National Bundt Day with Butternut Squash.

Yes, there IS such a thing. National Bundt Day. But I didn’t know about it until I met Mary, The Food Librarian. Back in 2009 she started celebrating this wonderful holiday by baking a bundt a day for 30 days. As time went by more and more bakers started celebrating with her by making bundts for National Bundt day. I was one of them. bundts are great cakes. You don’t have to frost them, but you can powder and drizzle them. You can make them in LOTS of different shapes and sizes, and they are very, very pretty.{Mary has some fantastic bundt pans!} So here is my National Bundt Day contribution.

Chai Butternut Bundt

We planted butternut squash for the first time this year and had a bumper crop. We have been eating a lot of butternut. Roasted. Baked. And now in a cake. And it was good.

3/4 cup butter, softened, plus a little extra for greasing the bundt pan (1 1/2 sticks)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus a little extra for dusting the bundt pan, about 2 tbsp
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp chai masala 1 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
15oz butternut squash puree
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 10 inch nonstick bundt pan really well with the extra butter. Make sure to cover all the little grooves. Then dust with flour. I do this by tossing 2 tbsp of flour to the bottom of the pan and then rotating the pan and shaking it about so that the flour sticks to the butter. Rotate until the whole pan is covered in a thin layer of flour, adding extra flour if needed. Then turn the pan over into a trash can or sink so that the extra flour falls out.
In a medium bowl, whisk the 2 3/4 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt. Set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the butternut, milk and vanilla.
In a large bowl, with an electric beater or stand mixer on medium high speed, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until the mixture turns pale and fluffy. About 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the brown sugar and beat to mix well. Then add the eggs one at a time beating to mix well between each egg.
Add a third of the flour and beat on low speed. Then add half of the pumpkin mixture and beat. Add another third of the flour, then the second half of the pumpkin and finally the last of the flour. Make sure to beat to mix well between each addition.
Pour the batter into the greased and floured bundt pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Test the doneness of the cake by inserting a wooden toothpick into the center of the cake. It’s done if the toothpick comes out clean.
Cool cake in the bundt pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Then invert onto a cooling rack. Cool for at least 30 more minutes until cool to the touch before adding the glaze.

For the Glaze:

2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp rum (optional, use an extra tbsp of milk if you don’t use the rum)
1/4 tsp chai masala
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Heat the cream cheese and milk in the microwave for about 40 seconds and beat together until smooth.
Add the rum, chai masala, and vanilla. Mix well.
Add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Whisking or beating with an electric beater so that if forms a smooth mixture.
Adjust the thickness of the glaze by adding a little extra sugar or milk.
Drizzle the icing onto the cooled cake.

I adapted this cake from Puja at Indiaphile. She made it as a pumpkin cake. It is her Mom’s recipe for Chai Masala that made the cake delicious. I made the whole recipe and it gave me 7 mini-mini bunds and one 6″ bundt.

The next time I think I will roast the butternut before I puree it. It will definitely deepen the flavor even more.

Mary will put up a round-up of all the bundts for this year’s National Bundt Day later. So visit her site later. OR visit it now because she has 15 beautiful, flavorful bundts up already.