Now that it’s November, it feels like fall is finally here. The days and nights are colder, the leaves on the trees are thinning out, the garden produce is almost done, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
As I’ve mentioned before, my family’s garden produced a bumper crop of carrots this year. Well, it also produced tons of butternut squash. While baked butternut squash with a little brown sugar is a delicious side dish, the vast amount of squash we have prompted me to try to find a baking recipe for it. We already use butternut squash as a substitute for pumpkin, so I found a recipe for pumpkin bundt cake and decided to try it out.
The minute I started reading this recipe, I started thinking of ways to change it. If you would like to try this recipe in its original form, it’s on the Taste of Home website — Pumpkin Bundt Cake.
The first thing I changed was the amount of sugar, the original recipe called for 2½ cups of sugar. I felt like making it a little healthier, so I reduced the amount and also used brown sugar. Of course, I had to change the amount of spices called for. I increased the amount of cinnamon and cloves, and decreased the amount of nutmeg since I’m not a big fan of nutmeg.
I replaced half the oil with applesauce too. It is really amazing to me that applesauce can take the place of oil in baking recipes. I have had always had good results when replacing half the oil called for in a recipe with applesauce, I encourage you to give it a try. It makes cakes, muffins, etc. taste so much lighter without sacrificing texture.
Butternut squash cake is delicious. it is incredibly moist and not too sweet. It can be dressed up with frosting/icing/whipped cream and eaten for dessert, or it can be simply eaten as a snack — plain, or with butter. In fact, since this recipe is lightened up, it could probably fall into the category of a quick bread. I baked this cake in a tube pan, but you could use any baking dish/cake pan/bread pan you like. The baking times will vary though.
Cranberry sauce is a Thanksgiving staple. While I grew up eating the canned variety — both smooth and chunky — last year I made a homemade variety that turned out really good.
I tried making it again several times, experimenting with different additions. The great thing about homemade cranberry sauce is that it is so easy to experiment with. Add whatever additions you like, as well as much or as little sugar as preferred. You can leave the cranberry sauce chunky, or if you prefer smooth, simply let cool slightly and blend in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Francesca Ullmer, the second child of a large homeschooled family, is from the Krakow area. She enjoys baking, reading, knitting, raising goats, and entering numerous items in the Oconto County Fair.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3 large eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
15 oz. (a little less than 2 cups) cooked and blended butternut squash, or 15 oz. can of pumpkin
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugars, oil, and applesauce. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices; add to wet mixture alternately with pumpkin, beating well after each addition. Transfer to a greased tube pan. Bake 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from pan, dust with powdered sugar, and let cool completely.
HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE
3 cups cranberries
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Cinnamon
Combine cranberries, water, orange juice, brown sugar and white sugar. Simmer over medium/low heat until desired thickness. Remove from heat, add cinnamon to taste and more sugar if needed.
