Michelle Darmody: How to warm up with this spiced autumn loaf — and the mistakes to avoid

This loaf has butternut squash as its backbone, the addition of the other autumnal flavours makes it a perfect pick-me-up with a mug of tea. 

The leaves have turned and there is a crispness in the air, time to start adding more warming spices to our bakes and cakes. 

This loaf has butternut squash as its backbone, the addition of the other autumnal flavours makes it a perfect pick-me-up with a mug of tea. 

You can snuggle up with a sweet slice of the loaf cake filled with dates, walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg.

To peel a butternut squash or not to peel a butternut squash is often a question. 

For this recipe, it is best to peel it, as otherwise you will have tough lumps in the mash. 

I have to say I do prefer it unpeeled on most other occasions, once roasted until tender.

I suggest a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice in this cake. 

You can also use some ground cloves or ground ginger and experiment a little with the flavours. 

We associate these spices with the autumn and winter seasons because not only do they create comforting flavours, but they are also good at boosting our immune system.

Traditionally, when such spices were still very rare and precious, they were mostly used at festive or celebratory times such as Christmas.

As they became more widely available in Europe, they were enjoyed more abundantly in cooler months when the food tended to be heavier and blander, so the spices aided digestion and literally “spiced” up the meal.

Spiced Autumn Loaf

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

This loaf has butternut squash as its backbone, the addition of the other autumnal flavours makes it a perfect pick-me-up with a mug of tea.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 45 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 250g of butternut squash, peeled, cut into cubes and seeds removed

• 125g soft butter

• 190g light muscovado sugar

• 225g self-raising flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

• ½ tsp mixed spice

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 100ml milk

• 2 tbs vanilla

• 120g dates, stones removed and chopped

• 100g walnuts roughly chopped

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

2. Roast the cubes of butternut squash in the oven until soft.

3. While it is roasting, grease the edges of a 2lb loaf tin and line the base with parchment.

4. Allow the squash to cool.

5. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

6. Sieve the flour, baking powder and spices together and set aside.

7. Mash the squash and mix it with the eggs, milk and vanilla.

8. Add this to the sugar and butter mixture, stirring to combine.

9. Stir in the dry ingredients until combined.

10. Add the chopped dates and walnuts and stir.

11. Scoop the batter into your prepared tin.

12. Place in the centre of your oven and bake for about an hour and ten minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

13. Allow to cool in the tin.

Baker's tips

• You can use most varieties of pumpkin in place of the squash. Some pumpkins can contain a lot of water in their flesh, so it is best to drain any excess liquid after roasting or mashing.
• A good heavy squash for its size is the best choice when shopping. Lighter-weight ones may have been on the shop shelf for a while and dried out.
• I use a potato peeler to remove the skin from the squash.
• You can buy paper liners for 2lb loaf tins that are handy if you want to save time on cutting out parchment and greasing the tin.
• You can toss the chopped dates and walnuts in a little of the flour before adding them to the batter. It helps them stick and they are less likely to sink to the bottom. This also works very well for dried fruit such as raisins.
• It is good to run a knife through the centre of the batter in the tin before placing it in the oven. It should help the air to release in a more even manner. Also sprinkling a small handful of oats or seeds on the tip of the batter adds a nice touch as it bakes.
• If a skewer is not coming out clean but the top of your loaf is golden you can cover it with tin foil before putting it back in the oven to prevent the top getting too brown.
• The loaf will store in an airtight container for a few days in a cool place. It freezes well. I find it easiest if you slice the loaf before putting it into the freezer so you can defrost as much as you want at a time.

Three delicious variations

Dark chocolate chip

I love the combination of the spices with a nice bitter dark chocolate. I add 220g of generous sized chunks of chocolate to the batter in place of the 120g of dates and the 100g of walnuts.

Pecan nut and golden raisin

Replace the spices with 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. Replace the walnuts and dates with 120g of chopped pecans and 100g of golden raisins. The raisins puff up and soften as the loaf bakes, forming lovely, sweet pockets. You can also use prunes in this version instead of the raisins.

Orange zest and cranberry

Omit the nutmeg and mixed spice, but leave in the cinnamon. Add the zest of three oranges to the batter and replace the walnuts and date with 120g of dried cranberries. This version works very well topped with cream cheese icing.