CrankyCakes

When it comes to what monkeyboys will and won’t eat, well, I just never know.  The larger one announced a couple weeks back that he no longer likes macaroni and cheese.  Macaroni and cheese!  From a box!

Though I explained that no one in our house is allowed to stop liking anything, he has persisted.  Now there’s no more spaghetti.  Or ketchup.  But cheddar is back on the list, and he did try a sweet potato … though he spit it out.

All of which is why I was surprised to have both the tykes like this one.  You can taste the squash, the cardamom is slightly unusual, and the pine nuts are perceptible.  But it’s a good snack cake: moist, flavorful, not too sweet, and pretty healthy.

Butternut Squash & Cardamom Cake with Pine Nuts

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Whisk together thoroughly:

• 2 c. whole wheat flour – pastry if you can get it, white whole wheat if not
• 1 c. unbleached white flour
• 1/4 c. ground flaxseed
• 2 t. baking soda
• 2 t. salt
• 1 t. ground cardamom
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 1/2 t. baking powder

Combine in another bowl:

• 2/3 milk or soymilk
• 1 t. vanilla

In a large bowl, beat until creamy:

• 6 T. unsalted butter

Add:

• 6 T. olive oil

Beat in gradually:

• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. maple syrup

Beat in one at a time:

• 4 eggs

Add the flour in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Fold in:

• 1 c. pine nuts
• 2 c. shredded butternut squash

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  Let cool in the pan on a rack, then slice and serve.

After a spate of chocolate birthday cakes, I thought the next baked snack ought to be something different.  So I asked the littler monkey if he wanted to help me make an apple cake.   He said, “I LOVE apple cake!” and waddled off to get the little step-stool so he could see the counter.

I started pulling ingredients out of the fridge and the cupboard, and he got a green plastic snake spoon out of the drawer so he could help with the measuring and stirring.

Apple-Pear Snack Cake

[The spice mixtures are approximate, as they were measured with the aforementioned green snake spoon as it was slithering in and out of the mixing bowl.]

Preheat the oven to 350 with a rack in the center of the oven.  Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Whisk together thoroughly:
2 c. white whole wheat flour
1 c. unbleached white flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. dried orange peel (optional)
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. baking powder

Toss together:
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2″ dice
1 large pear, cored, and cut into 1/2″ dice
2 T. brown sugar

Beat together in a medium bowl:
1/2 c. olive oil
2 T. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar or brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 c. pumpkin or butternut squash puree

Fold the pumpkin-egg mixture into the flour mixture and beat together just until combined and fairly smooth.  Stir in the apple and pear, then pour into the prepared pan.  Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 50 minutes.  Cool in pan on rack, then cut into squares and serve.

The cake is nice, not too sweet, has a moist texture and keeps and freezes well.  In spite of this, the little monkey has declared “I don’t waaaaaaaant [sob] apple cake [sniff],” when it’s been making snack appearances.  His brother is content to eat his piece as well, and so it goes.