Never Joke With A Vegan

Everyone goes through that "get to know you" stage when you first start dating. You know the basics, what do you do for a living, what type of music do you listen to, what are your favorite foods, etc. So of course "Jack" and I went through this stage and then we hit the food conversation. Lucky for me he is accepting of my veganism and more brownie points for him because he knows how to cook and not just food that come out of a box. Everyone that knows me knows that my favorite food is cupcakes. My entire kitchen is dedicated to them. Some how we got on the topic of squash and his ability to make squash casserole and of course I asked what he puts in it. He went through the list of ingredients, we were doing good until he added the meat. So he  told me that he would make me a squash cupcake. I told him keep joking I will make a squash cupcake and make you eat it. He called my bluff, NEVER CALL CASSI'S BLUFF. I will always deliver.

Now I had a spaghetti squash left over  in the kitchen that  needed to be use before it went bad now of course I couldn't make my normal sweet chocolate type cupcake so I decided to use more spices versus more sugar. Since squash is in the same family a zucchini  I based it on zucchini bread but a tad bit sweeter. Bam Squash cupcakes.

The texture is that of a cupcake and you can't taste the squash but if you break it apart you can see the strands of squash. I had my co workers and Amy try it and they approved so I guess I did ok turning a joke into food. My original plan was to make cupcakes but the batter was a bit thick so I decided to use a mini loaf pan for the test batch. It was super moist with just a bit of spice. Check out the recipe.

What You Need:

Cooking spray

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup stick vegan butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

2 tablespoons almond/soy milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup  cooked spaghetti squash

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat small loaf pan with cooking spray, set pan aside.

Combine vinegar and baking soda in a small plastic bowl. Mix well and set aside. Beat sugars, margarine, ginger, and cinnamon at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Stir in milk, vanilla, and vinegar/baking soda mixture; beat at low speed of mixer until well-blended. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Stir in sugar mixture and squash. Spoon into prepared cake pan, spreading evenly.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan; carefully peel off wax paper. Cool completely on a wire rack.