Walnut squash cake - country living

12 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2½ cup Unsifted all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
1½ cup Confectioners' sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
¼ cup Vegetable oil
¼ cup Fresh orange juice
4 Large eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 cups Coarsely grated peeled butternut or other winter squash
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Candied Orange Peel (recipe follows; opt.)
½ cup Chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 9-inch-round baking pans. In medium-size bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg; set aside.

2. Heat oven to 350'F. In large bowl, with electric mixer on medium speed, beat confectioners' sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in oil, orange juice, eggs, and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until batter is smooth. Stir in squash until well mixed. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans.

3. Bake cake layers 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 5 minutes. Remove cakes from pans; cool completely on racks.

4. Prepare Cream Cheese Frosting and Candied Orange Peel, if desired.

5. To assemble cake, place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread top with 1/ 2 C frosting. Place other layer on top. Spread top and side of cake with remaining frosting. Press walnuts onto lower half on side of cake. Garnish top edge with candied peel, if desired.

Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting: In medium-size bowl, with electric mixer on low speed, beat 1 8-oz package cream cheese, at room temperature, until fluffy. Gradually beat in 1 I-lb package confectioners' sugar and 1 t vanilla extract, until smooth.

Candied Orange Peel: With vegetable peeler, remove orange part of peel from 1 large navel orange. Cut orange peel into ⅛-inch-wide julienne strips. Drop strips into small saucepan of boiling water and blanch 1 minute. Drain strips in strainer. Repeat to blanch orange strips again. Drain and return strips to saucepan. With fork, stir in 1 T sugar and heat until sugar dissolves and coats the peel.

Country Living/Sept/93 Scanned & fixed by DP & GG

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