Cinnamon princes squash bites

This idea came to me because I had cooked some princes squash (a delicious green, sweet and nutty flavoured squash). I put the spare pieces in the fridge and snacked on them the next day. There was something about the squash that reminded me of victoria sponge cake! Now this association could be for several reasons: 1 - Pregnancy, and my taste buds are strange. 2- I eat far less sugar than before, so I don't have the same raging sweet tooth that I used to have! Anyway, this prompted my idea to make the princes squash into a cake as in my world it already slightly reminded me of cake!

I made this as a Christmas treat. The princes squash are in season around November / December.

Ingredients

• 1 princes squash (800g chopped)

• 2 tablespoons Avocado oil for roasting the squash

• 40g maple syrup

• 200g pureed chestnuts

• 10g cinnamon

• 30g pistachio nuts

• 50g dried apricots

• 30g blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C

2. Wash the squash, and chop into slices

3. Drizzle the squash in avocado oil, season with a pinch of sea salt, and sprinkle cinnamon on the squash

4. Cook the squash for 45 minutes, until soft and cooked through

5. To make a topping, mix the pureed chestnuts with the maple syrup and cinnamon

6. Arrange the cooled squash on a plate, and top with the pureed chestnut topping

7. Decorate with slivers of chopped dried apricot, and fresh blueberries

Unfortunately during the pregnancy I have had to deal with gestational diabetes. The hormones in pregnancy can cause havoc with blood sugar regulation for some women. You are more at risk for developing it if you have a family history of diabetes, high BMI, or are considered an older mum. The good news is that it should go away after the pregnancy, but you are at slightly higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes in future. I fall into the older category as a mum to be at 45, and it was picked up as my baby had a large abdominal circumference! I was advised that I should not have more than 10 g carbs in a snack with gestational diabetes. Based on the recipe above I calculated that a 55g piece of this dessert provides 10g of carbs. (So only have one piece as a snack if you are watching your carb intake!!)