Orange & Citrus Morning Loaf Cake
ingredients:
350g Greek Yogurt
1 1/2 stick of brown butter (cooled)
3 citruses (Lemon, Valencia Oranges, Tangerines)
250g mashed squash (Delicata, acorn or butternut)
250g granulated sugar
1 tsp vainilla extract
3 large eggs
400g AP flour
8g (1 tbsp) baking powder
8g (1 tbsp) kosher salt
Demerara sugar (1 cup approx)
instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400F
Cut your squash in half and remove the pulp and seeds.
Cover the inside surface of the squash with a bit of olive oil and season with a bit of salt.
Place in the oven for one hour until the inside is fork tender.
Once they’re done roasting, scoop the flesh into a plate an mash with a fork or a potato masher. (It does not need to be a perfect purée, some lumps are perfectly acceptable here).
Decrease your oven temperature to 360F.
In a large bowl add your granulated sugar.
On top of the sugar, zest your three citruses thoroughly.
With your hands, mix and press the zest of the citrus and the sugar, rubbing them against each other with your fingers. You’ll notice how the smell of the citrus opens up and the mixture becomes super fragrant . Do this for two to three minutes until the zest and the sugar have completely mixed and the sugar has taken on the colour of the citrus.
Add your cooled squash purée and mix into the sugar.
Take your 1 1/2 sticks of butter and brown them on medium heat, making sure with a spatula that the milk solids in the bottom of the pan aren’t burning, by constantly moving them around. Once the butter has taken on a tan, golden brown color and the smell has become nutty and intense, transfer to a heat resistant bowl to let cool.
To that same bowl, add your greek yogurt and mix well.
Add your brown butter, making sure it has cooled enough so that it doesn’t split the yogurt.
Crack your three eggs and the vainilla extract. Whisk everything together until the mixture looks completely homogeneous
Add your salt and baking powder, again whisking and combining everything together.
Add your flour and fold the mixture to combine, gently. You don’t want to mix too aggressively, since this will result in a tough cake. Just make sure there are no big lumps of dry ingredients.
Transfer your batter into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
Top the batter with a generous layer of Demerara sugar and a final sprinkle of salt.
Bake in the middle wrack for 60 to 70 minutes. Use a cake tester or a wooden skewer to check the interior of the cake isn’t wet.
Let cool on a wire wrack for 15 to 20 minutes before removing from the pan and continue to let cool on the wrack for another 40 minutes.
Serve with more butter and fresh honey.
