One afternoon on the way to yoga, I saw some acorns scattered across the sidewalk.
I started thinking.
Who eats acorns, other than the squirrels?
I did a bit of research and discovered the protein, carbohydrate, and fat packed “nut” was actually quite popular during both WWI and WWII in Korea and Japan. It was consumed in times of hunger – because of the intense nutritional value.
However, the acorn (or oak tree seed) is extremely bitter. Much like a walnut. Thus, it needs to be boiled or roasted before consuming by us particular humans. (Squirrels aren’t so picky, apparently).

I thought, for sure, I’d be able to find some on Amazon, either roasted or soaked in syrup. I was desperate to bake with this unusual, nutty treat.

No luck, if you can believe it! Seriously, Amazon?
So, I resorted to the acorn squash + almond flour in order to capture all that I was imagining in this recipe.

It really worked. In fact, a friend commented, “Of all you’ve created [she’s witnessed A LOT of my treats], this is my favorite!”

Yay!

Almond Flour Acorn Squash Cake – it’s gluten-free and dairy-free. Oh, and it contains lots of fiber and veggies and nuts. It must be “healthy,” right?

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Almond Acorn Cake

16 Tbs. vegan butter, melted (+ 1 Tbs. room temperature to prepare the pan)
3 cups almond flour
1 small acorn squash, baked
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbs. powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Thoroughly grease a bundt cake pan with 1 Tbs. plant-based butter.
Combine the melted vegan butter, almond flour, baked squash, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Beat until well combined, with just a few small chunks of winter squash left in the mix. Add the almond extract and sea salt.

Pour into the prepared bundt cake pan.
Bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool for several hours.

Invert and transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar.