In accident recipe and turn out to be a very delicious one, my daughter (Alaa) brought the butternut squash to make soup recipe to be posted on her website. (check out her “Roasted Butternut Squash Soup” on her website https://alaaspantry.com/). After she was done with her recipe, there was leftover butternut squash, so as a mother I always make sure all the leftover food to be eaten and not to be discarded. I really do not like to throw food away except if needed. I have always recycled leftover food to new, and tasty recipes, also must be very pleasing to the eyes, just as I have done in this recipe. As I tasted the butternut squash, it was very sweet in taste, it had a wonderful flavor and a strong aroma. So, I got the idea to turn the butternut squash into a sweet dish and as I looked in the refrigerator I also found very ripe bananas, I decided to use them as well.
All cakes have main ingredients, which is the foundation of the cake mix, then you add an extra ingredient to the main ingredients to make the cake different in taste, color, and texture. The main ingredient of any cake is 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 2 or 3 eggs as preferred taste, mix these ingredients well then add 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder and 1 cup of liquid (any liquid water, milk or juice). Then you can add a different ingredient to the cake to try to balance it out. If your cake is too thick then you need to add liquid to it by having milk, water, coconut milk or even orange juice to change the flavor or the taste of the cake. If your cake is too liquid, then you add flour to make your batter smoother. Eggs can provide structure, color, and flavor to the cake. The texture of the cake can be determined by the balance between eggs and flour which bound the cake together and provide strength, also the sugar and fat add tenderness to the cake. The cake mixture should run with consistency and does not break, this will be a good indication of a good batter.
My son Abdulrahman works at Rutgers University as research assistance and he took some of the butternut squash cupcakes to his co-workers and they loved it, they loved it so much that they asked for the recipe. Also, my family loved the butternut squash cupcakes a lot. I have made 24 cupcakes and 9-inches round baking dish, the next morning there was only 3 cupcakes and the round baking dish. After seeing the great result of my baking, I decided to put this recipe on my website, I hope you would enjoy it as much as my family and my son co-workers did.
Ingredients
1 butternut squash
½ cup sugar
1 cup almond milks
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sweet butter
¼ cup corn oil
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
4 mashed bananas
3 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon cinnamons
¼ cup orange zest
½ tablespoons nutmeg
3 cups of flour
¼ cup pistachios
¼ cup peanuts not salted
½ cup shredded coconuts
Instruction
Heat the oven to 400 F degrees.
The butternut squash mixture:
One large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), halved vertically and deseeded, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place butternut squash and drizzle with olive oil coat inside and outside of squash. Bake the squash until tender, it will take about 30 to 40 minutes. After is done Using a large spoon scoop out the flesh of the squash and put it in the blender add ¼ cup of sugar and 1 cup almond milk. It should make about 3 cups of thick smooth liquid. This will be added later to the cake batter.
The cake mixture
In a large bowl add butter, corn oil, brown sugar, 3 eggs and mix in the blender very well, then add the mashed banana, vanilla extract, cinnamon, orange zest (is the top layer of an orange peel by using a grater) nutmeg and mix well in the blender, then add 3 cups from the butternut squash mixture into the mixture and blend well. Add the 1 cup of flour and mix well, then add the second cup of flour mix well and the third cup of the flour and mix well. The mixture should be a thick but it runs smoothly. Get two 12 cupcakes bake sheet and put the cupcake liners, fill your cupcake liners with the cake mixture a ¾ full. Also get 9 inches round baking pan and greased it very well and add the rest of the cake mixture in it. This mixture should make 24 cupcakes and 1 round 9 inches round baking pan.
In the food processor add the pistachios and peanuts for about 2 minutes into slightly chopped, then add them on the top of the cupcakes and then add the shredded coconuts. Bake at 380-degrees F for about 45 minutes to 55 minutes. Until is golden brown and fully cooked. You will know it is fully cooked when you poke a knife through the cake and it comes clean, you will know your cake is done.
Some tips to get your cake into a perfect mixture.
• If your cake mixture is too thick, then add milk to make the batter smoother.
• If your cake mixture is too thin then add flour to thick in it.
• The cake mixture should run with consistency and does not break, this will be a good indication of a good batter.