Butternut, chocolate and toasted pecan cake
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Butternut, chocolate and toasted pecan cake
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Sarah Randell
Our former Food Director, and previously food editor to Delia Smith, Sarah has written more than 1000 recipes for the magazine. She is also author of Family Baking and Marmalade; A Bittersweet Cookbook among others.
Sarah Randell
Our former Food Director, and previously food editor to Delia Smith, Sarah has written more than 1000 recipes for the magazine. She is also author of Family Baking and Marmalade; A Bittersweet Cookbook among others.
Ingredients
- 150g pecan nuts
- 300g plain flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 large eggs
- 275g light muscovado sugar
- 250ml groundnut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g peeled and deseeded butternut squash, coarsely grated
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped
For the chocolate icing:
- 200g dark chocolate
- 200ml double cream
- 50g icing sugar
Step by step
Make up to 2 days ahead.
-
Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
-
Bake the nuts for 8-10 minutes. Tip the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a food mixer. Mix in the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the squash and chocolate. Chop the nuts and add 100g.
-
Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool for a few minutes, then turn on to a wire rack and leave until cold.
-
For the icing, break the chocolate into pieces in a bowl. Heat the cream and sugar, stirring, until just below simmering point. Pour the cream on to the chocolate; stir to melt. Cool, then chill the icing for 20 minutes.
-
Sandwich the cake with the icing; spread the rest on the top and sides. Sprinkle with the remaining nuts.
