Baking

Pumpkin Tray Bake

This delicately spiced Halloween bake is made with grated butternut squash for a seasonal twist on classic carrot cake

35 minutes to 40 minutes prep, 20 minutes cook

Serves 12

Ingredients

225g butter or Stork With Butter

225g light brown soft sugar

4 medium eggs

1 tsp Nielson-Massey Vanilla Extract, or similar

175g self-raising flour

1½ tsp mixed spice

1 tsp baking powder

250g butternut squash, coarsely grated

FOR THE TOPPING:

180g pack soft cheese

100g Billington’s Golden Icing Sugar, or similar

100g yellow marzipan

Dr Oetker Gel Food Colours: Neon Orange and Lime Green, or similar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease a 27 x 23cm baking tin and line with baking paper.

Whisk the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix together the flour, spice and baking powder, and fold into the cake mixture.

Fold in the grated squash and spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer, when inserted into the cake, comes out clean. Allow to cool.

To make the topping, whisk the soft cheese and icing sugar together until pale and thickened. Spread over the tray bake. Then cut the cake into 12 squares.

Take a small piece of marzipan, about the size of a marble, and colour it green. Colour the remaining marzipan orange. Divide the orange marzipan into 12 pumpkin-shaped balls and make a small indent in the top of each.

Roll out 12 stalks from the green marzipan and insert them into the indents. Place a completed pumpkin in the centre of each tray bake square.