Handmade Holidays: Butternut Squash Spice Cake with Lemon Glaze

Confession…I’ve never made a Bundt cake before. Until now, that is. I never really used to be into Bundts. They were something that fussy great-aunts brought to  family reunions and they were never chocolate or iced, 2 of my previous requirements for eating cake. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to appreciate a nice Bundt, but still I was a virgin Bundt-maker. That all changed the other day.

Mr. Indie Fixx likes a good spice cake, and I’ve been know to enjoy one occasionally too, so when I came across a recipe in the latest issue of Bon Appetit I decided to give it a try. Not without major revisions to it first though. The biggest being the main ingredient. The recipe in Bon Appetit was for a Pumpkin Spice Cake, but I decided to use butternut squash instead. I had 3 of the suckers in the fridge from our CSA farm share (community supported agriculture) and they needed to be used up. I made some other changes as well, like added some raisins, used fresh ginger + more. Take a look below.

I plan on pulling this out for some holiday get togethers!

Butternut Squash Spice Cake with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
3 cups white whole wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups of pureed butternut squash
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of almond milk (regular milk)
1/4 cup of molasses
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup of raisins

Icing:
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Prepare the butternut squash–rinse, cut in half and scoop out seeds and goop. Steam for approximately 30 minutes, or until soft. The amount of butternut to use to get 1 1/2 cups of puree depends on the size of your squash. I used 3 small butternuts.
2. Once cooled, scoop out the meat of the squash, throwing away the skin. Puree in a food processor until the puree is the consistency of pudding or baby food.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
5. Using a mixer, mix the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
6. Add the ginger and vanilla to the squash puree. Beat in the puree, milk and molasses to the butter and sugar (the mixture may appear curdled). Reduce the mixer’s speed to low: gradually add the flour mixture and mix until just combined (do not overmix).
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean…about 55-65 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
8. In the bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the cake. Let set before serving.