Butternut & Pecan Crumb Cake

Vegetables and I don't always get along. Well, we almost never get along, except for a very select few. As a kid, I remember my mom roasting butternut squash with maple syrup and walnuts, but I wouldn't even touch it with my fork. In the past few years, I have grown to love butternut squash. It is one of the select few vegetables I now eat. 

Now I know it is prime pumpkin season, but dare I say that recently the pumpkin trend has gotten a little out of control. Don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin bread and the occasional pumpkin spice latte, but as soon as pumpkin soda and pumpkin ketchup hit the scene, I'm out of here! Let's just keep things simple, people. At least, I want to… 
However, for this recipe I opted for butternut squash instead of pumpkin to mix things up and IT WAS AN EXCELLENT DECISION on my part (not to brag or anything). The flavor isn't wham in your face, but rather more of a delicate essence. For some reason I equate delicate flavors with being able to eat more of it, Molly math. 


Side note: while I may not seem to be a fan of pumpkin in everything (I like my pumpkin in moderation), I am definitely a fan of Trader Joe's pumpkin spice body butter, that stuff is heavenly. Well, now I sound like a hypocrite. Oh well. I should stop now.

Butternut & Pecan Crumb Cake

Ingredients:

Topping:

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 cup chopped pecans, plus extra for garnish

Cake:

1/3 cup canola oil

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

2/3 cup butternut squash puree

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 ¼ cup white whole wheat flour

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray 11 x 7 pan with non-stick spray.

2.     Begin by making the crumb topping: in a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Add cubed, cold butter and begin working it into flour mixture with your hands or a pastry cutter until no butter pieces are larger than a pea. Stir in chopped pecans.

3.     For the cake: in a medium bowl, whisk together canola oil, sugar, egg, butternut puree, and vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined, do not over mix. Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Top batter with crumb topping. If desired, sprinkle with additional chopped pecans.

4.     Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with very few crumbs. Remove crumb cake from the oven and cool on wire rack.

Notes:

Whole wheat pastry flour can be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.

Recipe Adapted from An Edible Mosaic

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