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Grain-Free Kabocha Squash Cake with Turmeric and Cardamom This kabocha squash cake is very moist, tender with a crunchy top that comes from the pumpkin seeds and sugar. If you have never had kabocha squash, you are in for a treat. The deep green-blue hue of its skin is a beautiful contrast to the orange flesh. It’s easy to adapt to add other spices or flours so read below for tips. Here are a few notes about this recipe: - If you cannot find kabocha squash, I recommend using red kuri (potimarron), winter luxury, or even butternut will do. You can also use canned pumpkin puree in a pinch, but I highly recommend you try roasting the pumpkin yourself if you have time. - When you roast a large squash, you will end up with quite a bit of flesh. You only need 225 grams for this recipe. I would freeze some and keep some in the refrigerator to add to pancakes, make a nice sauce for pasta, or add it to other vegetable soups at the very end to thicken. - If you are trying to avoid cane sugar, you can use very finely milled maple sugar or coconut sugar, but the color of the cake will darken when using coconut. Coconut sugar isn’t as moist as cane sugar so that can affect the texture slightly. I have only experimented with monkfruit sweetener (a mixture of monkfruit extract with erythritol) in the past, but gave me terrible GI distress so I have stayed away from any of those sugar substitutes. - In the original version, I made it with ghee as it really compliments the spices and the warmth of the cake without competing with the flavor. I used olive oil this time, but know you can use ghee, coconut oil, avocado oil, or even melted butter. - The original version of the cake used 3/4 cups (105 g) superfine brown rice flour and 1 cup (100 g) almond flour. I swapped the flours this time to make it grain free. If you cannot have nuts, I highly recommend using tigernut flour, which despite its name isn’t a nut but a tuber. It’s delicious and it’s my preference over almond flour. - You could add additional spices to this like clove, nutmeg, increase the cinnamon, or even add some orange zest. I wanted to keep cardamom as a predominant flavor. You can taste a bit of turmeric as well but I added it mostly to intensify the color of the cake. - Speaking of cardamom, I would recommend buying green cardamom pods and crushing the seeds in a mortar and pestle. I rarely ever buy ground cardamom as it really loses its strength quickly. If you are going to use ground cardamom that you have had sitting in your cupboard, you might want to increase the amount slightly. - To make this recipe vegan, omit the eggs. I haven’t tried it with this grain-free version but these are the notes I had from the original recipe. Whisk 1/2 cup (110 g) oat milk into the pumpkin-sugar mixture. Reduce oil to 6 tablespoons (80 g). Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to the dry ingredients. The crumb is tighter than the version using eggs but it’s really pillowy and soft. I baked it for same length of time, about 50 minutes. Makes one loaf 1 large kabocha squash 150 g sugar, plus more for sprinkling 80 g maple syrup 3 large eggs 110 g extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing 100 g almond flour or tigernut flour 50 g tapioca starch 50 g cassava flour 2 teaspoons (8 g) baking powder 1 teaspoon (3 g) ground turmeric 1/4 teaspoons (1 g) ground cardamom 1/4 teaspoon (1 g) ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt 30 g raw pumpkin seeds Preheat oven to 400°F (200 °C). Cut the squash in half and place it on a baking sheet cut-side down. Bake for 45 minutes or until flesh is tender when pierced with knife or fork. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C). Grease the inside of a pound-loaf pan (8.5-inches by 4-inches approximately) with olive oil. Cut one long strip of parchment paper and fit it in the pan crosswise leaving a bit of overhang. This will help you lift the cake out of the pan easily. Scoop out the seeds from the roasted squash (you can wash them and then roast them again or discard them). Scoop out the flesh and measure 225 g into a large bowl. Mash with a fork. Add the sugar, maple syrup, eggs, and oil into the bowl and whisk until smooth. In a small bowl, stir together the almond flour, tapioca starch, cassava flour, baking powder, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, and salt. Add into the wet ingredients and whisk until it comes together into a thick batter. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth out the top with your spatula. Sprinkle the top with pumpkin seeds and about 1 teaspoon of sugar. Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan completely, then lift out and serve. Store the cake tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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