BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE WITH COCONUT FROSTING

SURPRISE!!!! 🎈🎊🎉

Today I’m teaming up with a group of food bloggers to throw the super talented Jocelyn over at GRANDBABY CAKES a virtual baby shower.

Jocelyn and her husband will be welcoming their sweet baby cake this winter. As you can see from the cake topper, she’s expecting a Princess.  I was so excited to be asked to participate in her #babycake4babycakes themed baby shower. Although I’ve never met Jocelyn, I’m a long time follower of her blog and the proud owner of her cookbook titled GRANDBABY CAKES.

Jocelyn is a phenomenal baker so when I say I was intimated by the thought of having to bake; I cringed with enthusiasm. In an effort to strengthen my baking skills, I came up with a four-tier butternut squash cake, ambitious right?! Why a four-tier cake? I have to justify the presence of four nine-inch cake pans sitting on the top shelf in my cupboard, 🤷🏽‍♀️ and we won’t even discuss how long they’ve been there. 😩

I promised myself I would keep this post short and not get all long-winded. As you know if you’re a regular reader of my blog, I have the gift of the gab, but today I’ll exercise restraint because you have to visit the other blogs who are celebrating Jocelyn’s Baby Shower Today.

About this four-tier butternut squash caked coated with a rich and creamy coconut buttercream frosting, it more than happened! I’m so proud of myself; I wanted this cake to be over the top because Jocelyn is a true QUEEN.

Over at Grandbaby cakes, Jocelyn shared her story with us and her battle with infertility.  She peeled back the vulnerability layer sharing intimate details that many women harbor in secret.  She details the tedious process involved with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) all the while she managed to juggle her blog, travel, and life, if that’s not a QUEEN, I don’t know who is. She’s a true pioneer woman indeed. If you would like to read more about Jocelyn’s story you can read it here, here and here.

So today we celebrate her baby announcement with this moist, butternut squash cake which is a spin-off a carrot cake because I don’t do carrots. I had to improvise, a skill set many Mothers are endowed with.  I’ll spare you the blow by blow details, but it made it on the blog after numerous attempts.  I baked my first REAL homemade cake, and my family is praising my non-existent baking skills, and I’m all SMILES.

As a mother of four, I know the excitement and nerves associated with becoming a first-time mom, from the overwhelming advice, the do’s, the don’t s, the strangers asking to rub your belly, I know right?!

Having a baby is like baking this four-tier butternut squash cake, it’ll have its challenges and rewards, it’ll get messy some days, like each ingredient each day has its story filled with precious memories and adventures. My tip for Jocelyn, take it one day at a time and be present in each moment.

Before I go, baby swag.  As a new MOM, you must invest in a high-end baby swing, and it’s a lifesaver. My eldest son suffered from,” I wanna be held all day” and when I couldn’t meet his baby demand, I placed him in his swing long enough for him drift off into dreamland yielding time to pump breast milk, scour bottles and if I was lucky and thanks to the swing I was, rested my eyelids.  Trust me; you’ll thank me later.

So yeah, Motherhood is a journey, it won’t always be a piece of cake, but it will be SWEET.

5.0 from 1 reviews

BUTTERNUT SQUASH CAKE WITH COCONUT FROSTING

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Taste of Yummy

Serves: Makes 4 - 9 inch round cakes

Ingredients

• CAKE
• 4 cups of-of grated butternut squash
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1½ cup of coconut milk
• 1⅓ cup of coconut oil
• 5½ cups of Spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1½ cups of chopped walnuts
• COCONUT BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
• 2 sticks of Earth Balance Butter
• 2 tablespoons of coconut extract
• 8 cups of powdered sugar
• 6-8 tablespoons of water, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line four 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl mix together grated butternut squash, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.
4. Add the milk and oil to bowl to combine ingredients.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together Spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until well combined, sprinkle in walnuts as you mix.
7. Evenly distribute batter between the four pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the toothpick, comes out clean. Allow pans to cool on cooling racks for 20 minutes, then turn pan upside down to remove cakes. Allow cakes to completely cool before frosting. Here's a video tutorial on frosting a 4 tier cake, this video helped me immensely because baking, is a skill I'm still perfecting. 😩

Notes

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

2 sticks Earth Balance Butter
2 tablespoons Pure Coconut Extract
8 cups of Powdered Sugar, Sifted
6-8 tablespoons water, divided

* Add butter and coconut extract to mixer bowl cream on medium speed until combined and lightened.

* Add powdered sugar, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix until light, and creamy add additional water for desired consistency.

*** I drizzled the sides with coconut syrup; caramel would also add a decadent twist.

3.5.3226

Stop by and visit the other blogs celebrating  Jocelyn’s Baby Shower today !!

🌸🤰🏽🌸

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Crazy for Crust|  Twix Cupcakes 

Beyond Frosting| Toffee Caramel Cupcakes with Bourbon Caramel Buttercream 

Life, Love and Sugar| Chocolate Mousse Cake 

Lemon Tree Dwelling| Mini Amaretto Cherry Cheesecakes

Confessions of a Confectionista| Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes with Blackberry Glaze