I vote for Squash Muffins!

I wonder, does anyone ever get the feeling that life is being fair? Does it looks like good deeds, or good people are being rewarded the way they should be? On a good day, I'd say there has got to be some sort of cosmic karma, bringing balance to the world. And on a bad day, you don't want to hear what I'd say...

Look at the world's economy today: do you, as an individual, feel responsible for what is happening?
I personnaly don't, but netherless I am and will be affected by it, no matter what. I might not be in the streets (yet), but indignation is something most of us feel right now, and rightly so.

The other one, is feeling powerless. After watching "Inside Job" I felt the size of an ant, on a planet made out of dollar bills. So instead, I'm handling what I can: my life, my income and expenses, but mostly, my kitchen! As mentionned before, the squash are in season, and this time it's all about a sweet recipe.

This is a mix and mash of two different recipes, one from a world famous chef, the other one from a dear fellow blogger, one uses too much sugar, the other one too little, one knows how to make things look dashing, the other one knows how to make them feel like home. A world of differences, yes, but therefor they both enrich me and my cooking. If only the world was more like my kitchen...

Butternut squash muffins

for 12 muffins

300gr of Butternut Squash
170gr of Light Demerara Sugar
2 Eggs
150gr of Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
Salt
80ml of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons of Almonds
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Dried Ginger
1 Teaspoon of 4 Spicies
1 Tablespoon of Poppy Seeds

For the frosting:

100gr of Icing sugar
1 Tablespoon of Soy Cream
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice
The Zest of a Clementine
Colored Sugar Pearls to Decorate

Take care of the squash first, you can cook it in the oven under aluminum foil. But I prefer to boil it, it makes it easier to mash afterward. So peel and cut the butternut squash in cubes, give them in a sauce pan filled with water, bring it to the boil and let it cook until you can easy prick them with a knife. Drain them and with a potatoe masher, make it into a purée.

Preheat your oven to 180°C, line your muffin tin with paper cases.

Let the purée cool a little and add the sugar in, aswell as the eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and add to the purée with a pinch of salt. Now pour in the oil and add all the spicies, seeds and roughly chopped almonds, don't work it too hard, it's a muffins batter.

Pour the batter in the paper cases to about 3/4 of it and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

To make the frosting, just add the lemon juice and soy cream to the icing sugar. If it's too runny, add some more icing sugar, if it's too thick, add some lemon juice. Add the clementine zest and set aside.

Check your muffins with a wooden skewer, if they are done, let them cool completly on a rack before pouring some frosting on top, sprinkle with some sugar pearls, or any decoration of your choice, and let it set for about an hour.