Butternut Squash Spice Cake

So...this recipe was in the Nov. 14 CSA newsletter that comes with our box of veggies. My parents came over here for lunch today and I made it for them. It's really good!

1 small butternut squash
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, place both halves face down on a baking tray, and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. Let it cool, then scoop out the cooked squash from the peel and mash it with a fork. Reserve one cup of the squash for the cake, the rest is extra.

Preheat or turn down oven to 325. Butter an 8x8 baking pan. In a small bowl, combine flour, allspice, baking powder, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together with a mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat for 30 seconds after each one. Stir in vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and the squah to the large bowl and mix well. Pour batter into the baking pan and bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes. Top with whipped cream or powdered sugar...we had fresh raspberries from the farmer's market with this!

indianish food again

We got another box from the CSA the other day... It took me a while to work up the inspiration to prepare some food, but it turned out pretty well. I sauteed some some usual-suspect spices in ghee (almost gone now) and threw in a few chopped onions and the whey from my soy-yogurt cheese experiment. To this, I added chopped potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, and some frozen peas. Eventually I added more water and then a bit of peanut butter and nutritional yeast to thicken it up. I have to admit that it's not immensely flavorful in spite of having a more salt and cayenne in it than I normally would put, but it is pretty good and has a nice texture to it. Panir or lemon-marinated tofu would have been a nice addition. We're eating it over rice.


Yogurt cheese? Yogurt cheese. I made some soy yogurt as I often do, and am straining it in a sieve lined with cheese cloth. I think that for the full effect, it would need to sit for a few days, but it thickened up pretty well. After I finish dinner, I'm going to mix in some sugar, saffron, and cardamom and serve it as dessert.

chocolate tofu pie

I made a chocolate tofu pie the other day to serve at a party on Friday. I started with a store bought graham cracker crust, two bricks of silken tofu, and a bar of baking chocolate. I melted the chocolate and then blended it with the tofu. At that point, it wasn't chocolatey enough, so I added some cocoa powder and kept blending until it was smooth. Then I filled the crust and stuck it in the refrigerator.

It came out tasting great, but it was more pudding-like than I'd hoped. Actually, it'd make a fantastic pudding, but I was trying to make pie. I either need to put something in to thicken it up, or (as a friend suggested) try a different brand of tofu which may have a lower water content.

Also, next time I will go with my original gut (ha ha) instinct and get an extra bar of chocolate, in case the one is not enough for the amount of tofu.