Smash

Yes. I am obsessed with Heidi Swanson's website, 101cookbooks. She has an unrivaled ability to make "healthy" baked goods sound more appealing than cookie dough. And, while on the whole, nothing can ever touch cookie dough, most 101cookbooks recipes do not fail to please.

When I saw the headline for Brown Butter Spice Cake on her website, I was immediately sold. Upon further examination, though, my enthusiasm dwindled. A key ingredient in this cake is squash. Squash is an extra effort ingredient, and these do not thrill me. Still, despite this flaw the recipe remained on the back burners of my mind.

A few days ago I found myself in the kitchen with Wilma. "I need to do something with these squashes!" she exclaimed, distressed. My eyes lit up. I had not previously observed the presence of two teensy pumpkin-like squashes that had been sitting, neglected, on our counter, camouflaged by the piles of fruit surrounding them, for at least a month.

"I'll use them!" I volunteered. A wave of relief washed over Wilma's face, as I immediately determined that the next day would be squash cake day. I added a few personal touches to the recipe, including following Heidi's suggestion of substituting coconut oil for the brown butter (effort saving step to compensate for the squash!). Following my recent disappointment with cinnamon I substituted 1/2 tsp ginger for the 3/4 tsp cinnamon in the original recipe.

Squash Cake

adapted from 101cookbooks.com

* 1 squash (you will only need 1/2 cup of mashed squash, but every squash is different, and if you roast the whole thing you will not regret it)

* about 1 tbsp butter

* 1/2 cup coconut oil, just melted (butter is fine. Brown butter too. This will take longer. You have been warned. The recipe also called for 1 tbsp almond oil, or extra butter. I roasted the squash with a lot of butter, and concluded this would compensate for leaving out this extra oil)

* 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/2 tsp ground ginger

* 1 tsp garam masala (this involved braving the spice cabinet. For those who read about the time I cleaned out the baking cabinet, let's just say that was nothing compared to the even more outrageously over-stocked spice cabinet in my home).

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1 cup sugar

* 1/4 cup milk

* 2 eggs

Note: If you would like this to be a quicker process (I won't hold it against you), buy some canned pumpkin and use 1/2 cup for the squash component. In the interest of demonstrating just how much effort I put into this cake (and providing instructions for those who are unfamiliar with the art of vegetable roasting), I have included steps for roasting squash. Take it or leave it.

Preheat oven to 360˚ F.

Cut the squash in half. Remove seeds. Place pieces of butter on and in the squash. Put squash on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour (depends on size and oven). Once the squash is cooled, scoop out 1/2 cup and mash well with a fork. Probably wouldn't hurt to use a food processor if you are serious about your mushed squash being fully pureed (I am not serious about such things, and even enjoy a squash lump here or there, but this is a personal preference and a result of my hatred of cleaning food processors).

While the squash cools, lower the oven temperature to 350˚.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, garam masala, ginger and salt. In a smaller bowl (I used a liquid cup measure, which was on the small side but eh), mix the squash, eggs, sugar and milk. Add to the dry ingredients, along with the melted and cooled coconut oil. Mix it all together.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (I really dig loaf pans, in case that was not evident). Bake for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

My toughest critic, Dani, wept tears of joy upon tasting the cake-bread. She admonished me for not sharing her adoration of this particular baked good, to the point that I now love it and wish I hadn't given it all away to her mom. Last night.