The gap in your knowledge must be filled. Certain Eureka! moments cannot, must not cease to be conveyed to the masses (however small my audience is; don’t want to sound all high and mighty here). I like discoveries and surprises, be it with regard to random tidbits of information I come across on the net or in books, or when I put two and two together in the kitchen and suddenly I get five but it works. Unless you dislike bananas or yoghurt or, well, butternut squash (sigh), I’m (almost) on my knees begging you to put the three together.

What you see above, friends, is really a simple construction: a thick slice of the bestest, moistest, chocolate chip banana bread cut in half and stacked, topped with homemade butternut squash candy puree (oh you just wait), drizzled with plain yoghurt, and a crumbled leftover brownie. I have already posted the recipe for two of those components, the only thing left is the squash candy purée. I learnt the recipe from a family member, after watching her cook the stuff and label it a ‘Filipino delight’. It was a little hard to adapt this because she doesn’t measure anything, however after just one spoonful of the delightful stuff, I can see why she does it the way she does– it’s all according to taste, and how sweet your butternut squashes are in the first place. What you get is a rich, thick, sweet plateful of orange purée. It’s like a healthy orh nee, or yam paste, but with a distinct squash flavour and undertones of coconut!

You may find the recipes for the moist banana bread (the recipe yields a plain loaf, but I threw in a cup of chocolate chips for extra goo and decadence; the chocolate also makes the perfect pairing with the banana here) and the brownie here and here. The brownie recipe was written to incorporate an additional cream cheese swirl, but I used salted caramel in place of that this time. Bits and bobs of sweet, salty goo. You may also leave that out, or you may wish to leave out the brownie component altogether, which would be just as sublime (see pictures right above).

Butternut Squash Candy Purée (makes enough for 2 servings)

one large butternut squash

240ml water

200-240ml coconut milk

3-5 tablespoons of light/dark brown sugar (range is due to difference in taste and the natural sweetness of the butternut squash you have on hand)

half teaspoon of salt

In a heavyset saucepan, add the water, salt and butternut squash, turn on the heat and let everything come to a boil. This will take around 10-15 minutes. Once boiled and the butternut squash is soft and tender, use a large spoon or potato masher and mash the butternut squash in with the water. Reduce the heat a little to medium and add the coconut milk once most of the water has evaporated. At this point, add however much sugar you want, according to taste. Mix on medium heat for another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and smooth. Pour into a container and let cool before serving. I personally think this is best served cold, so if you wish, make this a day ahead and scoop it right out of the fridge the following morning.

Assembly: Take one slice of moist banana bread, top with the cold (or hot) squash purée, then drizzle on some plain yoghurt (vanilla or Greek works well), and top with broken bits of brownie.