Butternut Cake + a review of Eats: enjoy all the seconds by Mary Rolph Lamontagne

EATS: enjoy all the seconds - 135 Colourful Recipes To Savour & Save 

by Mary Rolph Lamontagne

    My inspiration for this book was a lightbulb moment while working at a bush camp in Botswana. We were low on stock and the leftovers were building up in the fridge. High paying guests were expecting a memorable meal and the rest is history…

EATS offers:
     27 master recipes
     108 alternate recipes
     135 recipes in all

• Cut, peel, purée, poach or freeze 12 different fruits to take full advantage of their flavour.
• Roast, steam, bake, braise, sauté or grate 15 different vegetables to then reinvent them into other recipes.
• Learn tips and tricks to be used while cooking to reuse food items that might have been thrown out.
• Acquire tips on how to buy, why to buy and how to store 27 different fruits and vegetables.
• Pick up green tips on growing fruits and vegetables in gardens or in containers.

In addition to a diverse and colorful collection of recipes, EATS also provides practical solutions for saving and reusing ingredients to create new meals. Mary’s simple tips on reinventing leftovers will help you eliminate waste, save money, and challenge your culinary creativity.   (synopsis)

I enjoyed this cookbook.  It had a lot of great master recipes that could then be used in the additional recipes.  The photos were colorful and beautiful.  The recipes all featured fresh produce which were grouped by color.  It was visually appealing and both recipes I've made so far turned out really good.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

    A few years ago our school had professional development teams.  Our team was the special education team which consisted of 4 teachers and 4 instructional assistants.  Our topic for professional development was nutrition with our students.  As part of this team we brought together our students for a half hour every afternoon and introduced them to different fruits and vegetables every week.  It really gave them a taste for fresh produce and some of them found fruits and vegetables they actually enjoyed!

     After giving them the produce we then started having themes such as juice day, veggies and dip day, and even hidden vegetable day.  Hidden vegetable day consisted of each team member baking a sweet treat with hidden vegetables in it.  I think I made tomato soup cake.  The kids got a huge kick out of figuring out what was in each of the treats.

      Why am I telling you this?  Good question.  It's because the recipe I'm sharing today is Butternut Cake.  I'm not a huge fan of butternut squash and when I received one in my CSA I didn't know what to do with it.  Then I remembered a cake recipe I read using the squash in a cake that said it was similar to carrot cake.

      The cake had cinnamon roasted butternut squash as the base and added in cranberries and nuts, then was topped off with a lemon glaze.  The cake was super moist and I couldn't taste the squash at all.  It was a pretty light orange color and the cinnamon whipped cream on top just added to the flavors in the cake.   This is a great cake for fall.

Butternut Cake (recipe from Eats:  enjoy all the seconds - 135 Colourful Recipes to Savour & Save by Mary Rolph Lamontagne)

Serve 10–12 
⅓ cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs

1½ cups roasted butternut (master recipe), mashed

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup dried cranberries or raisins and chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease a springform cake pan.

Beat the oil, sugar and eggs together in a mixing bowl. Add the mashed butternut to the mixture.

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together. Add this to the squash mixture.

Fold in the dried cranberries and chopped nuts, being careful not to overmix. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake in the centre of the oven for 40–50 minutes.

Lemon glaze

⅓ cup lemon juice
⅓ cup icing sugar
¼ cup honey

Place all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

When the cake is baked, remove it from the oven. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cake and pour the hot glaze over the holes. Leave the cake in the pan for at least 30 minutes.

Serve with some freshly whipped cinnamon cream. To make cinnamon cream, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon to every cup of whipping cream and whip into soft peaks.

Master recipe

Roasted butternut

makes 4 cups

4 cups, peeled and cubed butternut
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
Sea salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Place the butternut cubes in a large mixing bowl.

Add the ginger, cinnamon, seasoning and oil and mix well.

Spread the butternut in a single layer in a flat-bottom baking dish and roast at for 30 minutes, or until soft and done. 

EATS: enjoy all the seconds - 135 Colourful Recipes To Savour & Save 

by Mary Rolph Lamontagne

    My inspiration for this book was a lightbulb moment while working at a bush camp in Botswana. We were low on stock and the leftovers were building up in the fridge. High paying guests were expecting a memorable meal and the rest is history…

EATS offers:
     27 master recipes
     108 alternate recipes
     135 recipes in all

• Cut, peel, purée, poach or freeze 12 different fruits to take full advantage of their flavour.
• Roast, steam, bake, braise, sauté or grate 15 different vegetables to then reinvent them into other recipes.
• Learn tips and tricks to be used while cooking to reuse food items that might have been thrown out.
• Acquire tips on how to buy, why to buy and how to store 27 different fruits and vegetables.
• Pick up green tips on growing fruits and vegetables in gardens or in containers.

In addition to a diverse and colorful collection of recipes, EATS also provides practical solutions for saving and reusing ingredients to create new meals. Mary’s simple tips on reinventing leftovers will help you eliminate waste, save money, and challenge your culinary creativity.   (synopsis)

I enjoyed this cookbook.  It had a lot of great master recipes that could then be used in the additional recipes.  The photos were colorful and beautiful.  The recipes all featured fresh produce which were grouped by color.  It was visually appealing and both recipes I've made so far turned out really good.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

    A few years ago our school had professional development teams.  Our team was the special education team which consisted of 4 teachers and 4 instructional assistants.  Our topic for professional development was nutrition with our students.  As part of this team we brought together our students for a half hour every afternoon and introduced them to different fruits and vegetables every week.  It really gave them a taste for fresh produce and some of them found fruits and vegetables they actually enjoyed!

     After giving them the produce we then started having themes such as juice day, veggies and dip day, and even hidden vegetable day.  Hidden vegetable day consisted of each team member baking a sweet treat with hidden vegetables in it.  I think I made tomato soup cake.  The kids got a huge kick out of figuring out what was in each of the treats.

      Why am I telling you this?  Good question.  It's because the recipe I'm sharing today is Butternut Cake.  I'm not a huge fan of butternut squash and when I received one in my CSA I didn't know what to do with it.  Then I remembered a cake recipe I read using the squash in a cake that said it was similar to carrot cake.

      The cake had cinnamon roasted butternut squash as the base and added in cranberries and nuts, then was topped off with a lemon glaze.  The cake was super moist and I couldn't taste the squash at all.  It was a pretty light orange color and the cinnamon whipped cream on top just added to the flavors in the cake.   This is a great cake for fall.

Butternut Cake (recipe from Eats:  enjoy all the seconds - 135 Colourful Recipes to Savour & Save by Mary Rolph Lamontagne)

Serve 10–12 
⅓ cup vegetable oil

1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs

1½ cups roasted butternut (master recipe), mashed

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup dried cranberries or raisins and chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease a springform cake pan.

Beat the oil, sugar and eggs together in a mixing bowl. Add the mashed butternut to the mixture.

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together. Add this to the squash mixture.

Fold in the dried cranberries and chopped nuts, being careful not to overmix. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and bake in the centre of the oven for 40–50 minutes.

Lemon glaze

⅓ cup lemon juice
⅓ cup icing sugar
¼ cup honey

Place all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

When the cake is baked, remove it from the oven. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes all over the top of the cake and pour the hot glaze over the holes. Leave the cake in the pan for at least 30 minutes.

Serve with some freshly whipped cinnamon cream. To make cinnamon cream, add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon to every cup of whipping cream and whip into soft peaks.

Master recipe

Roasted butternut

makes 4 cups

4 cups, peeled and cubed butternut
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
Sea salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Place the butternut cubes in a large mixing bowl.

Add the ginger, cinnamon, seasoning and oil and mix well.

Spread the butternut in a single layer in a flat-bottom baking dish and roast at for 30 minutes, or until soft and done.