Butternut Pineapple Spice Cake

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Andrea Chesman updated her favorite carrot cake recipe to use shredded butternut squash. Frosting is strictly optional. And like many moist cakes, she says, this is even better the second day. The recipe is from "The Classic Zucchini Cookbook" (Storey Publishing, $16.95, 320 pages).

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  • 12

Ingredients

  • For the cream cheese frosting (optional):
  • INGREDIENTS
  • 2 2 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 2 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 1 1 cup canola oil
  • 1 1 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 4 4 4 large eggs
  • 1 1 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 3 3 cups finely grated peeled butternut squash
  • 1 1 1 cup drained crushed pineapple
  • 1 1 1 cup toasted chopped walnuts
  • 8-ounce 8-ounce package One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1 1 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 to 2 1/2 2 to 2 1/2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and allspice.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Continue to beat until fluffy. Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just until the batter is smooth and blended. Fold in the squash, pineapple and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

On a wire rack, cool completely before frosting.

For frosting:

In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Add 2 cups of the sugar and beat until smooth. If the frosting is too thin, mix in the additional 1/2 cup sugar and beat until smooth.

Spread evenly over cooled cake. Makes about 2 cups.

Nutrition Information:
Per serving (without frosting, based on 15 servings) 372 calories
6 g protein
43 g carbohydrates
20 g fat (49 percent calories from fat, 2 g saturated, 10 g monounsaturated, 8 g polyunsaturated
57 mg cholesterol
335 mg sodium
2 g fiber
26 g sugar

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