Winter

Spiced Winter Cake with Cashew Frosting

January  4, 2018
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0 Ratings
Photo by Marci Cornett
  • Serves 8-10
Author Notes

This cake is filled with nutritious ingredients, including butternut squash and banana. It's suitable for treating post-holiday blues without breaking any healthy eating resolutions. Remember to soak your cashews for the frosting the night before baking. —Marci Cornett

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Winter Spiced Cake
  • 40 grams Unrefined Coconut Oil
  • 3 tablespoons Tahini
  • 125 milliliters Grade B Maple Syrup
  • 1 tablespoon Fresh Ginger, grated
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
  • 150 grams Walnuts, ground
  • 100 grams Chickpea Flour
  • 50 grams Pumpkin Seeds
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 300 grams Butternut Squash, grated
  • 1 Large Banana, mashed
  • 3 Eggs, or *3 Chia Seed Eggs for vegan version (see final step)
  • Cashew Frosting
  • 200 grams Raw Cashews, soaked overnight
  • 2-3 tablespoons Grade B Maple Syrup
  • 2 tablespoons Unrefined Coconut Oil, solidified
  • Lemon Juice, to taste
  • 1 pinch Fine Sea Salt
  • Red Currants, for decorating
  • Golden Berries, for decorating
  • Ground Cinnamon, for decorating
Directions
  1. Winter Spiced Cake
  2. Preheat oven to 375℉ or 190℃. Coat a 9in/23cm loaf pan in coconut oil.
  3. To a saucepan add the coconut oil, tahini, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon and salt then heat gently until the oil melts. Whisk together and set aside to cool.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: ground walnuts, chickpea flour, pumpkin seeds and baking powder.
  5. Once the coconut oil mixture has cooled, incorporate the mashed banana then whisk in the eggs one at a time. If going with the chia option, whisk into the wet mixture in 2 batches. Finally, stir the grated squash into the wet mixture.
  6. Tip the wet mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry mixture and stir the two together to make the batter. Transfer the batter to the loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.
  7. After 50 minutes, insert a thin knife or a toothpick deep into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean and/or crumby, remove the cake from the oven. If it comes out wet, continue baking and testing after every 5 minutes. Once the cake is finished, place the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. After this time, tip the cake out of the pan and allow it to cool completely before frosting.
  8. *Make the 3 chia seed eggs by mixing 3 Tbsp Chia Seeds with 135 mls Water together in a bowl. Allow to sit 10 minutes to thicken before using in the recipe.
  1. Cashew Frosting
  2. Drain and rinse the soaked cashews. Place in a food processor or hi-speed blender and pulse a few times before letting the machine run to make cashew butter.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients and puree until smooth. If frosting is too thick, gradually add water to the machine and continue pureeing until the perfect spreadable consistency is reached.Taste frosting and adjust flavoring with maple syrup and lemon juice as needed.
  4. Spread frosting on top of cooled cake, and decorating with bunches of red currants, golden berries and ground cinnamon.

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