Butternut squash streusel cake

Please don't run away from my blog once your read the title to this wonderful spice cake. Butternut squash taste just as good as pumpkin in cake, muffin, and pie recipes. Next time a recipe calls for pumkin replace it with butternut squash. You wont regret it. Butternut squash is a type of winter squash. It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. It has yellow skin and orange fleshy pulp. When ripe, it turns increasingly deep orange, and becomes sweeter and richer. It grows on a vine.


Ingredients
2 cups pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 cup white sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup oil
1 cup butternut squash purée

Streusel ingredients
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter (cold and cut into pieces)
1/2 cup chopped wallnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Butternut squash ingredients
1 medium butternut squash
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 inch piece candied ginger


Directions
Preheat your over to 350*, butter and dust a cake pan with flour.
Peel and dice your squash, place it a medium pan with enough water to cover the squash. Add your cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. Cook over medium heat until the squash becomes tender. When the squash is ready to be used drain the water and discard the whole spices. In a large small bowl combine your streusel ingredients with the butter and cut until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Set aside. In a large bowl sift your cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger. Set aside. In a separate bowl whisk your eggs and white sugar until the mixture becomes light and creamy. In a food processor or blender, blend your butternuts squash with the buttermilk and oil until its well combined and creamy.
Pour the mix into your eggs and sugar mix and mix to combine. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 3 separate portions. Add half of the mix into your prepared pan and top with 1/2 of the streusel. Pour the remainder of the batter over the streusal and top with the 2nd half of the streusel topping. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.