Squash, olive oil, & fig cake

Ingredients

100 self-raising flour
100g wholemeal flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp fine salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp mixed spice
265g dark muscovado sugar
3 eggs
255g extra virgin olive oil
250g roasted squash (less watery varieties are best, i.e. Uchiki Kuri / Crown Prince), blitzed into a thick, smooth puree
150g dried fruit (figs, sultanas) soaked in 100ml amaretto, brandy or orange juice
100g coarsely chopped nuts, i.e. almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans
100g sugar (for the meringue)
25g water (for the meringue)
50g egg white
4 ripe figs (to top)
A handful of nuts (to finish)

Late summer flavours roll into the early autumn harvest with this gorgeous cake to mark the change in seasons. Having friends around now that the summer holidays have ended? This is the perfect statement dessert to close out a meal together as the warmer days get a bit of chill.

This recipe comes to us from Chiara Tomasoni, a MasterChef finalist, chef tutor, and sous-chef based at River Cottage in Devon. She's well respected for her sustainable, farm-to-table style and her commitment to using local, wild, seasonal ingredients.

Here's the method:

Feeds 6.

Preheat your oven to 165C.
Line a round baking tin or loaf tin with baking parchment. I used a deep cast iron pan with a 26cm diameter.
In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, eggs and olive oil. Use a hand-whisk to work some air into the mix and whip for about 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Fold the squash puree, fruit (including its soaking liquor) and nuts into the mix. Now fold in the dry ingredients a couple of spoonfuls at a time, until completely combined. Add the batter to the lined baking tin and bake for 60-80 minutes, until a skewer or small knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Once baked, let cool for at least 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, make the meringue: add the sugar and water to a small pan and, over a medium heat, heat up to 121C. When the sugar syrup is at 100C, start whipping the egg whites in a deep bowl with an electric hand whisk or in a stand-mixer on medium. Once the sugar syrup has reached the right temperature, trickle the syrup into the bowl with the egg whites, whilst whisking on high all the time. Pour in all of the syrup, then don’t stop whisking until the bowl has cooled down to room temperature.
Now spoon the soft meringue onto the cake, swirl it around over the top and lightly burn it using a blowtorch, if you’d like. Now add a couple of sliced figs to decorate, a few toasted nuts and finish with lashings of delicious olive oil.

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