Halloween
is now but a distant memory, albeit a fond one for me. I deprived some children
of the coveted 'Inaugural Preston Prized Pumpkin Award' (okay so all the judges
were slightly inebriated and most of my competition was under 10 years old but
I'm still immensely proud). Even though it's now January, these fiery
cupcakes are great for a warming winter snack. Now that Pumpkins have been
relegated back to a once a year food, butternut squash is a good substitute and
great for including a cake as part of your 5-a-day (handy for any new year dieters)
Admittedly
it's a bit of a messy recipe but if you have a food processor ,electric mixer
and a dishwasher then it's not so bad. I have none of the aforementioned and a
tiny kitchen but the end result was worth it.
Shopping
List:
175g light muscovado
200g unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
250g butternut squash flesh, grated
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1½ tsp each ground ginger and allspice
¼ tsp each ground nutmeg and clove
125g chopped pecans or walnuts
200g icing sugar
125g full-fat cream cheese
Make
it happen:
Beat sugar and 125g butter until smooth, then beat in the eggs one by one.
Finely chop 2/3 of the ginger and stir into the egg mixture with the grated squash
Sift in the flour, baking powder and spices, add the nuts and stir until smooth. Line the pockets of a deep muffin tray with muffin papers, then fill each one almost to the top.
Place in the middle of the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, they should rise up a little and be golden brown . Once cooked leave in the tin to cool.
Once the cupcakes are cold, beat the icing sugar, cream cheese and remaining butter until smooth. Finely shred the remaining ginger and stir most of it in, along with just enough syrup to make it easily spreadable.
Swirl a dollop of icing on each cupcake and decorate with a sprinkling of cinnamon or a small piece of crystallized ginger.
Devour.
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