, spices, brown butter, and chocolate make this a cake you will make all season long. The olive oil glaze turns it into something quite special.
Course Baking
Cuisine North American
Keyword almond flour, apple cider, cocoa nibs, honeynut squash, olive oil, pumpkin seeds
Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 1 bundt cake

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

Olive Oil Glaze

  • 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

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F

Roasted Squash

  1. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle the interior with a small amount of olive oil and brush it all over. Place these cut side down onto a baking sheet.
  2. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the flesh is completely soft and the skin can be pierced with a knife in the thickest part of the squash.
  3. Scoop out the meat into a food processor or strong blender and purée till completely smooth. Measure out 1 cup of this purée the cake, and store the rest in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer for a future cake etc.

Cake

  1. Reduce the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6 cup bundt pan.
  2. Place the butter into a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. Cook the butter so that it melts and goes through all the stages, from bubbling and foamy till the milk solids on the bottom turn a pleasant brown and take on a nutty aroma. Be careful not to let it go further and burn. Transfer to a clean bowl or jar to cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl whisk together the brown rice flour, almond flour, both sugars, tapioca starch, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Get rid of any lumps.
  4. In a medium bowl mix the cooled squash purée, brown butter, eggs and apple cider till smooth. Pour this into the dry ingredients and blend till smooth.
  5. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

  6. Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Place this onto a baking sheet and tranfer this to the centre rack of the oven. Bake until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean, about 45 to 55 minutes, depending on your oven.

  7. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes then carefully turn over and release the cake onto a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Let it cool completely before glazing. It can also be stored at this point, wrapped in plastic for up to 3 days. Or store in the fridge if longer.

Olive Oil Glaze

  1. In a small bowl whisk the icing sugar with the hot water until smooth and thick. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and whisk till completely smooth. Add more water or whisked icing sugar if you want it thinner or thicker. I would rather it be on the thicker side for more control.
  2. Drizzle this evenly over the cake. Sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and chopped chocolate or cocoa nibs.

  3. See blog post for more details

Recipe Notes

Loosely adapted from Cannelle et Vanille by Aran Goyoaga

For a non gluten free version, check out Kabocha Olive Oil Bittersweet Chocolate Cake